Phoenix Home Services uses air entraining mixes to create a concrete mix that is resistant to frost and thawing that we experience in Northern Virginia. The final part of Phoenix Home Services concrete is a special addition of polycarboxylate-based plasticizers and residential micro fibers. Most city sidewalks are installed with a 3000 PSI mix, but Phoenix Home Services ups the Portland content to gain a minimum of 4000 PSI concrete at 28 days. At 28 days concrete has gained it full strength through the currying process. If your driveway is to be covered with clay pavers, we will also add fiber-reinforced concrete (FRC) which will help your concrete not to crack. Studies made on fiber-reinforced concrete in driveways found that mixing (FRC) fibers provided strength and controlled cracking by 500%. We use residential micro fiber on our finished driveways. Some homeowners still want Phoenix Home Services to use wire mesh to reinforce their driveway systems. When pouring a concrete driveway, the first step is to make sure the grade is set so no water can enter the garage and any excess water will be diverted to the street curb. The concrete will be placed on your driveway from the concrete truck shoot. As the concrete comes off the truck, it will be screened using a large 2x 4 grade stake to make sure your driveway has a full 4” of concrete. With our Forman’s oversight, a sawing motion is used. This method will force the concrete to lower spots on your driveway.

The next step is to place a magnesium bull float on your concrete driveway to smooth out the concrete. Magnesium is used for a concrete floating device because it does not draw up to much water and lets the chemical process of hydration occur without evaporation. Concrete does not just dry out, but a chemical process called hydration, not evaporation, sets the concrete. When the time is right, steel trowels are then used to smooth out the concrete and bring up the cream (Portland cement and sand). At this point in finishing your driveway project, timing is everything. If you put the broom on to soon, you will have a rough finish. Your concrete driveway needs to be finished with a broom to so that it has some traction, and rough spots are cleaned up. Brooming a driveway at the right time will leave it looking professional with a fine broom finish. When the concrete is just about set, a concrete broom will be run vertically to finish the concrete project. The concrete broom is dipped in a bucket of water and very carefully run across the almost-set concrete. One of the most important steps in building a concrete driveway is to install control joints. A control joint should be placed every 8 feet. Concrete will crack but installing control joints will tell the concrete where to crack. Phoenix Home Services will saw cut expansion joints in your driveway with a diamond blade saw.

Phoenix Home Services also installs all types of commercial concrete pours from sidewalks and patios to curbs and gutter work. We have poured concrete slabs for many local commercial properties such as Bank of Virginia, McDonalds, Paul VI Catholic High School, Franconia Springfield Washington Metro Station, Spa World, many restaurants, and Nish. We have also completed many VDOT concrete projects. A VDOT concrete driveway apron requires a VDOT permit in Prince William County, and Fairfax County. These VDOT concrete projects require a permit pulled by the homeowner. Phoenix will pull the permit for your concrete apron in Arlington and Alexandria.

Phoenix Home Services also installs exposed aggregate concrete driveways, patios, and sidewalks. The technology behind installing an exposed aggregate concrete driveway and a finished driveway is very similar. The main difference is when the concrete order is placed it is ordered with pea gravel instead of the normal #57 gravel used for most concrete driveways and patios. When the concrete is bull floated we spray on a concrete retarder. A concrete retarder keeps the top1/8 of your drive way from setting up. Once the concrete retarder is sprayed on your driveway we then lay down a 5 mil plastic trap. After the concrete is set, we will return the next day and power wash off the portland cream to expose the pea gravel. Often times we dye the concrete to match the color of the pea gravel to give your driveway a more uniformed look. After a day or two we will then seal your driveway to protect the aggregate and give your driveway a custom luster finish. After the aggregate concrete driveway is set up, Phoenix Home Services will return to saw cut expansion joints in your concrete slab. Decorative concrete for driveways has been used for the last 15 years in Northern Virginia. Decorative concrete can be colorized by using Davis Colors™ which are light, fast, permanent, and weather resistant. Color admixtures can take your driveway form ordinary to breathtaking. These Davis colors can also be used in stamped concrete driveways that were installed to resemble brick, slate, flagstone, stone, or tile.

Phoenix Home Services builds some of the best brick and concrete brick bordered driveways in Northern Virginia. We also are a company that can install concrete paver, stamped, and colored driveways for homeowners in Northern Virginia. We have poured many driveway projects commercially and residentially in all areas of Fairfax County, Loudoun County, Arlington County, Prince William County,Washington DC and the city of Alexandria VA. We work in the cities of Ashburn, Alexandria, Annandale, Aldie, Burke, Bristow, Broadlands, Clifton, Centreville, Chantilly, Dale City, Dumfries, Falls Church, Fairfax Station, Fairfax City, Fairfax, Great Falls, Gainesville, Haymarket, Herndon, Langley, Mclean, Fairfax Station, Fairfax City, Middleburg, Nokesville , Oak Hill, Oakton , Leesburg, Lansdowne, Mclean, Springfield, Woodbridge, North Reston, Reston Town Center, Reston, Sterling, Sterling Park, Tyson’s, Manassas, Manassas Park, South Riding, Vienna, and Lake Ridge VA.