Concrete Contractor in Alhambra - Driveways and Walks Built for Older Lots

Your price is set by the size of the driveway, the finish you pick and how much work goes under it, and I give you that number on site after I measure. A plain broom finish, the light brushed texture that gives tires and shoes grip, costs less than stamped or colored concrete. If the budget's tight, cut the finish and keep the base, because a nice surface on dirt that was only raked flat sinks and cracks like the old one, and the only fix is tearing it out.

If your job needs plan check, which is a review of your plans, the city's own overview gives two to four weeks, but that overview isn't dated, so ask about the current wait. Owners apply for permits and request inspections through the city's online Permit Portal. Before a permit is finalized, the general contractor also files a Contractor's Report with the city's Finance Department showing every subcontractor has a city business license, and that check takes about two weeks.

Only a licensed contractor, or an owner who's exempt under state law, can pull a permit for work the code covers. If you pull it yourself as an owner-builder, you're the responsible party on the permit, and you have to carry workers' compensation for anyone helping on the job, even unpaid relatives, unless they're immediate family who live in the house with you. The city's own owner-builder form says a licensed contractor holding the permit may protect you from financial risk.

Only for minor work under $1,000 that needs no permit, and only if the person hires no one to help, according to the state licensing board. If either of those isn't true, a license is required even when the job costs less than $1,000. That limit used to be $500, and a tear-out and pour that takes a crew doesn't qualify, since the person would be hiring workers.

You can usually walk on new concrete within a few days, but cars have to wait longer while it keeps curing, and I'll give you the walk-on and drive-on days for your pour before we start. On Alhambra lots with one long driveway back to the garage, that usually means parking on the street for a while. We plan the pour around your week, or your tenants' week, so nobody gets stuck.

It usually starts under the slab, with a subgrade, the dirt and gravel the concrete sits on, that was raked level instead of dug out and packed, so it settles and takes the slab with it. Water makes it worse when nobody checked where it runs and the slab falls toward the house. We dig out and pack the base, set the slope away from the house and cut control joints early, shallow cuts that give the concrete a place to crack, so any crack lands in a joint instead of across the middle.