Concrete work in Colerain Township, Hamilton County's big northwest suburb

Colerain is the largest township in the county, built up from the 1950s to the 1990s along Colerain Avenue and the farm roads beyond it. Driveway replacement and sidewalk work in the older sections, patios and slabs in the newer ones.

Concrete driveway on a gray Ohio winter morning with a dusting of snow and rock salt scattered on the surface, brick house behind

Colerain Township covers the northwest corner of Hamilton County, from the Cincinnati neighborhoods of Mount Airy and College Hill out past Northgate and Groesbeck toward the Butler County line. The older sections near the city, built in the 1950s and 1960s, have the driveways, walks and stoops of that age, which is to say they've seen sixty winters and most are ready to be replaced. The newer subdivisions north and west, from the 1980s and 1990s, are reaching the first round of replacements and adding patios.

The ground here is more rolling than the river hills of Anderson, but the township has its share of slopes and creeks, and a fair number of driveways that run down to a garage or across a side yard that drains toward the house. The usual Colerain job is a two-car driveway replacement with the apron done to the road owner's rules, a front walk and stoop, and a patio behind a 1980s house that never had one. Garage floors and shed pads on the bigger lots toward the edges round it out.

As an unincorporated township, Colerain's building permits go through Hamilton County Buildings and Inspections (513-946-4550). Driveway aprons depend on the road: township streets, county roads through the Hamilton County Engineer (513-946-8900), and Colerain Avenue (US 27) through ODOT. We confirm the office before pricing and call Ohio811 before any dig.

What comes up in Colerain Township

Driveways at sixtyThe 1950s and 1960s driveways near the city line: thin, unreinforced, flaking. Replacement with a base, air in the mix and a proper apron.

First replacements in the 1980s subdivisionsSunken panels at the street, cracks at the garage. Foam lifting where the slab is sound, replacement where it isn't.

Patios for houses that never had oneFlat enough yards for a stamped or aggregate patio off the back door, sized to the furniture.

Walks and stoopsFront walks heaved by trees, stoops tilted on shallow footings; rebuilt on footings below frost.

County permitsHamilton County Buildings and Inspections for slabs and walls; the road owner for aprons; US 27 is ODOT's.

Shed and garage pads on the edgesLarger lots toward the Butler County line with outbuildings: slabs sized to the load, thickened edges under walls.

Around Colerain Township

Northgate
Groesbeck
Along Colerain Avenue (US 27)
The Mount Airy and College Hill edge
Along Springdale Road
Along Pippin Road
The Dunlap and Bevis area
The Butler County edge toward Ross

Asked in Colerain Township

Who do I call about a permit in Colerain Township?

Hamilton County Buildings and Inspections, 513-946-4550, for building permits; the Hamilton County Engineer, 513-946-8900, for work on county roads. We make the calls as part of the job.

Is Colerain Avenue a state route for apron purposes?

Yes, US 27 is ODOT's, so an apron onto it follows ODOT's process rather than the township's. Side streets are the township's.

Can you lift the sunken panel at my street instead of replacing the driveway?

If the slab is sound and only the panel at the street has dropped, yes, with foam, in an hour. If the driveway is flaking, the panel lift is money toward a replacement instead.

How long until I can park on a new driveway?

Seven days for cars, 28 for anything heavy, and no de-icer the first winter.

Next door

A price in Colerain Township

Tell us the job and where it is. Someone calls back the same day, an estimator measures it in person, and you get a written price with the thickness, the base and the finish spelled out. Nothing is poured on a verbal.