Concrete Contractor in Carrollton, TX

Carrollton's 1970s and 1980s homes and the concrete they need now

The town grew fast, nearly all at once. According to the Handbook of Texas, the population rose 193 percent from 1970 to 1980, and almost three-quarters of the year-round housing standing in 1980 went up in that decade. Census figures pick up from there. The 1980s were the largest building decade at 28 percent of today's 54,365 units, and the median home dates to 1988 (ACS 2020-2024).

The age shows in the flatwork. A driveway, front walk or back patio poured forty-plus years ago on clay has gone through decades of wet and dry cycles, tree roots and settling. Replacing one is a tear-out job for a concrete contractor in Carrollton: saw-cut the old slab, haul it off, regrade, and pour new concrete that meets today's standards. Carrollton also spans parts of Dallas, Denton and Collin counties and belongs to the Metrocrest with Addison, Coppell and Farmers Branch, so the rules below hold whichever county line your lot sits on. Our driveway and patio service pages show what we pour.

Private slab or right-of-way: where Carrollton draws the permit line

The city's amended IRC exempts sidewalks and driveways entirely on private property from a building permit (2024 IRC amendments). The exemption ends at the property line. The city's driveway and curb cut page calls for a permit when a curb cut is in the right-of-way, when the driveway approach changes, or when a private driveway is repaired or replaced and will tie into the approach. When a tear-out reaches the approach, a concrete contractor in Carrollton plans a permit into the job.

Submit a plot plan or survey showing the approach, with specs for concrete depth and reinforcement size and spacing. All right-of-way paving follows Paving Detail P-16, and the city makes one inspection when the work is done. The fee schedule lists the driveway and curb cut permit at $100, and Engineering adds an inspection fee of $0.265 per sq ft for paving in the right-of-way or easements. Work that starts before the permit draws an investigation fee equal to the permit fee.

Even when no permit is needed, the city's FAQ says the code is still applicable and must be followed (Building Inspection FAQs). We pour private slabs to the same class the city lists, inspected or not.

What It Costs

Our ranges for reinforced work here, before the site visit:

Treat these ranges as planning numbers. Once we've measured the site and found the right-of-way line, every job gets a free written estimate.

Carrollton paving classes, from the approach to the back patio

The city's General Design Standards give each piece of a home lot a paving class. The minimums are below:

Detail P-16 fills in the approach: 12 ft minimum width, an 8-inch approved subbase, No. 4 dowels 2 ft 6 in. long at 18 in. going into concrete streets, a full-depth saw cut and a full-depth expansion joint. Where the approach meets a curb-and-gutter street it gets a 12 by 12 inch footing, and the sidewalk across it holds a 2 percent max slope.

Width, circular driveways and alley access under Chapter 53 for a concrete contractor in Carrollton

Want a wider driveway or a second opening? The city's street code, Chapter 53, sets the limits. A standard residential driveway is 12 to 24 ft wide face to face, and 32 ft is allowed to an alley if the garage faces it. Curb radii run 5 to 15 ft. On a platted lot, total driveway width can't pass half the frontage on each street, and a residential driveway can't take access from an arterial or major collector.

For a circular driveway, the lot needs at least 65 ft of frontage, both openings must be on the same street, it can't connect to an alley, and 25 ft of straight curb has to separate the radii. Each leg is 10 to 16 ft wide. Every other lot gets one driveway opening, a limit any concrete contractor in Carrollton plans around. Grades are capped at 10 percent, and break-over is limited to 12 percent at crests and 8 percent at sags.

One quirk applies to older neighborhoods. Residential subdivisions accepted before January 19, 1990 with street access may also have a driveway to an existing residential alley. If the city turns down a layout, the appeal goes to the Construction Advisory and Appeals Board within ten days. Our Carrollton driveway page takes a full replacement here step by step.

How Your Job Goes

1. Consultation and design

   We measure the old slab, locate the right-of-way line, and check Chapter 53 width and opening limits before we draw anything.

2. Planning and preparation

   We file the curb cut permit when the work touches the approach, call in locates, saw-cut and haul off the old concrete, and compact the subgrade.

3. Installation and completion

   We set steel to the city's class, pour the approach at street thickness, book the completion inspection in CityServe, and clean up.

Patios, sheds and retaining walls on a Carrollton lot

Behind the house, the rules tighten in a few places. The shed exemption in the city's code shrank from 200 to 120 sq ft, so a larger building, pad included, needs a permit (the miscellaneous building permit is $50). Single-family zoning allows one accessory building and one detached garage per lot, and neither can sit between the house front and a public street. Over 600 sq ft, a building has to match the house's materials and style (Article 7). Decks need a permit over 200 sq ft or 30 inches high. Patio covers, outdoor kitchens and outdoor fireplaces always need one.

A concrete contractor in Carrollton also has to track retaining wall rules, which changed on January 1, 2026. Walls 4 ft or taller, or walls supporting a surcharge, still need a permit. Now a wall of any height within 4 ft of a right-of-way needs one too. Brick or stone veneer is required on a wall facing a public street. Our retaining wall page shows what we pour.

Plan a big patio around two lot rules. Each residential lot keeps at least 10 percent landscaped, and the city charges tree mitigation at $225 per caliper inch for protected trees not otherwise mitigated, so we plan around big trees. You'll find patio details on our Carrollton patio page, and engineered slabs for additions on Carrollton foundations.

Booking inspections with Carrollton Building Inspection

Carrollton Building Inspection, at City Hall on East Jackson Road, handles permits and inspections through the online CityServe Portal. The city inspects once a day. A request before 7 a.m. gets a same-day visit, one after 7 a.m. waits for the next business day, and Friday afternoons have no inspections. We book around that, so a Thursday pour doesn't wait through the weekend for its inspection.

More details: general contractor registration is free, permits expire no later than three years from issue, and Neighborhood Empowerment Zones waive building permit fees. Emergency repairs can start first if the permit application goes in the next working day. In the Historic Preservation overlay, work that changes the exterior of a designated historic structure needs a Certificate of Historic Appropriateness before the permitted work begins, and the city tells residents to check their HOA's deed restrictions and covenants for added rules.

Every dig starts with utility locates. Our North Dallas permits guide covers Texas811 and compares this process with its neighbors'. If you want a concrete contractor in Carrollton to start with the permit question, send us the address.