Kidd's ExteriorSolutions · Royse City TX Call (469) 601-8771
A concrete crew screeding a freshly poured residential driveway beside a mixer truck in a North Texas subdivision

Royse City & Rockwall County, TX//Concrete · Excavation · Demolition

Driveways, patios and slabs that stay flat.

Kidd's Exterior Solutions is an owner-operated concrete crew working the east side of the metroplex. Formed square, base compacted, steel chaired up off the dirt, joints cut before it has a chance to crack where you'd notice.

Driveways// Patios// Sidewalks// Concrete repair

Who you're calling

One crew,
from the dirt up.

Kidd's Exterior Solutions is Grant McElwee IV and his crew, running out of Royse City. The same people who dig it out form it, tie the steel, pour it and finish it — nothing gets handed off to a stranger halfway through the week.

Concrete is the main thing we do. The machine work that surrounds it — tear-out, grading, haul-off, the odd retaining wall — comes off the same truck, so a driveway job doesn't turn into three separate phone numbers and two weeks of waiting.

“KES is a small local business startup specializing in contracting landscaping, concrete, excavation, and haul-off. We provide top-quality exterior services while emphasizing customer service and customized approaches.”

Kidd's Exterior Solutions, in its own words
Based
Royse City, Texas
Covers
Rockwall County and the eastern Dallas metroplex
Owner
Grant McElwee IV — on the job, not behind a desk
Rated
5.0 from 10 reviews on Thumbtack
Phones
(469) 601-8771 — Mon–Fri, 5:00am to 5:00pm
Payment
Card, check, cash, Zelle, Venmo, PayPal, Apple Pay, Google Pay

What we pour

Four kinds of flatwork,
done the same way.

Different shapes, same rules underneath: dig it right, compact the base, get steel where it belongs, finish it by hand and cut the joints before the concrete decides for itself.

A wide, clean concrete driveway curving up to a two-car garage on a suburban home

Concrete driveways

The one everybody sees and the one that has to carry a loaded truck. New pours, full replacements, extensions for a third vehicle, and the approach out to the street.

New drivewaysTear-out & replaceWidening & extensionsStreet approachesRebar on chairsSaw-cut joints
Concrete driveways
A modern concrete patio with a clean-edged slab, bench seating and a rendered garden wall

Patios & porches

Somewhere to put the chairs, the grill and the table that doesn't tilt after two Texas summers. New patios, patio extensions, front porches and pads for hot tubs and sheds.

Back patiosPatio extensionsFront porchesHot tub padsShed slabsBroom or smooth finish
Patios & porches
A narrow poured concrete walkway running between clipped lawn edges

Sidewalks & walkways

The front walk, the run down the side of the house, the path from the driveway to the gate. Narrow work where the levels and the drainage have to be right or you feel it every day.

Front walksSide pathsDriveway-to-porch runsSteps & landingsTrip-hazard fixes
Sidewalks & walkways
A single clean crack running across an aged concrete slab

Concrete repair & replacement

Cracked, sunk, crumbling at the edges or lifting into a trip hazard. Sometimes it's a section. Often it works out better to take the panel out and pour it properly than to keep patching it.

Cracked slabsSunken sectionsSpalling & flakingTrip hazardsPanel replacementHaul-off included
Concrete repair

Also on the truck

The work that happens first.

Site prep A compact track loader working a graded dirt pad on a clear day

Excavation & grading

Digging out to depth, cutting the fall so water runs away from the house, and compacting a base that won't settle under a new slab.

  • Dig to depth
  • Grading & fall
  • Base compaction
  • Drainage
Tear-out A skid steer clearing broken material from a small demolition site

Demolition & break-out

Old driveways, cracked patios, slabs, footings and small outbuildings broken out and cleared, ready for the new pour to go in behind it.

  • Concrete break-out
  • Small structures
  • Footings
  • Same-crew rebuild
Clear out A compact skid steer loader with the bucket down, parked ready to load debris

Haul-off & site cleanup

Broken concrete, dirt, brush and job-site debris loaded and taken away. The yard should look better when we leave than the day we turned up.

  • Concrete & rubble
  • Spoil & dirt
  • Brush & debris
  • Final sweep
Hardscape A low rendered garden wall with planting beside a poured concrete terrace

Masonry & hardscape

Retaining walls, stone and brick borders, pavers and bed edging — the work that usually turns up in the same conversation as a patio.

  • Retaining walls
  • Stone & brick
  • Pavers
  • Bed borders

Not sure which of these your job actually needs? Describe it on the phone — (469) 601-8771

The spec

How a slab earns the right to stay flat.

Concrete is unforgiving in a very specific way: almost every failure you'll ever see was decided before the truck arrived. Here's the order we work in, and why each step is not the one to skip.

Gloved hands running a screed board along a formed edge of freshly placed concrete
  1. We walk it with you first

    Where the water goes when it rains hard, what's under the ground you want dug, how the levels meet the garage lip and the street. Ten minutes standing on the spot saves a slab that ponds water in the corner for the next twenty years.

    Free, no obligation

  2. Dig out, form up, compact

    The old concrete comes out and goes on the truck. Then we dig to depth, set the forms square and true to the fall we agreed, and compact the base so the slab is sitting on something solid instead of loose fill.

  3. Steel goes in — up off the dirt

    Rebar or mesh, tied and chaired so it sits in the middle of the slab where it can actually do something. Steel laid flat on the ground and "pulled up" during the pour is the single most common shortcut in this trade, and it's why so many driveways fail early.

  4. Pour, screed, float, finish

    Placed and screeded level, floated, then hand-worked at the edges and against the house. The final texture is your call — broom for grip where cars and feet go, smoother finishes where it's a patio you'll be walking on barefoot.

  5. Cut the joints before it argues

    Control joints get saw-cut early, at the right depth and spacing. Concrete is going to move; joints decide that it moves in a straight line at the bottom of a cut instead of across the middle of your new driveway.

  6. Clean up and tell you the truth about curing

    Forms pulled, site swept, debris gone. Then the honest bit: stay off it on foot for about a day, keep vehicles off for a week, and don't panic at hairline surface marks — concrete keeps gaining strength for roughly 28 days.

    We give you the real dates before we go

A large reinforcing steel mat tied out across a prepared foundation ahead of a concrete pour

Under the surface

What's underneath matters more than what's on top.

Anyone can make wet concrete look good on the day. What decides whether it's still good in year ten is the part nobody photographs: how deep it was dug, how well the base was compacted, whether the steel is actually in the middle of the slab, and where the joints were cut.

North Texas clay swells when it's wet and shrinks hard in August. A slab poured on loose fill with the mesh lying on the dirt is going to tell you about that within a few seasons. Doing it properly the first time isn't a premium option here — it's the whole job.

Dig to depth // Compacted base // Square forms // Chaired steel // Correct slump // Hand-finished edges // Saw-cut joints // Clean site

In their words

What customers actually said.

Real reviews, quoted exactly as they were written. Nothing here is edited or invented.

5.0 from 10 reviews on Thumbtack · background check completed for Grant McElwee

★★★★★

Grant and his crew built three stone/brick flower bed borders and a stone/brick tree ring border at my house in Plano. The work was outstanding, and Grant even stayed behind until 8:30 p.m. on a Sunday to clean all of the finished borders and our front patio/driveway (stone/brick dust)…Who else does that?? Grant is an extremely hard worker and takes great pride in his work. We could not be happier with the result. We are actually looking to sign Grant up for the next project…a concrete garbage can slab. Please contact Grant for your landscaping needs. You will be happy you did!!
Steve C. Plano, TX · via Thumbtack

★★★★★

I was very nervous about getting my drive way extension done at first. All of my questions and concerns were taken into consideration thankfully. I can tell KES takes great pride in their work, I am extraordinarily happy with the results.
Tyler S. Driveway extension · via Thumbtack

★★★★★

Was able to give me a quote within 48 hours. Very negotiable on price and over all very satisfied. Thank you for all your hard work.
Tim A. via Thumbtack

★★★★★

Good dude. Used him for hauling services and he came when asked. He also gave us a hand in loading his trailer. Would definitely recommened.
Ike L. Hauling · via Thumbtack

Swipe for more — or add yours after we've done your job.

Straight talk

Patch it, or pull it out?

Not every bad-looking slab needs replacing, and not every cheap patch is worth doing. Here's roughly how we call it when we're standing on your concrete.

Repair usually makes sense

  • Hairline or shrinkage cracks that aren't moving and haven't opened up
  • One sunken section next to concrete that's otherwise sound and level
  • A single trip hazard where two panels have stepped apart
  • Edge chips and surface spalling on a slab with a solid base under it
  • You're planning bigger work in a couple of years and just need it safe now

Replacement is the better buy

  • Cracks running the full width, with the two sides at different heights
  • Several panels sunken or rocking — that's a base problem, not a surface one
  • Concrete that's crumbling, flaking or showing rusted steel at the surface
  • A slab that was poured too thin or with no steel in it at all
  • You've already patched the same spot more than once

Where we work

Royse City out,
across the county.

We're based in Royse City and work Rockwall County and the towns either side of it every week. Same crew, same phone number, whichever side of the lake you're on.

  • Royse City
  • Rockwall
  • Fate
  • Heath
  • Rowlett
  • Forney
  • Greenville
  • Caddo Mills
  • Mobile City
  • McLendon-Chisholm
  • Union Valley
  • Josephine

Not on the list? Call and ask — if we can get the truck and a mixer to it, we'll tell you straight.

A two-storey suburban home with a clean concrete driveway and front walk
Residential flatwork across Rockwall County and the eastern edge of the metroplex.

Questions

The ones we get every week.

Still not covered? Call (469) 601-8771 and ask. You'll get a person, not a script.

Do you tear out the old concrete?

Yes. Break-out, loading and haul-off are part of the job rather than a separate phone call. The same crew that digs it out pours the new one, and the site gets cleaned up before we leave.

How long before I can drive on it?

Rule of thumb: stay off it on foot for about 24 hours, and keep vehicles off it for a week. Concrete keeps gaining strength for roughly 28 days. We'll give you the real dates for your pour and the weather that week before we leave the job.

Will it crack?

Every slab moves. The job is controlling where. A compacted base, steel in the right place and saw-cut control joints put in early mean the concrete cracks in a straight line at the bottom of a cut, instead of across the middle of your driveway where you'd have to look at it.

Rebar or wire mesh?

Depends what's going to drive on it and how the soil behaves. North Texas clay moves a lot with the seasons, so driveways generally get rebar on chairs rather than mesh. We'll tell you which one your job needs, and why, before anything gets poured.

What finish can I have?

A broom finish is the standard for driveways and walks — it's the one that isn't slick when it's wet. Smooth trowel finishes, brushed textures and detailed edges are all on the table for patios and porches.

Do you take small jobs?

Yes. A single walkway, a pad for the garbage cans, a slab under a shed, a sunken approach out at the street. Small jobs are how most of the bigger ones start.

What areas do you cover?

Royse City, Rockwall, Fate, Heath, Rowlett, Forney, Greenville, Caddo Mills, Mobile City and the rest of Rockwall County. If you're just outside that, call and ask.

How do I pay?

Cash, check or card, plus Zelle, Venmo, PayPal, Apple Pay and Google Pay — whichever is easiest for you.

Free estimate

Tell us about the job.

No obligation and no hard sell. Give us the address and a rough idea of what you want poured or pulled out, and you'll get a straight answer about what it needs and when we could do it.

Call(469) 601-8771 EmailGrantiv77@gmail.com
HoursMonday to Friday, 5:00am – 5:00pm
BasedRoyse City, Texas
CoversRockwall County & the east metroplex

Request an estimate

Tell us what you need and where it is. We'll call you back.

What do you need?

Would rather just talk it through? Call (469) 601-8771.

Royse City · Rockwall County

Get a number you can plan around.

One call, one crew, from the tear-out to the last joint cut. Tell us what you're looking at and we'll tell you what it actually needs.

Call now Free estimate