Our Services

Contacting Us
The Estimate
Requesting a Contract
Calling Miss Utility
Starting the Job
Setting Grade Lines and Forms
Grading and Compacting
Expansion Joints
Calculating and Ordering the Concrete
Placing and Finishing the Concrete
Removing Forms and Saw Cutting
Complete Cleanup

Contacting Us
At F&M, we strive to make your home improvement experience a good one. We try to have a staff member in the office during regular business hours to answer all calls personally. If a staff member does not answer your call and you reach our answering machine, please leave us a detailed message explaining everything you think we should know about your specific project and we will return your call as soon as possible or you can send us an email.

The Estimate
When requesting a free estimate on your driveway, an estimator will contact you to set up an appointment to meet with you. When meeting with the estimator you should explain exactly what you are interested in. The estimator will make a rough sketch and take all necessary notes and measurements on your specific project. If you are not sure about something that has to do with your project, don't be afraid to ask our estimator questions. Our estimator will take the time to provide you with any necessary information, and answer all questions about your project.

Before the estimator sends the estimate by mail, another staff member reviews the estimate to reduce the amount of mistakes. We will follow up with a phone call a few days after the estimate is sent to make sure that you have received the estimate and to see if you have any questions.

Requesting a Contract
Once you have decided to have us perform your work, please call or email us and request a written contract. We will mail you two copies of the contract. Sign both and return one copy of the contract along with the deposit. Once we have received your contract and deposit we will schedule your work. Scheduling is initially done by the month. We will notify you once we establish a firm date.

Calling Miss Utility
As the start date for your work gets closer, if necessary we will call Miss Utility to have all underground utility wires marked. This is not required on all jobs but if the original contract states to call Miss Utility, we will normally do so just before starting your job.

Starting the Job
Our crew arrives on the job between 7:00 a.m. and 7:30 a.m. The crew will start by removing the old concrete. This is done by saw cutting and then jack hammering. Our John Deer backhoe is then brought in for the excavation process. The backhoe loads the old concrete onto our dump trucks. Once the dump truck is loaded, the dump truck hauls the old concrete to a recycling center where the old concrete is crushed and reused for many different purposes.

Setting Grade Lines and Forms
Once the old concrete is removed, the grade lines (string line) are then set. We remove 3" to 4" of sod or dirt along the edge where the old concrete existed to set forms for the new concrete. Once the lines are set and checked for straightness and water flow, the forms are ready to be set. Wood forms and stakes are nailed together to create a form suitable for the weight of the new concrete.

Grading and Compacting
When the forms are set to the proper grades, the grading process then begins. Grading is done to allow us to pour the specific amount of new concrete into the formed area 5" Thick. On most jobs crushed stone is placed to fill voids left from years of settling. Once the area has been completely graded to 5", we compact the area thoroughly with one of our flat plate vibrating tampers. These tampers are specifically designed for compacting surface materials to 95%.

Expansion Joints
After the grading and compacting process is complete, we set all expansion joints that will be used on your job. We use two different types of joints for new concrete.

1. The actual fiber expansion material is used to allow the new concrete to move up and down freely in different weather conditions.
2. Grooved joints, made by tools such as jointers, are placed in the concrete and then saw cut to the proper depth with our concrete saws. This perforates the concrete and allows us to control the movement of the slab, which will avoid serious surface cracks in the future.

Calculating and Ordering the Concrete
The foreman on the job measures and calculates the amount of concrete needed for the job. Once the foreman gathers all his calculations, the concrete ordered is loaded at the plant and delivered to the job.

Placing and Finishing the Concrete
Now the concrete is ready to be placed into the forms. This is done in 4 stages.

1. Placing or screeding the concrete to the top of all forms.
2. Floating allows the larger stones to sink further into the concrete and the sand and cement to stay at the concrete's surface.
3. Edging and troweling are done to detail the concrete, which gives the newly placed concrete a finished look.
4. Once the concrete is finished we use a light broom for the surface of the concrete to add traction to reduce the possibility of slipping when the surface is wet.

Removing Forms and Saw Cutting
The concrete has usually hardened by the next day. The forms are removed and then hauled to the next job. We also saw cut the tooled joints to ensure proper perforation, allowing the concrete to move freely during the change of weather.

Complete Clean-Up
This is the final step and one of the most important. We believe this is your last impression of us and we want you to be totally satisfied customer. Our personally trained clean up man will remove all concrete debris, sweep the street thoroughly and place topsoil and grass seed where the forms were set. Depending on the time of year, your grass should grow in two or three weeks. Don't forget to water the areas during the summer months.