Slab foundation building in La Palma CA - a base built for the ground under it

Most people who call about a slab have plans from a designer for a new house, an addition or a garage, and they want to know what it'll cost and how long it'll hold them up. The price moves with the slab's size, the slab type on the plans, how much soil work the ground needs and whether your floors need moisture protection underneath. The schedule turns on the city's plan review, the inspections and the weather on pour day, and you'll get your own figure in writing after I've seen the lot. California's state licensing board describes that forming, pouring, placing and finishing as concrete contractor work, which is the trade we've built this business on.

I start every slab by asking what's known about the ground under it and what your designer has called for, because those two answers can change the whole job. From there we dig out to the depth on the plans and pack the subgrade, the soil the slab rests on, so it doesn't settle later. Then we set the forms, lay the rebar, the steel that holds the slab together and keeps cracks tight, or whatever reinforcement the plans show, and put down moisture protection where your flooring needs it. We pour early in the day so the top doesn't dry out too fast and turn weak and dusty, then finish it and let it cure. If something on site doesn't match the plans, I take the question back to your designer instead of guessing. And if the budget gets tight, I'll tell you plainly not to cut the base, because it's buried on day one and everything above it depends on it.

A slab is usually one piece of a bigger build. If your plans call for a raised floor or stem walls on part of the house, that's our foundation installation work, and it often goes in on the same project. Property owners putting up a new building can also talk to us about concrete parking lot building for the paving around it.

In La Palma, the city's Building & Safety Division issues permits, and almost all improvement plans go through plan check before a permit is issued, so the review of your designer's drawings comes before we dig. When your slab needs a permit, we handle the application, book the city inspections and tell you ahead of time if you need to be home for one. Plan check is usually the part of the schedule nobody on site controls, which is why I'd rather get your plans in early than guess at a pour date.

Orange County's foundation guidance notes that most of the county sits in a high earthquake design category and that some areas have expansive soil, the kind that swells when wet and shrinks when dry. That note speaks of the county as a whole, but it's why the ground question comes first on our jobs. We're based in La Palma and work in the cities around it, and we meet the same flat, built-out lots on jobs in Cypress and Buena Park.