Concrete Contractors in Troy, NY

Troy is a hard city to pour concrete in, and that is exactly why homeowners look for concrete contractors who plan for slope. The western edge of the city is flat along the Hudson River, then the land rises sharply to the east, reaching about 500 feet at its highest point. Troy had 51,401 residents and 24,325 housing units in 2020, many of them on streets that tilt.

Steps, lots of steps

On a hillside, the front door is often well above or below the sidewalk. That means more risers, longer flights and landings, and more chances for something to go wrong. A good set of concrete steps in Troy needs:

• A footing below frost depth so the flight does not heave away from the house
• Even risers from top to bottom, including the first step off the sidewalk
• Landings where a flight is long enough to need a rest point
• A broom or textured finish for grip and a pitch that sheds water off each tread

We also plan for railings at the time of the pour, since anchors set into fresh concrete hold better than ones drilled later.

Driveways that climb

Where Troy homes have driveways at all, they often climb or drop steeply. On those we use a deeper broom texture, cut joints at closer spacing, and look at where runoff from uphill will cross the slab. A driveway that sheds water toward the garage needs a drain, not just a slope.

Where a yard drops away, a patio may need a raised edge or a thickened border so it does not undercut. Rather than pour a slab that floats over a slope on fill, we prefer to step the design: a lower patio, a short run of steps, then an upper landing near the door. Each level sits on a compacted base on firm ground, which holds up far better through a Troy winter than a single slab propped up on loose soil.

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Old city, old foundations

Troy was chartered as a city in 1816, annexed Lansingburgh in 1900, and still has many examples of intact 19th-century architecture, especially in the Central Troy Historic District. The city has also nearly been destroyed by fire three times, including the Great Troy Fire of 1862. Homes that old often have stone or brick foundations that do not like water against them. When we replace a walk or a patio next to one, we slope the new concrete away firmly and leave an isolation joint at the wall.

Creeks and neighborhoods

The Poesten Kill and the Wynants Kill are Troy's two largest creeks, and Downtown and South Troy sit on the land between them along the Hudson. Lansingburgh, often called North Troy, is a former village with its own older housing. Properties near creeks or on the low riverside flats may deal with wet ground, while hillside properties deal with runoff from above. Either way, drainage drives the design.

Public walks on steep blocks

On Troy's hillside streets, the public sidewalk often climbs with the grade, and the walk up to the house may meet it at an awkward angle. Replacing those sections means matching the slope of the walk on either side, keeping joints square to the direction of travel, and giving the surface enough texture to stay usable in ice. Before any work on the public sidewalk or in a historic district, we check with the City of Troy on what it requires.