Denver's Family-Owned Concrete Contractor
Patios, sidewalks, driveways and flatwork — specified for a climate that puts concrete through roughly 134 freeze-thaw cycles a year on ground that moves.
Concrete is strong in compression and vulnerable to a short list of specific forces — and Colorado delivers all of them. When homeowners search for a concrete contractor in Denver, the thing that actually separates a slab that lasts from one that spalls and cracks is not the finish you can see. It is the mix specification and the sub-base underneath, both decided before the truck arrives.
Advance Asphalt & Concrete Services is family owned, run by Larry Eli out of Golden, and BBB accredited since October 2017 with 4.6 stars across 29 Google reviews. We are asphalt contractors in Denver who also pour concrete — and that combination matters more than it sounds, because it means we have no reason to talk you into the wrong material.
A company that only pours concrete will explain why your driveway needs a concrete slab. Because we install both, our recommendation is about your property. Generally that means concrete for patios, walkways and decorative flatwork, and asphalt for driveways and parking lots, where the ability to flex with expansive clay movement is worth more than rigidity. We will tell you which is which, and then do whichever it turns out to be.
Below is what we pour, the specification this climate requires, an honest comparison against asphalt, and the questions we get asked most. Or call (720) 787-8699 — estimates are free, written and carry no obligation.
Complete Concrete Work in Denver
Residential and commercial, across the Denver metro and up into the foothills.
Concrete Patios
The work we most often recommend concrete for. Level, correctly jointed patios in any size or shape, poured with air-entrained mix on a prepared sub-base. Finishes from a standard broom through to stamped and coloured. Worth knowing before you plan: backyard access is the cost factor nobody warns you about — if a truck cannot get within about 20 feet, the concrete has to be pumped or barrowed. Our patio cost guide covers it, with a free size and finish planner.
Concrete Patios DenverConcrete Sidewalks & Walkways
Front walks, garden paths and commercial sidewalk runs, poured on a compacted sub-base with correct slope for drainage and a slip-resistant finish. One thing that catches property owners out: sidewalk and curb work in the public right-of-way falls under city permitting, and the rules differ sharply across the metro — Boulder will not issue to a contractor licensed elsewhere. Work on your own property does not. We establish which at the estimate.
Concrete Sidewalks DenverConcrete Driveways
Rigid, heavy-duty and long-lived, with reinforced sub-base prep, adequate thickness for vehicle loads and correctly spaced control joints. We will be straight with you though: on Front Range clay, asphalt is usually the better driveway because it flexes when the ground moves. Concrete is the right call when appearance matters, the drive is short and flat, or heavy vehicles park in one spot. Full comparison in our asphalt vs concrete guide.
Concrete Driveways DenverConcrete Flatwork & Slabs
Shed and garage slabs, porches, steps, hot tub pads, equipment pads and approaches. Every pour gets the same base prep, reinforcement and jointing, because a slab is only as good as what sits under it. Square, level and built to carry whatever is going on top — tell us the load at the estimate and we will specify thickness and reinforcement accordingly.
Concrete Flatwork DenverStamped & Decorative Concrete
Colour hardener and patterned mats pressed into the setting slab to mimic stone, brick or slate, at a fraction of natural stone cost. The honest trade-off: stamped concrete needs resealing roughly every 2 to 3 years to hold its colour, and can be slicker than a broom finish when wet unless grit goes in the sealer — worth specifying on anything that ices over. It is a finish plus a maintenance commitment, not just a finish.
Stamped Concrete DenverConcrete Repair & Replacement
Cracked, heaved, settled or spalling concrete is a trip hazard and usually a symptom rather than the problem. We assess what caused it — drainage, sub-base, freeze-thaw scaling, salt damage — then repair or replace the affected section and fix the underlying cause so it does not repeat. Be aware that a replacement section will not colour-match the surrounding concrete, and that difference is usually permanent.
Concrete Repair DenverWhat Colorado Concrete Has to Be
This is the section worth reading even if you hire someone else. Everything about appearance is decided after the pour. Everything about whether the slab survives is decided before it.
Air entrainment is not optional here
Concrete is porous and absorbs water. When that water freezes it expands by about nine percent, and with roughly 134 freeze-thaw days a year in the Denver area the result is scaling — the surface layer flaking away to expose the aggregate — and spalling, where pieces break off at edges and corners.
The defence is air entrainment: microscopic air bubbles deliberately introduced into the mix, giving freezing water somewhere to expand into rather than pushing against the surrounding material. The American Concrete Institute recommends a target air content in the range of 5 to 7 percent for typical residential flatwork in freeze-thaw exposure. In this climate that is the baseline, not an upgrade.
Strength and water-to-cement ratio
Residential concrete is often specified at 3,000 PSI as a default. Here, 4,000 PSI produces a denser, less permeable slab that takes on less water to begin with. Related and just as important is the water-to-cement ratio: a wetter mix is faster and easier to place, which is exactly why it is tempting, but it makes a weaker and more permeable slab. The Portland Cement Association recommends a maximum water-to-cement ratio of 0.45 for concrete in severe freeze-thaw environments.
The sub-base under it
Much of the Front Range sits on expansive clay, documented across the metro by the Colorado Geological Survey, which swells when wet and shrinks when dry with movement measured in inches. A rigid slab has very little tolerance for that. Excavation depth, aggregate, compaction and drainage are what keep water out of the soil beneath your concrete — and they are completely invisible once the pour is done, which is precisely why they are the first thing a cheap quote removes.
Control joints, and the truth about cracking
Concrete cracks. It shrinks as it cures and moves with temperature and ground conditions. No contractor can honestly promise a slab that will never crack, and one who does is telling you what you want to hear.
What a good contractor controls is where. Control joints create deliberate lines of weakness so the inevitable movement resolves along a straight line you chose rather than a jagged one across the middle of your patio. Correct spacing and depth is a real skill and one of the clearest differences between a properly executed slab and a rushed one.
Three questions to ask any concrete contractor quoting you in Colorado
- What air content are you specifying?
- Should be around 5–7% for residential flatwork in freeze-thaw exposure, per ACI guidance.
- What PSI is the mix?
- 4,000 PSI is the better baseline here than the common 3,000 PSI default.
- How deep is the prepared base, and how is it drained?
- The answer should be specific. On expansive clay this determines the outcome more than anything above ground.
Those three answers will separate the quotes faster than the prices will.
De-icing salt, and the first winter
One practical point worth planning for. De-icing chemicals are hard on concrete generally, and hardest on a slab in its first winter before it has fully cured. First-winter scaling from de-icer is common and almost entirely avoidable — use sand for traction that first season rather than salt.
Jobs From Around the Front Range
Our own photographs from our own job sites. Concrete work photographs are being added as we build the gallery.
An Honest Comparison
We install both, so there is nothing to gain by steering you wrong. Here is how they actually compare on Front Range clay.
Asphalt
Flexible, fast and economical — usually the better driveway here.
- Lower upfront cost per square foot
- Drivable in one to three days
- Flexes when clay soil moves
- Damage is patched, not replaced
- Dark surface sheds snow faster
Trade-off: needs seal coating every 2–3 years.
See our asphalt servicesConcrete
Rigid, long-lived and customisable — the right answer for patios and flatwork.
- Longer service life when poured correctly
- Stamped, stained and aggregate finishes
- Higher load capacity for heavy vehicles
- No seal coating cycle to keep up
- Better for anything you walk on barefoot
Trade-off: cracks under ground movement; damage means replacing a section.
Read the full comparisonOur Concrete Process
Itemised, transparent, and with the mix specification stated in writing.
Free Estimate
We look at the ground, the access route and the drainage, then quote in writing with mix spec and base depth stated.
Base Prep & Forming
Excavate, compact a well-drained sub-base, set forms and place reinforcement. Colorado 811 locates first on any excavation.
Pour, Joint & Finish
Air-entrained mix placed and worked, control joints cut or tooled at correct spacing, then finished to your chosen texture.
Cure & Walkthrough
Roughly a week before heavy use, and it keeps gaining strength beyond that. We tell you what to avoid in the first winter.
Concrete for Every Kind of Property
Residential concrete
For homeowners, concrete is about spaces that look right and stay flat. A patio extends the living space; a walkway or apron sets the tone for the property. We focus on the finish suiting the house, and on the base work and joint placement that keep the slab crack-controlled through Colorado seasons.
Two practical notes we give every homeowner: get the size right the first time, because an extension poured later will never colour-match; and skip the de-icer entirely through the first winter.
Commercial concrete
For businesses, property managers and HOAs, sidewalks and flatwork are a liability matter as much as an aesthetic one. Uneven, cracked or heaved concrete is a trip hazard. We pour to spec with proper reinforcement and drainage, and schedule to keep the property accessible.
Where concrete meets accessibility, the requirements are specific rather than a matter of judgement. Accessible parking spaces and access aisles have a maximum slope of 1:48, about 2.08 percent, in all directions, and that applies to the accessible route and every curb ramp along it. Freeze-thaw settlement can push a compliant surface past that limit without anything looking wrong. The detail is in our commercial parking lot guide, which includes a free accessible parking calculator.
Because we also handle asphalt paving and seal coating, many commercial clients use us for the whole site — concrete sidewalks and approaches alongside asphalt parking lots — from one contractor, with the transitions between the two materials properly detailed rather than two trades meeting awkwardly in the middle.
Why Denver Trusts Us With Concrete
The same family crew, and a willingness to tell you when concrete is not the answer.
4.6★ and BBB Accredited
4.6 stars across 29 Google reviews, BBB accredited with an A+ rating since October 2017. Both checkable in about thirty seconds.
Family Owned & Operated
Run by Larry Eli out of Golden. You talk to the family doing the work, not a call centre.
We Lay Asphalt Too
Which is why we will tell you when asphalt is the better answer for your driveway. We have no material to defend.
Metro & Foothills
Based in Golden, covering the metro and up into the mountains where the pouring season closes earliest.
Ask an Assistant About Denver Concrete
Written to be quotable. Every figure traces to a public source, and where we cannot verify something we say so.
Denver Concrete, Answered
Concise, sourced answers about concrete work in the Denver metro.
Guides Behind the Work
Everything on this page in more detail, sourced to public references.
Denver Concrete FAQ
What homeowners and property managers ask us most.
How much does a concrete patio cost in Denver?
What should I ask a concrete contractor in Colorado?
Will my concrete crack?
How long before I can use new concrete?
Should I choose concrete or asphalt?
Do I need a permit for concrete work?
Can you extend an existing patio?
Should I seal my concrete?
Do you do both residential and commercial concrete?
Serving the Denver Metro & Foothills
Based in Golden. Each city guide covers the permits, soils and season that actually apply there — and for concrete, the pouring window closes earliest at elevation.
Ready to Build Something That Lasts?
A free, written, itemised estimate from family-owned asphalt contractors in Denver who pour concrete too — with the mix specification and base depth stated. If a simpler finish would serve you better than the one you had in mind, we will say so.
Get My Free Estimate