Concrete Contractors in Smetana, TX

Smetana is an unincorporated community on State Highway 21 and U.S. Route 190, about six miles west of Bryan, and our concrete contractors work on Smetana homes that sit on open country lots. The Texas A&M Research and Extension Center, also known as the Old Bryan Army Airfield, lies one mile west. Smetana had a school as early as 1885 and a second one in 1941, and the Handbook of Texas listed about 80 residents in 2000.

Close to town, rural in practice

Smetana is a short drive from Bryan, but properties out here look different from in-town lots. There is space for long driveways, shops, barns and wide patios. Typical projects on these lots:

1. Driveways off the highway or a county road, replacing gravel or broken concrete. 2. Shop and barn slabs for metal buildings. 3. Patios behind the house, plain or stamped. 4. Walkways between house, garage and outbuildings. 5. Repair of older slabs with cracked or sunken sections.

Lower ground toward the river

Smetana sits at 266 feet, lower than Bryan at 361 feet, as the land drops west toward the Brazos. Wikipedia places the Brazos about nine miles southwest of Bryan. The Handbook of Texas describes Brazos County soils as alluvial to sandy, with the northern third of the county in the Blackland Prairie. In this area that can mean sandy loam in one spot and heavier clay a short distance away.

We check the ground where each slab will go. Our standard approach on mixed soils:

• Strip topsoil and roots down to firm ground.
• Replace soft spots with compacted fill.
• Use a crushed-stone or select-fill base under the slab.
• Set rebar on chairs at mid-depth.
• Cut control joints the same day as the pour.

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Planning around septic and buried lines

Country homes near Smetana usually have septic systems and buried water lines, and a loaded concrete truck can crush them. Before pour day, we ask where your tank, lateral field and water lines are, then plan the truck route and the chute or pump placement to keep weight off them. If a line has to run under a new slab, it goes in first and gets a sleeve where it passes beneath the concrete so it can be serviced later.

Highway access and aprons

A driveway that meets a state highway or a busy road takes extra wear at the entrance, where vehicles slow and turn. We thicken the apron and make sure it ties into the road edge cleanly. Any work in a highway right-of-way may need approval from the agency that maintains the road, so we check before we form anything near the pavement.

Patios and stamped finishes

A back patio in the country is often bigger than one in town. For large patios we lay out joints in a grid that suits the shape, so cracks stay in the joints. Stamped concrete with integral color gives a stone look without loose pavers that shift in clay soil. We seal stamped surfaces after curing to protect color from the sun.

Summer heat and curing

Wikipedia's climate data for Bryan lists an August mean high of 96.2 degrees. On open country lots with no shade, fresh concrete can dry faster than it sets. We start early, keep the base damp, and cure the surface right after finishing. Keep cars off new driveways for about a week, and heavy equipment off shop slabs longer.

Because Smetana is unincorporated, we check with Brazos County about any requirements for your project before scheduling.