What is the difference between extruded and formed curb?

Extruded curb is laid by a slip-form machine directly on the pavement with no forms, which makes it fast and inexpensive for landscape islands and light-contact edges. Formed curb is built in forms on a compacted base, usually with reinforcing, and is much stronger. Entrances, dock areas and anywhere trucks turn or impacts happen should be formed curb.

How long before we can use new concrete?

Foot traffic can typically use a new sidewalk within a day or two, and vehicles stay off new curbs and pads for several days while the concrete gains strength; heavy trucks wait longer. Your contractor will confirm the cure time for each pour, and the area is coned off with a temporary path in the meantime.

Can you fix a lifted sidewalk without replacing it?

Sometimes. A small lip can be ground flush to remove the trip hazard. A panel that has heaved from tree roots or settlement needs to come out so the cause can be addressed, and a new panel is poured level with its neighbors. The assessment says which applies to each panel.

Does curb and gutter really matter on a flat lot?

On a flat lot it matters most. With almost no natural slope, the gutter is what carries water to the basins, and a gutter that was set level or has settled leaves standing water at the curb line that soaks the pavement edge. Setting gutters to a continuous fall is one of the highest-value details on a South Florida lot.

Can concrete work be done with the paving?

Yes, and it should be. Curbs and gutters are set before the asphalt so the pavement can be graded to them, dumpster pads and dock aprons are poured in the same project, and the shared mobilization costs less than a separate concrete visit. The estimate prices the concrete items by area alongside the asphalt.

Commercial Concrete Curbing and Sidewalks in Miami

Concrete does the jobs on a commercial site that asphalt cannot: it holds the edge of the pavement, carries water to the drains, gives pedestrians a path off the drive aisle, and takes the weight of a dumpster truck without rutting. Miami Parking Lot Paving installs and repairs curbs, curb and gutter, sidewalks, dumpster pads and dock aprons for commercial properties across Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties, usually as part of a paving or repair project and sometimes on their own.

This page covers the curb types used on commercial lots and where each belongs, how curb and gutter drives drainage on flat ground, sidewalks and walkways, the heavy-load areas that should be concrete, trip-hazard repair, and what moves the price of concrete work.

Crew rebuilding a catch basin in a commercial lot, setting the frame in fresh concrete

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Curbing Types for Commercial Lots

Curbing does three things: it stops cars at the edge of the pavement, it protects landscaping and building faces, and it channels water. Which type belongs where depends on which of those jobs matters most at that spot, and most lots use two or three types.

Vertical curb. A straight-faced curb that stops a tire cold. Used along building faces, sidewalks and anywhere a car must not roll past the edge.
Curb and gutter. A curb with a concrete gutter pan on the pavement side that carries water along the edge to the catch basins. The workhorse of a flat South Florida lot, covered in the next section.
Mountable and drop curb. A sloped face that a tire can climb. Used at entrances, drive-over islands and anywhere trucks need to swing wide without breaking the curb.
Valley gutter. A shallow concrete channel set flush across a drive aisle to carry water from one side to the other where the grade cannot.
Extruded curb. A continuous curb laid by a slip-form machine directly on the pavement with no forms. Fast and economical for landscape islands and parking edges that see light contact, and not the choice where trucks turn or where a curb has to resist impact.
Formed, poured-in-place curb. Built in forms, often with reinforcing steel, on a compacted base. Stronger and more durable than extruded curb, and the right choice at entrances, dock areas and anywhere loads or impacts are expected.

Curbs and tree roots

Landscape islands are where curbs fail first in South Florida, because tree roots lift and crack them from below. A formed curb on a proper base with a root barrier installed at island edges lasts far longer than an extruded curb set on the asphalt, and it keeps the asphalt around the island from heaving with it.

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Curb and Gutter for Drainage

On a flat lot, curb and gutter is the drainage system. The pavement is graded with a slight cross slope toward the curb line, the gutter pan carries water along the edge, and catch basins set into the gutter take it into the storm system. Without the gutter, water sits at the pavement edge, softens the base, and the edge crumbles.

Grade drives everything. Gutters are set to a continuous fall toward each basin so water keeps moving. A gutter poured level, or with a hump at a joint, creates the standing puddle you see at the curb line after every storm.
Catch basins live in the gutter. Frames are set flush with the gutter pan so nothing catches a tire or a shoe, and the pavement is graded into them from both directions.
Entrances need drop curbs and cross drains. Water that sheets across a driveway onto the street, or from the street into the lot, is stopped with a valley gutter or a trench drain at the apron.
Docks get trench drains. Where trucks back up to a dock, a trench drain across the approach catches the water that the slope toward the building would otherwise send inside.

Curb and gutter work is planned with the paving, not after it. On a new lot the gutters are set first and the asphalt is graded to them; on a resurfacing job the milling depth is chosen so the finished asphalt meets the existing gutter lip instead of burying it.

Sidewalks and Walkways

A sidewalk along the storefront and marked walkways between parking rows give customers a path that is not the drive aisle. On a commercial site they are also part of the accessible route, so the surface, the slopes and the ramps have to meet accessibility requirements as well as look good.

Storefront sidewalks. Poured on a compacted base with control joints so cracks happen at the joints rather than across the panel, and finished with a broom texture for traction when wet.
Walkways through the lot. Raised or curbed paths between rows of parking, with crosswalk markings where they cross a drive aisle.
Curb ramps. Ramps from the parking surface to the sidewalk at the accessible route, built within the slope limits, with the flares and landings the route needs, and located outside the accessible spaces and access aisles. The ADA compliance page covers the rules that apply.
Replacement panels. Individual cracked, sunken or lifted panels replaced and matched to the adjoining sidewalk so the joint is flush.

Sidewalks fail in South Florida for the same reasons curbs do: roots under the panel, a base washed out by water, and vehicles that drive onto them. Root barriers at trees, drainage that keeps water off the base, and wheel stops or bollards at the edge address all three.

Dumpster Pads and Heavy Load Areas

The spot where the garbage truck stops is the most abused pavement on the property. The truck's front wheels carry the load of the container while it lifts, in the same place, several times a week, and asphalt under that load ruts and breaks up within a season or two. Those areas should be concrete, and they are worth pricing into any paving job.

Dumpster pads. A reinforced concrete pad sized for the enclosure and extended in front of it so the truck's front wheels sit on concrete when it lifts. The apron in front of the pad is where asphalt fails, so the pad is designed to cover it.
Dock aprons. Concrete at the dock approach where trailers back in, brake and sit loaded. Concrete here also stops the ruts that make trailer doors hard to line up.
Trailer and equipment parking. Concrete strips or pads where trailers drop their landing gear, which punches through asphalt in summer heat.
Fuel and wash areas. Concrete resists the fuel and chemicals that dissolve asphalt, and it can be sloped to a dedicated drain.
Transitions. The joint between a concrete pad and the surrounding asphalt is where the edge unravels, so the pad edge is thickened and the asphalt is compacted tight against it.

On a warehouse or distribution site, the assessment maps every place a truck sits still under load and proposes concrete there and asphalt everywhere else. That mixed approach costs less than concrete across the yard and lasts far longer than asphalt at the docks.

Concrete Repair and Trip Hazards

A lifted sidewalk panel, a broken curb at the entrance or a crumbled gutter is a trip hazard and a liability before it is a concrete problem. Repairs are scheduled by hazard first: anything on the walking path from parking to the door and anything on the accessible route gets fixed ahead of cosmetic work.

Lifted panels and lips. A small lip can be ground flush; a panel that has heaved from roots or settlement is removed, the cause is addressed, and a new panel is poured level with its neighbors.
Broken and spalled curbs. Sections that have been hit or have spalled from salt air and water are cut out and repoured with the joints matched.
Sunken gutters and basins. Gutter sections that have settled and hold water are replaced to grade, and catch basin frames that have dropped are reset flush.
Cracked dumpster pads and aprons. A pad that has cracked through is replaced with a thicker, reinforced pad rather than patched, because the load that broke it has not changed.
Ramps out of compliance. Curb ramps that are too steep, lack landings or sit inside an accessible aisle are rebuilt to the current rules.

Concrete repairs are small, fast jobs that fit around an open property: the area is coned off, the cure is a few days, and the entrance or route is kept open with a temporary path. Bundling them with asphalt repairs in one visit keeps the cost of each down.

Concrete Cost Factors

Concrete is priced by the linear foot for curb and gutter and by the square foot for pads and sidewalks, with removal, base and reinforcing as their own lines. These are the items that move the estimate.

Type of curb. Extruded curb costs less per foot than formed curb; curb and gutter costs more than curb alone because of the pan.
Removal of the old concrete. Sawing, breaking out and hauling old curbs, panels and pads.
Base preparation. Excavation, compacted base and root barrier where trees are involved.
Reinforcing and thickness. Dumpster pads, dock aprons and truck areas need reinforcing steel and a thicker section than a sidewalk.
Drainage structures. Catch basins, trench drains and connections priced by the unit.
Finish and details. Broom finish, control joints, expansion joints against buildings, and detectable warnings at ramps where required.
Access and phasing. Concrete needs cure time, so work at a busy entrance is phased or run off-hours.
Bundling with paving. Concrete set during a paving or resurfacing project shares the mobilization and costs less than a separate visit.

Questions to ask before you hire

Is the curb extruded or formed, and where is each being used?
What base and reinforcing are under the dumpster pad and the dock apron?
How are the gutter grades being set, and where does the water go?
Are the curb ramps being built to the current accessibility rules and kept out of the access aisles?
How long is the cure, and how is the entrance kept open during it?

Get a Free Concrete Estimate

Tell us which concrete items you need, whether it is curbing and gutter for a paving project, a dumpster pad that keeps breaking up, or a sidewalk panel that has lifted. The assessment checks the grades and the base, and the estimate prices each item by the foot or by the pad with removal, base and reinforcing shown separately.

Related services: Asphalt Paving, Parking Lot Repair. Service areas: Doral, Fort Lauderdale. Guide: Overlay vs replacement for parking lots.

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