Concrete Slabs
Trusted Concrete Slabs in Los Angeles CA
After all, your home is only as solid as what it sits on, and in Los Angeles, that’s not an area you want to take any chances in. With earthquakes and unstable soil on the hillsides, a poor foundation will soon mean cracks in the walls, sticky doors, and an unlevel floor. Our foundation services in Los Angeles CA include pouring new foundations for expansions or ADU projects as well as fixing older foundations that are beginning to settle or crack. We’ve done both flat areas in North Hollywood and hillside lots in Eagle Rock, and each requires a different technique based on the soil and building age.
There is the issue of having some lots that feature clay soil, some with decomposed granite and others with fill dirt. These types of soil behave in different ways based on whether they become wet or dry. The lack of preparing the soil and proper rebar installation in our concrete slabs will result in cracking within a few seasons or less if the soil happens to be next to a slope or an older retaining wall. We grade the site, compact the base and install the expansion joints properly.
Built to Handle What Los Angeles Throws at It
In this city, the slab must withstand the summer heat, which will cause cracks in the concrete if the concrete is poured quickly, and it must be able to accommodate the movement resulting from earthquakes and soft ground. In our role as your concrete slab contractors, it is not enough for us to just arrive and pour. Before we pour, we test the drainage, because a slab that retains water underneath it will cause you trouble many years down the road when the concrete is already dry.
Soil and Site Preparation
We test how the ground drains and compact the base so the slab has something solid to sit on.
Proper Curing Time
We control how fast the concrete dries so it doesn't crack from the heat before it's fully set.
Rebar Reinforcement
We lay steel reinforcement inside the slab so it can flex slightly during a quake instead of snapping.
Drainage Planning
We slope the slab away from your house so water doesn't pool against your foundation during the rainy months.
Affordable & Reliable Concrete Slab Solutions in Los Angeles
Concrete work isn’t cheap, but a slab poured the wrong way ends up costing more once you’re paying to tear it out and start over. Our concrete slab solutions in Los Angeles are priced around the actual square footage, the site prep your lot needs, and the thickness the job calls for. We’ve laid garage slabs for people converting their garage into a workshop, and we’ve poured foundation slabs for backyard ADUs where the city required a specific thickness before they’d approve the permit. We walk you through the cost breakdown before we mix a single bag, so you know what you’re paying for and why.
Frequently Asked Questions
A regular concrete driveway or patio slab is normally four inches thick. Slabs required to bear the weight of a garage, ADU, or other construction structure should be a little bit thicker, and you will usually know the minimum thickness from the city’s permit guidelines.
Walking on a fresh concrete slab can happen within the first week. It will take a whole month until you can drive on the slab because during this period, the concrete slab gets all the strength it can get.
Pouring a concrete slab does not require a building permit if the slab is only a walkway or a patio. A slab pouring is definitely a permit-required project when there is a structure connected to the concrete slab.
Concrete slabs crack mostly because of improper preparation of the soil, absence of expansion joints, or quick drying of concrete under the hot weather. There is also clay soil in some neighborhoods of Los Angeles which changes its position more than expected.