Residential Concrete in New Orleans, LA

What Does Residential Concrete Work Cover?

Most homeowners come to us with one of three needs: they want something new poured, they want an existing slab repaired or leveled, or they want the old concrete removed before a replacement goes in.

New pours include concrete driveways, patios, garage floors, pool decks, sidewalks and walkways, concrete steps and stoops, and retaining walls. A concrete slab also serves as the base for additions, sheds and covered outdoor rooms. Stamped and decorative concrete applies to any of these surfaces when a homeowner wants a textured or colored finish rather than plain gray.

Repair and restoration work covers concrete resurfacing for surfaces that are sound but worn, concrete leveling and lifting for slabs that have settled unevenly, and targeted concrete repair for cracks, spalled edges and damaged control joints. When a slab is too far gone to repair, concrete removal and demolition clears the site so a new pour starts on clean, properly prepared ground.

What Does Residential Concrete Cost in 2026?

Four projects account for most residential calls in Greater New Orleans. Prices below reflect 2026 material and labor rates in the metro area. Jefferson, Orleans and St. Tammany Parish jobs all carry similar base rates, though site access and subgrade conditions move the final number.

Three factors move a residential price outside those ranges: demolition and hauling of the existing slab, subgrade repair when fill has consolidated or roots have displaced the base, and finish type. A plain broom finish sits at the low end. Stamped concrete with color adds $4 to $9 per square foot. Retaining walls and steps are priced by linear foot and rise count rather than square footage.

How Does the Ground in Greater New Orleans Affect the Work?

The south shore, including Orleans, Jefferson and St. Bernard parishes, sits on soft alluvial clay and organic silt with a water table roughly 2 to 5 feet below grade. That ground consolidates under load and holds moisture, which is why slabs here settle at joints and edges rather than cracking mid-span. Correcting for that requires a minimum 4-inch compacted limestone base, a 6-mil polyethylene moisture barrier, and slab thickness of at least 4 inches of 3,500 PSI concrete. Driveways that carry vehicles regularly warrant 5 inches and #3 rebar on 18-inch centers.

The north shore, across Lake Pontchartrain in St. Tammany Parish, has sandy pine-flat soil with genuine drainage. Settlement is less common there, but washout and erosion undermine slab edges on sloped lots. Base aggregate on the north shore is graded to drain rather than to resist consolidation, and perimeter edging is detailed to prevent lateral erosion.

How Does the Process Run From First Call to Finished Slab?

The process runs in five stages for a residential pour.

1. Site visit and written estimate. A crew member walks the site, measures the area, identifies subgrade issues and confirms drainage fall. A written estimate follows within 48 hours with a line-item breakdown.
2. Scope and schedule. Once the estimate is approved, a pour date is set. The homeowner clears the area of vehicles, plants and stored items within 3 feet of the work zone.
3. Prep and form work. Existing concrete is removed if needed, subgrade is graded and compacted, base material is placed and compacted in lifts, and forms are set to the finished elevation and drainage fall.
4. Pour and finish. Concrete is placed, screeded, finished to the specified texture and protected. Control joints are cut within 12 hours of the pour.
5. Cure and handover. Foot traffic is safe after 24 to 48 hours. Vehicle traffic waits 7 days. Full 28-day cure completes before heavy or sustained loads.

What Separates a Quality Pour From a Cheap One?

A homeowner can check five things on any finished residential concrete job without special tools.

• Slab edge thickness. Measure at an exposed edge. A residential slab under 3.5 inches was under-poured.
• Control joint spacing and depth. Joints at 10-foot intervals, cut to one-quarter of the slab depth. Wider spacing means cracks appear where the contractor did not plan them.
• Base material. Ask to see the base before the pour. Compacted limestone or crushed aggregate to a minimum 4-inch depth. Poured directly on native clay soil is a failure waiting to happen in this parish.
• Drainage fall. A patio or driveway surface drains at a minimum slope of 1/8 inch per foot away from the structure. Water pooling against a foundation accelerates settlement.
• Cure protection. Curing compound or wet burlap on the surface within 20 minutes of finishing. Concrete that dries in open sun without protection loses surface strength in the first 48 hours.

Ready to Get a Free Estimate?

A site visit costs nothing and produces a written line-item estimate within 48 hours. Describe the project using the contact form, and a crew member will confirm a time to walk the site. No work begins without a signed written scope and a price you have agreed to in advance.