Curbs, Aprons & Edging

The apron is the section between the street and the property line, and it fails more often than the rest of the drive for reasons that have nothing to do with workmanship. Every vehicle crosses it, usually at an angle and often while turning, which puts twisting load on the slab. It sits at the transition between the road base and the driveway base, which are rarely built the same way. And it takes runoff from the street. When a driveway is cracked only at the apron, that is normal wear rather than a sign the whole drive is failing.

Work in the right-of-way is not the same as work on private property. The strip between the sidewalk and the street usually belongs to the municipality even though the homeowner maintains it, and replacing an apron there can require an encroachment permit and an inspection. Requirements differ between Charlotte, the surrounding towns and NCDOT-maintained roads. We establish which applies before starting rather than after, because the alternative is a stop-work order on a half-finished pour.

Where an apron meets an existing kerb and gutter, the new work has to pick up the existing gutter line exactly or it creates a lip that channels water the wrong way. This is a survey question more than a concrete question. We shoot grades at the kerb and at the garage before forming, because an apron poured to the wrong elevation is not something that can be adjusted afterwards.

Concrete edging along beds, paths and driveway margins does two jobs: it holds material where you put it, and it gives a mower a clean line to run against. It is poured in a continuous form rather than set as units, so there are no joints for weeds to find. Depth matters more than the visible height — edging that sits only in topsoil will heave and shift, so it needs a footing depth that gets it into stable ground.

A short damaged section of kerb can be cut out and replaced without disturbing the run either side, provided the adjacent sections are stable. Where a kerb has been broken by vehicle impact the damage is usually localised and a section replacement is right. Where it has broken because the base beneath it has washed out — common at the low end of a slope, or beside a downspout discharge — replacing the kerb without fixing the drainage means doing it again.