Your Foundation and Excavation Specialists

Serving Southern Wisconsin and Northern Illinois

From Bare Earth to Build-Ready.™

The fastest, easiest way to get a foundation for your residential or commercial outbuilding or addition. We have all the trades and equipment to get it done.

Get a Free Quote

Call Us: 920-650-6034

Your One-Stop Foundation Specialists

If you’ve tried to set up excavation and pouring for an outbuilding or addition, then you know how difficult it can be to find all the qualified trades and coordinate them to get the job done.

No More! One call to us and we will take you from bare earth to a build-ready foundation with poured footings and foundation walls. And we also do aprons and flatwork if you need it.

We Own Our Equipment

Unlike the “concrete cowboys” out there, we have made the investment in the equipment necessary to do this work. We don’t borrow or rent skid-steers, wall forms, hand tools, trucks, or anything. It’s all ours; hundreds of thousands of dollars worth invested over the years in our inventory of capital equipment. This means there will be no delays in your project waiting on equipment to show up.

We Have The Trades

We don’t look for new and possibly unreliable subs with each new job. All our people are doing this work day in and day out. This means that we’re pretty good at it and we don’t need to take any shortcuts to stay on schedule. No one is micro-managing our crews; they know exactly what to do.

What’s a Frost Wall?

The terms “Frost Wall” and “Foundation Wall” are mostly interchangeable. In northern climates where the ground freezes, the term “Frost Wall” can refer to a short foundation wall for structures with no basement, just to emphasize that even though the walls are shorter, the footings are still placed below the frost line.

In Southern Wisconsin, we average a hard-freeze depth of 15 to 20 inches and building codes set the “frost line” depth at 36 to 48 inches to include a generous safety distance. It is generally accepted that 48 inches or greater is the depth to set a frost wall foundation here.

When a foundation wall is set too shallow (above the frost line), it is susceptible to “frost heave”. This occurs when water under the footing expands as it freezes, unevenly raising the structure and causing cracks in floors and walls, and other damage.

Typical Foundation Cross-Section

What We Do

Shorter Frost Walls are used for stand-alone structures such as garages, sheds, warehouses, or any building that does not have a basement or crawl space. The footings are set low enough to be below the frost line. The walls are topped with anchor bolts for setting the sill plates for framing of the structure.

Typical standard wall heights are either 8-foot or 9-foot for basement pours. We can leave window openings, utility penetrations, and sump basins as needed. We use Form-A-Drain to pour the footings, providing both footing drainage and Radon mitigation venting.

After trenching, footings are poured onto either undisturbed or engineered (mechanically compacted) soils. Our footing pours are almost always 8 inches thick by 18 inches wide, providing a solid support surface for the foundation wall. We use Form-A-Drain footing forms when we’re going to pour 8 or 9-foot walls.

Common flatwork for us is a poured and sloped garage floor. We also do sloped and tapered aprons and other exterior flatwork such as sidewalks and pads. While our interior flatwork is machine-finished smooth, our exterior pours are broom-finished to give the surface some “tooth” and make it slip-resistant.

You’ll get One-Stop Shopping with us. We have all the trades and all the equipment needed to get the job done. You will not have to coordinate other contractors or provide any materials for your project.

We do it all. From Bare Earth to Build-Ready.™

Our Capabilities

Our full-service concrete construction firm was started in 1965, and continues to this day. Over the years, we have developed a particular expertise around setting foundations. We now have an efficient project-oriented practice building Frost Walls and Foundations where we can be nimble, quality leaders in the field. Our inventory of wall forms is split between our two shops in Southern Wisconsin and includes:

4-foot Forms

550 linear feet

6-foot Forms

120 linear feet

8-foot Forms

380 linear feet

9-foot Forms

210 linear feet

Of course, we have all of the necessary steel accessories and fractional-width forms to accommodate any job.

We also have all the equipment for loading, transporting, and setting forms; excavating, soil compacting, back-fill placement, finish grading, troweling, cutting, and related work, including…

45-foot boom truck for placing forms
Full-size excavator for normal work
Mid-size excavator for tighter spaces
Quad-axle dump truck for hauling

Skidsteers for backfill and grading
36 and 48-inch troweling machines
Plate compactors for tamping soil
Soff-Cut® saws for precise control joints

Pricing and Specifications

We share our pricing publicly so that you can make an assessment of what your job will cost, and we invite our competitors to do the same. Reputable companies will do so, and the so-called “concrete cowboys” might low-ball us, but no one matches our ability to get the job done quickly and with the flexibility that you need.

1. FOOTINGS AND WALLS

3'-9" x 8" WALL

8" x 18" formed footings

$48/LF

For walls under 100 linear feet, increase price to $50.

5'-9" x 8" WALL

8" x 18" formed footings

$64/LF

For walls under 100 linear feet, increase price to $66.

7'-9" x 8" WALL

8" x 18" formed footings

$86/LF

For walls under 100 linear feet, increase price to $88.

8'-9" x 8" WALL

8" x 18" formed footings

$94/LF

For walls under 100 linear feet, increase price to $96.

We use Form-A-Drain to set footings on basement foundations to provide drainage and radon venting.

2. INTERIOR AND EXTERIOR FLATWORK

INTERIOR 3"

3,500 psi low-air mix

$6.00/SF

Machine finished.

INTERIOR 4"

3,500 psi low-air mix

$7.75/SF

Machine finished.

EXTERIOR 4"

4,000 psi mix

$7.75/SF

Broom finished.

EXTERIOR 5"

4,000 psi mix

$8.50/SF

Broom finished.

Exterior flatwork includes either a fiber mesh or #3 rebar laid in a grid 4’ on center.

EXTERIOR TEAR-OUT AND HAUL-AWAY

Tear-out of asphalt: add $1.25/sf. Tear-out of concrete: add $2.00/sf.

3. DEMO, EXCAVATION AND GRADING

Our pricing for trenching, excavation, haul-away, stone underlayment, back-fill, and finish grading is site and job-specific. A standard garage addition typically ranges from $3,500 to $4,000. Because of the larger dig for basements and haul-away of excess soils, house additions are usually more. Contact us to discuss those costs.

Demo of existing structures and land-clearing / scraping is available and will also be priced on scope of the work necessary.

Featured Projects

Browse through these pictures of some of our recent work. You’ll see all of the types of pours that we do, and get a sense of the sizes that we tackle.

Large Flatwork Prep

Setting the grade and forms.

Side Slab

Utility slab at side of new garage.

Frost Walls

Forms removed from frost walls.

Wet Flatwork

Garage slab just poured.

Ready for Footings

Forms set to pour footings.

Walls at the Ready

Final Pour Happening.

Big Garage Slab

Raked Garage Floor Poured.

Completed Wall and Walkway

Forms removed and cleanup begins.

Clean Footings

Ready to Pour Concrete.

Poured Slab and Walkways

Full slab and walkways around garage.

Excavation Done

Starting to Set Forms.

Setting Forms

Footing Forms Carefully Set.

New Basement Wall

Ready for Waterproofing.

Basement Walls

Wall Forms on Footings.

Pouring Walls

Filling New Wall Forms.

Footing Forms Ready

Rebar Being Woven.

Sidewalk and Step

New pour for sidewalk and step.

Footing Forms

Preparing for Concrete.

Pouring the Slab

Fresh concrete from the truck.

Prepping for Addition

Setting the foundation forms.

Big Footing

Ready to Pour and Form-A-Drain.

Setting Wall Forms

Foundation wall forms in place.

Raked Garage Flatwork

Note the slope on the curbs.

Footing Forms Ready

Waiting for Concrete Mixer.

Ready for Walls

Next Up – Setting Wall Forms.

Prep for Slab

Using polyethylene vapor barrier.

Footings Poured

Forms Removed.

Footings Prepped

Setting the Rebar.

Ready for Pour

Walls Ready for Concrete.

Finished Garage Slab

Flatwork and apron for garage.

New Driveway

Poured driveway for new garage.

Addition Coming

Setting Foundation Forms.

Garage Flatwork

Rake (Slope) Visible on the Sides.

Frost Wall Forms

Setting forms for the frost walls.

Setting Footing Forms

Ready for Footing Pour.

Completed Foundation

Walls curing and forms removed.

Setting the Gravel Base

Gravel is filled and raked for slab.

Very Large Slab

Barn interior flatwork.

Form Tear-Off

Foundation wall forms removed.

Garage Flatwork

Raked Floor, Machine Finished.

Cold Walls

Prepping Basement Walls.

Form-A-Drain Footing

The Best Way to Drain Footings.

Setting Wall Forms

Wall Forms Ready for a Pour.

Footing Poured

New Footing Ready for Walls

Ready for Walls

Footings Completed.

Gravel Prep Under Slab

Poured and tamped gravel substrate.

Pulling Forms

Removing the Footing Forms.

Footing Poured

Ready, Set, Walls.

Machine Finishing

Helpful Headlights.

Setting Forms

Accuracy is key for complex jobs.

Flatwork Pour

New slab for addition.

Frequently Asked Questions

My G.C. will do the trenching, can you do the rest?

Yes, absolutely. Because we manage all of our resources and own all our equipment, we can be flexible with your project. Please have your contractor consult with us first on the specifications for trenching, and so that we know what to expect for timing and site access.

What about demolition of existing structures?

We can certainly provide you with a quote to demo existing structures and haul away the debris. As with everything else that we do, we have the necessary equipment to do full demo and haul-away if you need that for your project.

How long does it take for you to complete a job?

In general, we will be in and out of the jobsite in 10-14 days. Of course, if there are additional tasks to accomplish, such as demo, special flatwork like pads or walkways, or extensive grading, then we will need a few more days to get that done. It’s all job-dependent, but we will let you know when we understand the project scope.

Do you do anything different with basements?

If you need either an 8-foot or 9-foot wall pour, we will set the footing forms with Form-A-Drain. The benefits are that using Form-A-Drain automatically incorporates both interior and exterior foundation drainage, provides “no slab drilling” radon-reduction ductwork, and allows us to leave the footing forms in place.

What do you do for utility feeds and drains?

If your building is going to need pass-through openings for electrical or plumbing services, we will work with your other contractors to determine how, when, and where to set the pass-throughs in and around our forms.

Got a different question? Contact Us and we’ll get back to you ASAP.

Typical Job Timeline

Day 1

Optional demo if needed. Clear and prep job site and excavate.

Day 2

Set footing forms, call for inspection, pour the footings.

Day 3

Set wall forms, confirm dimensions and square with customer, pour.

Day 4

Strip and remove wall forms if concrete is set up.

Day 5

Strip and remove remaining forms if not complete on day 4.

Day 6

Allowing concrete to cure, organize and remove forms if necessary.

Day 7

Allowing concrete to cure, set exterior flatwork forms if needed.

Day 8

Backfill 4-foot walls and grade-out. Lay stone/grade exterior flatwork.

Day 9

If not done on day 8, lay stone and grade for exterior flatwork.

Day 10

Backfill 8-foot and 9-foot walls and grade-out.

Day 11

Interior floor vapor barrier and inspection if req’d, pour and finish.

Day 12

Saw-cut flatwork for control joints, clean up job site.

This is a rough approximation of a typical timeline. Extenuating circumstances with the job site, weather, or other factors may increase the timeline. We may also be able to do some of the work simultaneously with other parts, shortening the timeline.

If needed, demo will be done before excavation, possibly adding a day to the project. Timing of exterior flatwork is project-specific; we usually wait for the building to be completed to avoid potential damage from construction equipment such as cranes that lift trusses into place. If trusses will be hand-placed and customer requests, we are happy to complete exterior work immediately.