The cracked driveway
Built with the house, poured on clay or thin fill, cracked by year four. Whether it can be repaired or needs a new base depends on how far the slab has moved.
Repair →
Greer · Greenville County · Spartanburg County
Concrete that holds up on red clay, through forty freezes and a Greer summer.
Driveways, patios, stamped and decorative finishes, walkways, steps, garage and shop slabs, retaining walls, repair, leveling and sealing across Greer and the towns around it. Every slab starts with the ground under it: dug to stable clay, built up on compacted stone, formed, reinforced and poured by crews who have watched enough Upstate driveways fail to know exactly why.
Insured crews · Free on-site estimates · Written prices before scheduling · Phones answered around the clock
What is the concrete doing?Usual cause
- CRACKLong cracks that keep wideningClay moving under a slab with no stone base, or joints cut too late. Repair, or replace with a proper subgrade.
- SINKOne slab lower than the next, a lip at the garageFill settling or water washing out the base. Foam or slurry leveling lifts it back in a morning.
- FLAKESurface peeling off in thin sheetsFreeze-thaw scaling on unsealed concrete, or water worked into the mix at the pour. Resurface, then seal.
- POOLWater sitting on the slab or against the houseGrade poured flat or settled backwards. Leveling, a channel drain, or a re-pour that slopes away.
- NEWBare dirt where a driveway should beNew build or a tear-out. Stone base, rebar or fiber, a finish you choose, poured early in the day.
An estimator looks at the slab and the ground beside it before anything is priced. The visit is free.
The ground comes firstExcavation to stable clay, four to six inches of compacted crushed stone, compacted again, before a single form goes down
Written price, free visitThe estimator measures, probes the base, checks the grade and hands you an itemized number that holds unless the ground changes it
Poured for this climateEarly starts and proper curing in summer, joints cut on time, air-entrained mixes and sealing advice for the freeze-thaw winters
Seven days a weekCrews work weekends when the weather allows; the phone is answered any hour, any day
What we pour
Twelve kinds of concrete work for a city that has grown forty-one percent since 2020
Concrete driveways
New driveways, replacements, extensions and aprons on a compacted stone base, with control joints cut the same day and a broom finish that grips in the rain.
Driveways and prices →Concrete patios
Backyard patios and outdoor living slabs graded away from the house, sized for the furniture and the fire pit, plain or stamped.
Patios →Stamped and decorative concrete
Stamped patterns, integral color, acid and water-based stains, exposed aggregate and borders, sealed so the color lasts.
Decorative finishes →Concrete repair
Crack routing and filling, spall patching, resurfacing overlays and edge rebuilds on driveways, patios and walks that still have good concrete underneath.
Repair →Concrete leveling
Sunken walks, settled driveway slabs and garage floor lips lifted with polyurethane foam or cement slurry, usable the same day.
Leveling →Slabs, footings and pads
Garage, shop, barn and shed slabs, building pads and footings, formed and reinforced to carry what you are putting on them.
Slabs →Retaining walls
Poured and block walls with proper footings and drainage for the grade changes Greer's rolling lots keep handing homeowners.
Retaining walls →Sidewalks, walkways and steps
Front walks, side paths, pool decks and poured steps with safe risers and non-slip finishes, drained so they do not ice over.
Walkways →Sealing and maintenance
Penetrating sealers every two to three years to keep water out of the pores before the winter freezes work on them.
Sealing →The numbers
Four figures that explain concrete work in Greer
Greer is the fastest-growing city in the Greenville–Spartanburg metro, sits on Piedmont red clay, and lives in the one climate zone of South Carolina where it freezes often but never stays frozen. Each of those shows up in a driveway sooner or later.
41%Population growth in Greer since the 2020 census, to roughly 50,000 people, most of it in new subdivisions built on graded and filled clay along I-85, Highway 14 and the Wade Hampton corridor, where the fill has had the least time to settle
49 inRain a year, well above the national average, falling on a clay that does not drain, which is why a stone base, positive grading and drains matter more here than the concrete mix does
40–60Days a year when the temperature crosses 32°F in the Upstate, each one pushing water in unsealed concrete to freeze and expand, which is where scaling, flaking and widening cracks come from
90°F+Typical July and August highs with heavy humidity, the conditions that dry a slab's surface faster than its core and cause plastic shrinkage cracking on pours that start too late in the day
What decides the job
Three things about the ground and the weather that a Greer estimate has to get right
Clay
The subgrade is the job
Piedmont red clay covers every lot from the fall line to the mountains. It swells wet, shrinks dry, and holds water against the underside of a slab. Concrete poured on it without preparation cracks within three to five years, and poured on uncompacted fill it settles even sooner. We excavate to stable ground, place crushed stone in lifts, compact each one and only then set forms. It is the least visible part of the work and the part that decides whether the driveway lasts twenty years or five.
Freeze
Forty winters' worth of expansion
The coast rarely freezes and the mountains stay cold; Greer bounces across freezing dozens of times each winter. Water in an unsealed slab's pores expands each time, flaking the surface, opening hairline cracks and prying joints apart. The honest answer is an air-entrained mix, joints cut at the right spacing and a penetrating sealer renewed every two or three years. It is cheap, and it is the difference between a driveway that looks new at fifteen and one that looks tired at six.
Heat
Summer pours start at daybreak
From June through September the afternoon air is above 85°F and thick with humidity. A slab finished at two in the afternoon loses water from its surface faster than it can bleed up from below, and the top shrinks and crazes before the concrete has any strength. So summer pours are scheduled early, the subgrade is dampened, the mix is adjusted, wind breaks and misting are used when the forecast calls for it, and every slab is cured, not just left to dry.
What we see most
The four calls that fill a Greer concrete crew's week
Clay movement
Settlement
The sunken walk
A front walk or garage apron that dropped an inch where water washed the base out. Lifted with foam in a morning, far cheaper than replacing it.
Leveling →Freeze-thaw
The flaking patio
A surface that scaled off in sheets after a few winters, usually on concrete that was never sealed. Resurface it, then keep it sealed.
Sealing →Growth
The new driveway
A tear-out and replacement, an extension for a third car, or the first driveway on a new lot off Highway 14. The stone base is where the money goes, and should.
Driveways →
The ground here
Fifty thousand people, two counties, one kind of dirt
Greer straddles the Greenville–Spartanburg county line on the I-85 corridor, with the BMW plant, the Inland Port and the airport on one side and subdivisions filling in on every other. The city has grown by about forty-one percent since 2020, to roughly 50,000 people, and most of that growth is new homes on lots that were cut and filled out of rolling Piedmont clay. Those are the driveways and patios that will crack first if the fill was not compacted, and we see the first of them already.
The older neighborhoods have the opposite problem: concrete poured decades ago that has gone through hundreds of freeze-thaw cycles, with scaled surfaces, settled walks and joints that have opened up. Both kinds of work need somebody who understands what the clay and the climate do, which is different from what they do in Charleston or Columbia, let alone the places most concrete advice online is written for.
We work throughout Greer, Taylors, Duncan, Lyman and Wellford along the corridor, north to Travelers Rest and Inman, and south to Mauldin and Simpsonville, plus Boiling Springs and Powdersville when the schedule allows.
Where we work →How a job goes
From the first call to the saw cuts
1
Call or send the form
Tell us what you want poured, fixed or lifted and where. The phone is answered at any hour; an estimator calls back to set a visit, usually within a working day.
2
The site visit
Measuring, a look at the slope and where water goes, a probe of the existing base, truck access, and the finish and thickness you want. Questions answered on the spot.
3
A written price
Itemized: tear-out if any, excavation, stone base, reinforcement, concrete, finish, joints and sealing, with the schedule and the weather window it depends on.
4
Pour, cure, cut, seal
Forms set and checked for fall, the pour scheduled for the right hour, the slab cured, joints cut on time, and clear instructions on when you can walk, drive and seal.
Where we work
Greer first, then the whole Greenville–Spartanburg corridor
Home base is Greer: the established streets around downtown and Wade Hampton Boulevard, the neighborhoods off Highway 14 and Brushy Creek Road, the Riverside and Pelham Road side toward the airport, and the new subdivisions still going in along I-85 and toward the Spartanburg County line.
From there the crews cover Taylors and Travelers Rest to the north and west, Duncan, Lyman, Wellford and Inman along the corridor and toward Spartanburg, Mauldin and Simpsonville to the south, and Boiling Springs and Powdersville on the edges. Each town has its own mix of old concrete and new fill, and each town page says what we see there.
See every town we cover →
Plain answers
What Greer homeowners ask before they hire a concrete contractor
What does a concrete driveway cost in Greer?
For 2026 budgeting in the Upstate, a standard broom-finish driveway runs about $6 to $16 per square foot, so an 800-square-foot two-car driveway lands somewhere between $4,800 and $12,800 before removal of the old slab. Stamped or colored finishes are $12 to $25 per square foot. The spread is wide because the ground under the slab decides most of the price here: a lot on undisturbed clay with easy truck access costs less than a sloped lot of fresh fill that needs cutting, hauling and a thick stone base. The estimator measures, probes the subgrade and writes the number before anything is scheduled. The cost guide walks through every line.
Why do driveways around here crack after only a few years?
Nine times out of ten it is the red clay underneath, not the concrete on top. Piedmont clay swells when it is wet and shrinks when it dries, and Greer gets 49 inches of rain a year followed by hot, dry late summers, so the ground moves every single year. A slab poured straight onto that clay, or onto fill that was never compacted, moves with it and cracks. The fix is in the preparation: dig to stable ground, place and compact four to six inches of crushed stone, compact again, then pour. Our red clay guide explains it in detail.
Do I need a permit for a driveway or patio in Greer?
Usually not. Standard residential flatwork such as driveways, patios, sidewalks and small slabs generally does not require a building permit in Greer, Greenville County or Spartanburg County. Structural concrete is different: foundations, footings for a building and retaining walls above a certain height can need a permit from the city or the county, and we tell you which before the job is priced. Whatever the job, we call in utility locates before any digging starts.
Are you licensed?
South Carolina has no licence specifically for concrete contractors, so no concrete company in Greer can honestly claim one. What exists is insurance, which the crews who work through us carry, general liability and workers' compensation, and the state's residential specialty registration or contractor licence that larger structural and commercial projects require, which is held as the law requires for those jobs. Ask for the insurance certificate; we send it before the first truck arrives.
Can you pour in July? What about January?
Yes to both, with the right precautions. Summer pours in Greer start early, before the heat and humidity push the surface to dry faster than the slab underneath, and we use wet curing or a curing compound so the top does not shrink and craze. Winter pours wait for a forecast that stays above freezing for the first few days; with 40 to 60 freeze-thaw days a year, timing matters more here than on the coast. The weather guide covers both seasons.
Is the estimate really free, and is the phone really answered at night?
Yes and yes. The site visit, the measuring and the written price cost nothing and carry no obligation. The phone is answered 24 hours a day, seven days a week; your details are taken whenever you call and an estimator calls back to set a time, usually the next working day. Crews work seven days a week when the weather allows it.