Concrete Contractors in Placitas, NM

Placitas is an unincorporated hill community in Sandoval County, inside the Bernalillo school district, and it is one of the places where concrete contractors have to think hardest about access, slope and distance. The census-designated place covers about 29.4 square miles but had only 5,041 residents in 2020. Homes sit far apart, driveways are long, and the elevation of about 5,955 feet puts it roughly 450 feet above central Rio Rancho.

Low density changes the job

In 2000 Placitas had 1,606 housing units spread over its whole area, about 54 per square mile. Compare that with a typical Rio Rancho street, and the difference is obvious on the ground. A Placitas driveway may run a long way from the road to the house. A concrete truck has to reach the pour, and a long, narrow or steep approach affects how we stage the job. Sometimes we pump concrete from the road. Sometimes we pour in sections. We look at the route the truck will take before we give you a number, so there are no surprises on pour day.

Many owners do not pave the whole length. A common plan is a gravel drive that turns into concrete for the last stretch near the garage, plus a concrete apron at the road where gravel tends to wash out.

Slope and storm water

Higher ground and hills mean storm runoff moves fast. A summer cloudburst on a sloped lot can carry gravel and sand straight across a driveway and cut channels along its edges. On hillside driveways we plan:

• Cross-slope or a crown so water leaves the surface instead of running down its whole length
• Thickened edges where the slab meets loose ground
• A broom finish across the slope for traction
• Somewhere for the water to go, such as a rock-lined swale beside the drive

These details matter more than the concrete mix on a steep site.

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An old village and a newer community

Placitas has roots going back to 1767, when 21 families received a Spanish land grant and founded San Jose de las Huertas nearby. The area was settled in the 1830s as Las Placitas, and the Las Placitas Presbyterian Church was founded in 1894. In the 1960s and 1970s, a number of counterculture settlements formed nearby, and Sun Farm is the only one still around. Today it is a mix of old village homes, custom houses on large lots and everything between.

That mix shows in the concrete. Older homes may have hand-poured walks and steps that have settled over decades. Custom homes often want patios and courtyards that fit adobe-style or Pueblo Revival architecture, and colored or stamped concrete in earth tones usually works better than plain gray.

Projects that fit Placitas lots

Patios with a view. Higher lots look out over the valley, so a back patio or courtyard is a common request. We pour them at 4 inches with steel and slope them away from the house.

Stamped walkways and courtyards. Flagstone patterns match the natural stone common in Placitas landscaping.

Workshop and equipment slabs. On large lots, a pad for a shop building, trailer or tractor is common. We size thickness to the load.

Repairs. Settled steps and cracked walks on older homes, often caused by water running off a roof or slope.

Planning ahead

Placitas is outside the city limits of Bernalillo and Rio Rancho, so the rules that apply depend on your exact location within Sandoval County, and some neighborhoods have their own covenants. We check what applies to your address before we schedule, and we will tell you if anything needs to be filed.