First Choice South Whittier Concrete is a concrete contractor based in South Whittier that pours driveways, patios, walkways, steps and slabs for homes and small rental properties in El Monte, with our own crew doing every pour.
Most of our El Monte work is at older single-story houses on narrow, deep lots, where the driveway runs along the side of the house to a garage in back. Plenty of those lots also have a back unit or a rental behind the main house, so one driveway serves two households, and the people who call us are as often small landlords as homeowners. It's the same kind of call we get in Whittier, and we handle it the same way, by looking at what's under the old slab before we talk about the new one.
Older driveways and patios here were often poured on dirt that was never packed, and years of rain and car weight have tipped and broken them, so the job usually starts with digging down to firm ground rather than with the pour.
On the long side driveways common here, we dig out the old slab and the soft dirt under it, pack a new base and pour.
Explore serviceYou want a back patio that drains away from the house, so we set the slope before anything else and finish the surface for bare feet and furniture.
Explore serviceStamped concrete gets pressed with a pattern and colored while it's still wet, so the timing of the pour matters more than on a plain slab.
Explore serviceWe replace front walks and side paths that have lifted or sunk, and where a walk meets the city sidewalk, we sort out which part is whose first.
Explore serviceA cracked or sunken garage floor usually comes out completely, because patching over a failed base only hides the problem until it cracks again.
Explore serviceFor color, exposed stone or a scored pattern, we can make a small sample first, so you see the finish before it covers your whole yard.
Explore serviceA retaining wall holds back soil where a yard changes height, and the footing under it and the drainage behind it decide whether it stays put.
Explore serviceWe pour interior floors for back units, workshops and additions, planning the base, moisture barrier and finish around what the room will be used for.
Explore serviceA pool deck has to shed water and stay grippy when wet, so we plan the slope and the surface texture together, before the forms go in.
Explore serviceFront steps on older houses often pull away from the porch as the ground settles, so we tear them out and rebuild them on a solid base with steel inside.
Explore serviceA slab foundation for a back unit or an addition starts with approved plans, and we build the forms, set the steel and pour to those plans.
Explore serviceWe dig and pour foundations for new rooms and garages, matching the depth and steel to the engineer's drawings and the soil the dig turns up.
Explore serviceSmall property owners call us for lots behind apartments and shops, where heavier loads and drainage to the street shape the base and the slab thickness.
Explore serviceFootings are the buried concrete that carries a wall, a post or a patio cover, so we dig and pour them to the plan before anything goes on top.
Explore serviceIf a slab or foundation has sunk and doors stick or floors slope, we find out why first, then lift and support it rather than just patching cracks.
Explore serviceWe saw-cut old concrete for a new walkway, a wider driveway or a plumbing trench, cutting clean lines so the part you keep stays whole.
Explore serviceA concrete job in El Monte usually starts with the city's Building and Safety office, because the Building Department handles plan review, permits and inspections, and the staff at the counter tell you which other departments your project touches. Anything on public property, like the curb or the city sidewalk out front, needs a Public Works permit before work starts, and the city asks the contractor for proof of a valid contractor license, a City of El Monte business license, and liability and workers' compensation insurance naming the city, so those are fair things to ask any contractor to show you. We're licensed and insured, and when a job calls for a permit, I help you find which office handles your address, help with the paperwork and plan the pour around the inspections, which is often what sets the calendar.
What moves the price is mostly the size of the slab, how much old concrete and soft dirt has to come out, how far we haul through a narrow side yard, the finish you pick and how much steel goes inside. The schedule turns on the permit and inspections when there are any, the weather, and curing, the days new concrete needs to harden before it can take weight. I come out myself to look at the job and write the estimate, so you'll see those pieces for your own house before anything is decided. Rules and counters change from one city to the next, even between El Monte and West Covina next door, and we work as far south as Anaheim, so I check what your city asks for before we set a start date.
Call (562) 358-3037 or send the form, and we'll reply within one business day to set a time. I come out myself to look at your driveway, patio or slab and write the estimate, which is free and comes with no obligation. If you decide to go ahead, our own crew does the work.
(562) 358-3037No, not right now. The city's online permit portal only takes residential electrical panel upgrades and water heater change-outs, so a concrete job is applied for in person at the permit counter, which is open to the public with no appointment needed. Before you go, the city's permit applications page lets you check whether your address is inside El Monte's jurisdiction.
Anything submitted for a permit now is designed to the 2025 California Building Standards Code, which the city enforces with Los Angeles County's amendments. Plans filed before this year can stay on the older code only while their plan check hasn't expired, and after that they start over on the new one. For foundations and footings, the city's design criteria put El Monte in Seismic Design Category D, the earthquake level the design has to meet, unless a soils report for your property sets a different category.
It can still crack a little, because all concrete does, but the goal is that it cracks along lines we chose and doesn't sink. We cut control joints, shallow grooves that give the slab a straight place to crack, while it's still fresh, and we dig out and pack the subgrade, the ground the slab sits on, because a slab on loose dirt settles and breaks with it. If the budget is tight, I'd rather you skip a fancy finish than cut corners on the base, since nobody sees the base on day one and you can't fix it later without tearing out the slab.
You're off it for the tear-out and the pour, then while it cures, and you can walk on new concrete well before you can drive on it. Driving on it early is one of the most common ways a new slab cracks, and in summer we pour early in the day, because concrete that dries too fast in the afternoon heat ends up with a weak, dusty top. I'll go over the timing for your job when I write the estimate, including how to handle a driveway two households share.
We're based in South Whittier and work across the cities around it, including the ones listed here. If you don't see your city, call and ask.
We're open 6 AM to 9 PM on weekdays and 7 AM to 9 PM on weekends, so you can call (562) 358-3037 after work or fill out the form whenever it suits you.
If you're not sure yet what your driveway or patio needs, send us a message and I'll explain it plainly.
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