Question 1

What areas does CHR Home Construction cover?

Accepted Answer

We're based in West Knoxville and pour across Knox, Blount, Loudon, Anderson and Roane counties — Knoxville, Alcoa, Maryville, Lenoir City, Oak Ridge, Loudon, Clinton, Seymour, Harriman and Louisville — plus Athens and Cleveland down the I-75 corridor. If you're not sure whether you're in range, call and ask; we'd rather tell you than have you guess.

Question 2

How much does a concrete driveway cost?

Accepted Answer

It depends on the square footage, the thickness the use calls for, how much old concrete has to come out, how far the truck can get to the pour and what the sub-grade turns out to be. A flat rate on a website would be wrong for most of the jobs it attracted. What we can promise is a free on-site estimate and a written price agreed before any work starts — no charge for the visit, and no surprise line items after the pour.

Question 3

What hours are you open?

Accepted Answer

Monday through Friday, 7:00 AM to 5:00 PM. The early start is deliberate: in an East Tennessee summer, concrete placed at seven behaves very differently from concrete placed at noon, and the finish is better for it.

Question 4

Do you offer any discount?

Accepted Answer

Yes — $500 off for referrals. Send us a neighbour, a friend or a builder, and once the job they book is poured, $500 comes off your next pour with us. There's no limit on how many times you can use it. Just make sure they mention your name when they call.

Question 5

What's the difference between a broom finish and a slick finish?

Accepted Answer

A broom finish is drawn with a broom after floating, leaving a fine directional texture that grips when it's wet or icy. That's what belongs on anything outdoors — driveways, sidewalks, patios, porches. A slick finish is closed up with a power trowel in several passes until the surface is dense, flat and nearly polished. It's ideal indoors, on garage, basement, workshop and warehouse floors, because it sweeps clean and takes a coating without a grind first. Put a slick finish outdoors and it becomes genuinely dangerous in the rain, which is why we'll talk you out of it.

Question 6

How long before I can walk or drive on new concrete?

Accepted Answer

Those are two different numbers and mixing them up is how new slabs get ruined. Foot traffic is usually fine after 24 to 48 hours. Vehicles are not — a driveway wants seven days before a car goes on it, and closer to 14 to 28 days before anything heavy like an RV, a loaded trailer or a delivery truck. Concrete keeps gaining strength for weeks after it looks finished. We'll give you the specific dates for your pour before we leave, and we'd rather you held us to them than tested them.

Question 7

Why does concrete crack, and will mine?

Accepted Answer

Almost all concrete cracks, and anyone who tells you otherwise is selling something. It shrinks as it cures and it moves with temperature, so the question isn't whether it will crack but where. That's what control joints are for: we cut or tool them on a spacing suited to the slab so the crack happens in a straight line at the bottom of a joint where you won't notice it, instead of wandering across the middle. Proper base compaction, the right thickness, the right reinforcement and a proper cure are what keep the rest of it from becoming a structural problem.

Question 8

Do I need to tear out my old driveway, or can it be resurfaced?

Accepted Answer

It depends on what's wrong underneath. If the slab is sound and the cracking is surface-level, an overlay or a resurfacing can be a genuinely good answer and it costs a lot less. If sections have settled, heaved or broken into pieces that rock underfoot, the problem is the base rather than the surface, and anything poured on top of it will fail the same way. We'll walk it with you and say plainly which one you're looking at — including when the honest answer is the cheaper one.

Question 9

Can you pour in winter, or in the rain?

Accepted Answer

Winter, usually yes, with care. East Tennessee doesn't get the hard sustained freezes that stop work outright, but concrete placed below about 40°F needs protection — blankets, accelerator in the mix, adjusted timings — and it can't be allowed to freeze in the first 24 hours. Rain is different: a downpour on a slab that hasn't set will ruin the surface, so we watch the forecast and we will move a pour rather than gamble your driveway on it. A day's delay is cheaper than a scaled finish.

Question 10

Do you do footers and foundations as well as flatwork?

Accepted Answer

Yes — footings, stem walls and slabs on grade for houses, additions, garages, shops, barns, decks and retaining walls. We dig to undisturbed bearing soil below the frost line rather than to a number on a drawing, tie and chair the rebar to the plan, set anchor bolts while the concrete is wet, and sleeve the under-slab plumbing and conduit before the pour instead of cutting it in after. We schedule around your inspections so nothing gets buried before it's been signed off.

Question 11

Do you need a permit, and who pulls it?

Accepted Answer

It depends on the jurisdiction and on what's being poured. A patio slab often doesn't need one; a footing, a foundation, a retaining wall over a certain height or anything tying into a public right-of-way usually does. We'll tell you at the estimate what your job needs in your city or county, and we'll work to whatever inspection schedule applies. If a driveway apron meets a public street, that tie-in generally has its own approval — we'll flag it rather than let you find out afterwards.

Question 12

Are you licensed and insured?

Accepted Answer

We carry insurance, and the crew works to it. On the licensing question we'll be straight with you: CHR Home Construction operates as an independent contractor rather than a registered company — that's what the business is today, and we'd rather you heard it from us than found out later. Tennessee sets a dollar threshold above which a state contractor's licence is required, so if your project is large enough to cross it, ask us at the estimate and we'll tell you honestly where we stand on it before you commit to anything.

Knoxville Concrete Contractor
Poured Straight. Finished Right.

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Our Services

Slick Finish Floors

Broom Finish Driveways & Walks

Stamped Concrete

Washed Concrete (Exposed Aggregate)

Footers, Foundations & Slabs

Why Choose Us

We Dig It Before We Quote It

The Owner Is On the Job

Written Price Before Work

Base, Rebar and Joints Done Right

Open Mon – Fri, 7 AM – 5 PM

$500 Off for Referrals

What Our Clients Say

Areas We Serve

Frequently Asked Questions

Knoxville Concrete ContractorPoured Straight. Finished Right.