Home / Commercial Concrete / Commercial Curbing & Gutters
Commercial Curbing and Gutters in Pittsburgh, PA
Curb is not trim. It is what keeps water off your pavement and vehicles off your landscaping. Free on-site estimate.
Here is a question worth asking about your property: where does the water actually go when it rains hard?
On most commercial sites the answer is the curb line. Curbing collects surface runoff, carries it to the inlets and keeps it off the pavement it would otherwise sit on all winter. When curb fails, the pavement behind it starts failing next.
Curb Types and Where Each One Belongs
Barrier curb stands vertical and is meant to stop vehicles. It suits perimeters, islands and anywhere you are protecting landscaping, a building face or pedestrians from traffic.
Mountable curb has a sloped face a vehicle can drive over deliberately. It works at entrances, service routes and anywhere fire access or delivery vehicles need to cross without damage.
Integral curb and gutter combines the curb with a flat gutter pan in one pour. The pan gives water a defined channel to the inlet, which is why it is the standard choice along drive lanes where drainage actually has to perform.
When Curbing Needs Attention
Curb damage looks cosmetic and rarely is. These are the conditions worth acting on.
- Broken or missing sections where plows or truck tires have caught the curb
- Water sitting in the gutter pan instead of running to the inlet
- Curb settled below the pavement so runoff spills over the back
- Spalled and crumbling faces from de-icing salt exposure
- Sections pushed out of line where vehicles repeatedly climb them
- Curb at an accessible ramp that no longer transitions flush to the pavement
Standing water in the gutter pan is the one that costs the most over time, because it means the flow line has gone flat. Water sitting there all winter works into every joint and undermines the pavement edge behind it, and by the time the pavement starts breaking up the curb is no longer the only thing that needs replacing.
How Curb Work Gets Done
Curbing looks simple and is unforgiving, because a flow line that does not run is obvious the first time it rains.
1. Shoot the flow line before removing anything
We survey existing elevations from the high point to the inlet so the new curb drains where it should. Matching what was there is only right if what was there actually worked.
2. Saw-cut and remove cleanly
Failed sections are cut at clean square joints rather than broken out, which protects the adjacent pavement and gives the new work a proper edge to tie into.
3. Rebuild the base under the curb
Curb needs compacted base under it the same as pavement does. Settled curb almost always traces back to base that washed out or was never compacted properly.
4. Pour or extrude to the profile
Longer runs are machine-extruded for consistency and speed. Radii, transitions, tie-ins and short sections are formed and poured by hand where a machine cannot hold the line.
5. Finish, joint and seal
Joints are tooled or cut on the planned spacing, transitions to existing curb are brought flush, and the joint between curb and pavement is sealed so water stops running down behind it.
Replacing Sections or the Whole Run
Curb almost always fails in sections rather than along a whole run. Broken lengths at the entrance, a stretch by the dumpster, a few feet where plows catch it every winter. Cutting out and replacing those is usually the right scope.
Full replacement makes sense when the flow line has gone flat along a length, when the curb has settled with the pavement it sits against, or when repeated patching has left a run that no longer holds a consistent line or height.
There is also the case where the curb is a symptom. If the pavement behind it has failed and the base is gone, replacing curb alone gives you a neat edge on a failing lot. We will tell you when that is what we are looking at.
Commercial Curbing Across the Pittsburgh Area
We install and repair commercial curbing and gutter for retail, office, medical, industrial and multi-unit residential properties throughout the region, including Robinson Township, Moon Township, Monroeville, Cranberry Township, Wexford, Bethel Park, Bridgeville, Carnegie, McKeesport, West Mifflin and the city of Pittsburgh.
Snow operations do most of the damage in this market. Properties along the Route 19 and Route 22 corridors that get plowed hard all winter tend to lose the same curb sections year after year, which is usually a case for mountable profile or better delineation rather than repeatedly rebuilding barrier curb.
Commercial Curbing FAQs
What is the difference between barrier and mountable curb?
Barrier curb stands vertical and is meant to stop vehicles, so it suits perimeters and islands. Mountable curb has a sloped face designed to be driven over, which suits entrances, service routes and fire access lanes.
Why does our curb keep getting broken in the same place?
Usually because vehicles need to cross there and the curb is not designed for it. Rather than rebuilding barrier curb every year, the answer is often a mountable profile at that point, or better delineation so drivers stop clipping it.
Can you replace just the damaged sections?
Yes, and that is normally the right scope. Sections are saw-cut at clean joints and replaced to match the existing profile and flow line, so the run stays continuous rather than looking patched.
Why is water standing in our gutter pan?
The flow line has gone flat, usually because the curb has settled or was never set to a consistent fall. Correcting it means resetting the affected sections to a surveyed line rather than matching what is there now.
Is extruded curb as good as formed and poured?
For long consistent runs, yes, and it is faster and more uniform because the machine holds a constant profile. Radii, transitions, tie-ins and short sections are better formed and poured, since a machine cannot hold a tight curve cleanly. Most projects end up using both where each one suits.
Does curb replacement affect accessible routes?
It can, wherever curb meets a ramp or a crossing. Those transitions have to finish flush and hold the required slopes, so we check them as part of the scope rather than treating curb as separate from the accessible route.
Get Your Curb Line Surveyed
Send photos of the broken sections and anywhere water stands in the gutter after rain. We will shoot the flow line, work out what needs resetting versus replacing, and phase it around your operation.