First Choice South Whittier Concrete builds concrete driveways, patios, walks, steps and slabs in East Los Angeles. We replace cracked, sinking concrete at the older houses here with new slabs that sit on a packed base.
Most of the houses we work on in East Los Angeles are older homes on narrow lots, set close together on the blocks north of Whittier Boulevard. Each one usually has a short driveway, a front walk, a few steps and a small yard out back. The concrete around them has often been patched more than once, and the calls we get here sound like the ones from Pico Rivera and Whittier, about cracked drives, walks lifted at the seams and patios that hold water by the back door.
Tight lots change the job more than anything else here, because there's rarely room for a big machine, so breaking out the old slab and packing a new base with smaller equipment takes planning before the first form goes in.
Most driveways here are short and squeezed between houses, so we plan the break-out, the packed base and the slope toward the street before anyone orders a truck.
Explore serviceWe pour backyard patios on a dug-out, packed base and pitch them away from the house, so rain runs to the yard instead of under your back door.
Explore serviceWant the look of stone or brick without loose pavers? Stamped concrete presses a pattern into the fresh slab, and we seal it to protect the color.
Explore serviceFront walks here are often lifted or broken in a few spots. We replace them with a broom finish, a light brushed texture that gives shoes some grip.
Explore serviceA garage floor takes car weight and oil drips every day, so we pour it thick enough for the load and set it on a packed base.
Explore serviceDecorative concrete covers color, exposed stone and saw-cut patterns, and we match the choice to how the space gets used, not only its looks.
Explore serviceWhere a yard changes level, a retaining wall holds the soil back, so we build it with rebar, steel that holds it together, and drainage behind it.
Explore serviceFor a room addition or shop floor, we start with the subgrade, the ground the slab sits on, because a floor stays only as flat as its base.
Explore serviceA pool deck needs to shed splash water and give wet feet some grip, so we slope it away from the pool and finish it with texture.
Explore serviceOlder front steps here often tilt or crumble at the edges. We form new ones with every step the same height and a solid footing under them.
Explore serviceA slab foundation for an addition or garage is poured in one piece with thickened edges, and it goes on compacted ground with rebar tied through it.
Explore serviceWhen you're adding on, the new foundation has to line up with the old house, so we lay out the forms and footing depth before we dig.
Explore serviceSmall apartment and shop owners call us for parking areas that hold up to daily traffic, which means a thicker slab, a deeper base and planned drainage.
Explore serviceFootings are the buried concrete under posts, walls and steps. We dig them down to solid ground and size them for the weight they'll carry.
Explore serviceIf a corner of the house or a slab has dropped, we look for why, whether it's water or a soft base, before we talk about lifting it.
Explore serviceNeed a doorway, a trench for a pipe or a cracked section taken out? We saw-cut clean, straight lines so the new pour meets the old one neatly.
Explore serviceEast Los Angeles isn't its own city. It's an unincorporated community of Los Angeles County, so your permit comes from LA County Public Works through its East Los Angeles Building and Safety Office on East 3rd Street, not from a city hall. When you apply, that office tells you whether the job needs a plan check, a review of the plans before the permit is approved, and that review is usually what decides how soon we can start. Before you sign with anyone, look up their license with the state contractors board, and keep in mind that the county business license covers businesses located in unincorporated areas whose work is on the county's list, so not every contractor carries one.
When your job needs a permit, we help you confirm which office handles your address, help with the paperwork and plan the pour around the inspections. Price comes down to the size and thickness of the slab, how much old concrete has to be broken out and hauled off, how easy it is to get concrete from the street to the back of a narrow lot, and the finish, since stamping or color costs more than a plain broom finish. The schedule turns on the permit and on curing, the days new concrete needs to gain strength before it carries weight. I come out myself to look at the job and write your estimate with your own figure, and our own crew does the work here the same way we do it as far out as West Covina.
Call (562) 358-3037 or send the form, and we'll reply within one business day to set a time to come out. I'll look at the slab, the drainage and the access, then write you an estimate that's free and comes with no obligation, and if you go ahead, our own crew does the work.
(562) 358-3037A patio is on the county's list of building permit items, and so is a retaining wall, but a driveway isn't named there, so ask the county's East LA office about yours before work starts. The county's permit overview shows the full list, and work that doesn't need a permit still has to meet the county building code.
The county wants the first inspection requested within 12 months of getting the permit. After that, follow-up inspections every 6 months keep the permit active, so we plan the work around those visits and keep the permit from lapsing partway through.
Yes, if the job needs a building permit, uses any workers beyond the contractor, or comes to $1,000 or more in labor and materials together. The state also says a contractor has to be licensed before submitting a bid, so ask for the license number with the estimate and look it up yourself. We're licensed and insured.
It can, but most of the cracks people hate come from a soft base or joints cut too late, and both are things we control. We pack the base and cut control joints, shallow grooves that give the slab a straight line to crack along, on time so a crack hides in a joint instead of running across the middle.
We're a concrete contractor based in South Whittier, and we work across the cities around it, including the ones listed here. If you don't see your city, call and ask.
Call (562) 358-3037 or use the form, and I'll tell you plainly whether you need a whole new slab or whether a bad section can be cut out and replaced.
If you've got a cracked walk or a sinking driveway in East LA, tell us about it and I'll explain what's going on before we talk about price.
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