Concrete contractor in Emeryville, CA - slabs set up to drain on flat lots

You apply at the city's Permit Counter. You can go in person during counter hours, or you can email the city's building permit application form as a PDF to cbarrett@emeryville.org. Once the city has a completed application, it sends an invoice for the plan review or permit fees, along with instructions for paying. When your concrete job needs a permit, we put the application together and handle that paperwork for you.

Yes, in almost every case. The state licensing board requires a license whenever a project needs a building permit, uses any additional workers or costs $1,000 or more. That total counts labor and materials across one or more contracts on the project. The only exception is work under $1,000 with no permit and no employees, a limit the board raised from $500, and someone working under it can't advertise as a licensed contractor.

The price of a driveway here comes down to its size, how much old concrete we break out and haul away, how much base the ground needs and how close we can get a truck. Decorative finishes cost more than a plain broom finish, the light brushed texture that gives tires and shoes grip. If something has to give, I'd rather you trim the finish than the base, because the base is hidden on day one but decides whether the slab stays flat. I measure on site and send a written estimate with the number for your job.

You'll be off a new driveway noticeably longer than off a new patio or walk. The slab has to cure, which is the slow hardening that gives concrete its strength, before it can carry a car. You can usually walk on it well before you can drive on it. I'll give you both waits for your slab at the pour, since the mix and the weather change them.

Most cracks we see in slabs here come from one of four things: a base that settled, water sitting under the concrete, a pour finished in midday heat, or control joints that were cut late or skipped. I'll be straight with you that concrete can crack. When we pack the base, set the drainage, pour in the cooler part of the day and cut the joints on time, cracks are usually few and mostly land in the joints we chose. It's like a kitchen, where the dish is only as good as the prep behind it.

The best fix is a slab with a slight fall away from your house toward a spot that can take the water. That slope has to be set before the pour, since a level slab can't be tilted once it's hard. It matters on flat lots here, because the city's design guidance for larger projects plans for rain as heavy as 3 inches an hour, and that's a lot of water for a backyard with nowhere to send it. If your patio already holds puddles, I'll look at where the water goes during the estimate visit.