Concrete Slabs in White Castle, LA

A pad under a pavilion or shed sits on the same clay as everything else around Baton Rouge, and that clay swells when it's wet and shrinks when it dries. A pad poured over soft or organic soil moves with it, and whatever is sitting on top moves too. We excavate to firm ground, form the pad to the size and shape you need, and pour a commercial 3,500 PSI mix with fiber included, the same mix we use on every job. Fiber helps control the small shrinkage cracks that form as concrete cures. Expansion joints go in where they're required, and we don't add wire mesh by default. If you'd like rebar in your pad, ask your project manager and we'll quote it.

Start with what's going on the pad. For a pavilion, think about the table, the grill or the boil setup that will sit underneath with room to walk around them. For a shed, get the building's footprint from whoever is supplying it, and add any ramp or landing at the door. Bring the plans or the supplier's specs to the walkthrough, because posts and anchors may need thickened areas or footings poured with the pad. If you want lights or a fan under a pavilion, conduit has to be in place before the pour. Your project manager will help you mark the layout on the ground so you can see the real size before anything is formed.

Where a pad goes matters as much as how it's poured. The back corner of a lot is often the lowest ground, and a shed or pavilion set in a spot that holds water will sit in a puddle after every summer storm. A pad should sit a little above the ground around it and slope just enough to shed water, without sending that water toward the house, a neighbor's yard or another slab. Setbacks, trees and HOA rules on sheds can also limit where it goes. At the free walkthrough we measure the pour, shoot the grade and look at where water goes today. Our pricing assumes a typical lot with limited grade changes. If the spot needs to be built up or has a big grade change, we'll tell you and price that work separately.

Bids for a pad can look close on paper and be very different in what you get. Ask what PSI the bid is based on and get it in writing: many are 3,000 PSI, and every Parish pour is a commercial 3,500 PSI mix. Ask whether fiber is included or charged as an extra; ours is included automatically. Check that excavation, forming, the pour and expansion joints are listed in the scope rather than assumed. If an old slab, shed base or walkway has to come out first, removal should show up as its own line item, not be left off to make the total look lower. Finally, ask what can change the price after you sign. With Parish, the price only changes if the scope changes, and if we under-quoted, that's on us.