Cracked, sunken or puddling driveway? We dig out to firm ground, plan for your vehicles and pour a new slab that sits flat and drains.
Concrete driveway building in South Whittier, CA starts under the slab, with firm, packed ground and a plan for what you'll park on it, so the new driveway carries your cars evenly from the street to the garage. The pour itself goes fast. Most of the wait comes after, during curing, the stretch when the concrete gains the strength it needs before it can take a car.
Most people call us when the old driveway has cracked across, sunk at one corner or started holding puddles by the garage door. Usually the trouble started underneath, where someone raked the dirt level instead of digging it out and packing it, or the grooves that tell a slab where to crack got cut late or not at all, so it cracked wherever it wanted.
The price moves with the size of the drive, whether old concrete has to come out first, how much soft ground we find, what will park on it and the finish you pick, like a plain slab or a stamped pattern. The schedule turns mostly on the weather, any permit your job needs and the curing wait before you can drive on it. If the budget's tight, I'd keep the money in the base and save on the finish, because nobody sees the base on day one, but a soft one can't be fixed without tearing the slab out. You'll get your own figure on the written estimate once I've seen the site.
From the first visit to the last walk-through, you deal with me and our own crew. Here's how it goes.
I come out to look at the driveway and write the estimate myself, and I'll ask what's going to park on it and where the water goes when it rains. I learned concrete patching slabs at rentals for a property management company, and I've run this business since 2013.
I walk you through your options, like a plain slab or a stamped one, and what each means for cost and upkeep down the road. Then I write it all up so you can see what you're paying for and why.
If you hire us, our own crew does the work and I check in along the way. We're licensed and insured, and when the driveway's done we walk it together. Your satisfaction, guaranteed.
I start by asking what's going to park on the driveway, because a slab for two cars and one for an RV or delivery trucks aren't planned the same, and heavier loads can call for a thicker slab or more steel. Then we walk the whole site looking for soft pockets, old trenches nobody packed and dirt full of roots, since one soft spot can make a slab settle unevenly even when the rest of the yard feels firm. We check where the water runs and set the slope so it heads to the street instead of your house, because soaked ground loses its ability to hold weight. Rebar, the steel bars laid inside the slab, helps keep cracks tight and holds the pieces together, but it can't make up for a soft subgrade, the ground the slab sits on, or for skipped joints.
Plenty of homeowners redo the back of the house too, and concrete patio construction gets the same care for the ground and the water. If you'd like the drive to look like stone, brick or tile, stamped concrete gets its pattern pressed in while the surface is still soft, over the same kind of base.
Most of what decides how a driveway holds up happens before the concrete truck shows up and in the days after it leaves.
We break up and haul off the old driveway, then dig past loose fill and remove any soft pockets we found on the walk. While the ground's open we keep runoff off it, because a soaked base won't hold the slab up.
We pack the subgrade firm and even, set the forms to the slope we planned and place the steel. Nobody sees this part once the concrete's in, which is exactly why I check it before the pour.
Heat, dry air and wind change how concrete mixes, travels and sets, so we plan the pour around the forecast and start early when we can, since midday heat can leave the top weak and dusty later. We broom the surface, then cut the control joints on time in roughly square panels, with extra care at corners, curves, drains and the apron where the drive meets the street.
Curing starts as soon as we finish, and we block the driveway so nobody pulls in early, because fresh edges and corners are the first places to chip and break. We'll tell you when it's ready to park on.
Send the form or call (562) 358-3037, and tell me what will park on the driveway and where water collects now. We reply within one business day, then I come out, look at the site and write up a free estimate. There's no obligation to go ahead.
(562) 358-3037A concrete driveway in the Los Angeles area usually costs about $6.50 to $17 per square foot, and that's the going rate around the region, not a quote from us. Where yours lands depends on what I find on site, and I'll put your own figure in writing after the visit.
Wait until we tell you it's ready, and expect that to be later than it looks, because concrete that looks and feels hard can still be too young to carry a car. Walking on it comes well before parking on it, and trucks or an RV need the longest wait. If something heavy has to come in soon after the pour, tell me at the estimate so we can plan for it.
Los Angeles County Public Works' South Whittier District Office in Norwalk processes building permits to construct, remodel, demolish or relocate structures, so that's the office to ask whether your driveway job needs one. The county also runs EPIC-LA, its online system for managing permits and inspections.
California's contractor licensing board describes a concrete contractor as one who forms, pours, places, finishes and installs pavement, flat and other concrete work. Flatwork is what the trade calls slabs like driveways, patios and walks, so a driveway sits right in the middle of that work.
Permits for road work, encroachment and digging in the public right-of-way, the public strip along the street, go through a separate county Public Works team. When a job calls for a permit, we help you find which office handles your address, help with the paperwork and plan the work around the inspections.
We're based in South Whittier and work across the cities around it, including Norwalk, Whittier, Downey and Santa Fe Springs. At a lot of older houses around here we see narrow drives that families want widened for a second car or a work truck, and slabs that dropped at one corner or tip water back toward the garage. If you don't see your city listed, call and ask.
If you know about old fill, a spot in the yard that stays wet or a tricky meeting point with the street or garage, mention it when you call (562) 358-3037, because that's what changes how we prep the ground.
If you're still weighing it, call and I'll walk you through what your driveway really needs.
Tell us about your project