Common seller tricks in concrete
A strong year of patios or a single commercial slab can be written up as if the crew will pour at that pace forever.
- Decorative or residential add-on work lumped in with structural or commercial volume.
- The best finishers not under any retention plan, or already talking about going out on their own.
- A pumper, forms, or laser screed that is near the end of its life, still listed at a full value.
- Backlog that is verbal, not contracted, or that was bid too low to hold labor prices.
- Unpaid draws or lien rights that look like assets until you try to collect them.
Which numbers to verify
Look at monthly production against weather days. Job-cost a sample of pours: yards, labor, finishing time, and callbacks for scaling or cracks. Reconcile deposits and outstanding receivables from contractors. Recast the owner’s time if they still run the forms or the finish. Ready-mix supplier terms can swing cash more than the P&L shows.
Licensing and key-person risk
Contractor licenses and, for some work, specialty or municipal permits apply. Lien-law compliance matters because a sloppy paper trail can leave you unpaid. If the company places or pumps for others, confirm insurance limits and additional-insured requirements that a new owner will have to meet.
Equipment and condition
Forms, screeds, trowels, pumpers, and mixers have obvious remaining life — or they don’t. Get hours, maintenance records, and lien searches. A pump in the shop for the third time this year is a negotiation, not a selling point. Trailers and trucks take road abuse; inspect them.
Seasonality and the calendar
In cold or wet climates, winter can shut the company down. Even in mild markets, rain days wreck the schedule and overtime piles up when the sun returns. A buyer who closes in November in the Midwest is buying a payroll with little revenue unless indoor or snow work is real.
Customer concentration
Two or three general contractors, or a single homebuilder, can be most of the yards poured. Those relationships are bid each job. If a decorative niche or a municipal sidewalk program is the moat, get it in writing and ask what happens when the program ends.
Questions to ask before you make an offer
- Please show yards poured and revenue by month for three years, with weather-related downtime noted.
- What share of work comes from your largest three contractors or builders, and is any of it under a continuing agreement?
- May I review job costs and callbacks on a sample of recent pours?
- Which finishers and form leads will stay, and what are they paid?
- May I inspect the pumper, forms, and trucks, including hours, repairs, and liens?
- What signed backlog exists, and were those jobs bid at current labor rates?
- How much is outstanding in draws or receivables, and what is over 60 days?
- Who holds the contractor license, and what is required at a change of ownership?
- What is the relationship and credit terms with your ready-mix suppliers?
- After an LOI, may I speak with your accountant and a lead finisher?