Piedmont Advanced ConcretePiedmont Advanced Concrete

Concrete contractor in Oakland - driveways, steps and walls built for sloped lots

Piedmont Advanced Concrete is a concrete contractor pouring driveways, patios, walks, steps and retaining walls in Oakland, from older houses in the flats to sloped lots in the hills, with the base dug out and packed before we pour.

Request a quote(510) 738-1848
Stamped concrete patio forms a broad polygon around a central fire pit, with black outdoor chairs on the surrounding lawn.
  • Licensed and insured.
  • Free in-person estimates.
  • Expect a reply within 1 business day.

About Oakland, CA

Oakland wraps around Piedmont, where we're based, so its streets are a short drive for our crew. The city runs from the flats near Lake Merritt, where older houses sit close together on narrow lots, up into the hills, where homes step down their slopes and the driveway is often the steepest part of the property. Shops and small commercial buildings line the main roads, but the work we're asked to do here is mostly at people's homes.

That range shapes most of what I plan here, because a walk in the flats and a driveway on a hillside start from very different ground.

Services in Oakland, CA

  • Concrete driveway building

    Steep Oakland driveways often crack where the old base was never packed. We break out the slab, compact the ground under it and pour on a grade that sheds water.

  • Concrete patio construction

    Small, fenced backyards on older Oakland lots need a patio that fits and drains away from the house. Our concrete patio construction sets that slope first, then a broom finish for grip.

  • Concrete retaining walls

    Sloped Oakland yards lean on retaining walls, and one that bows or tips forward is losing ground. We build concrete walls with drainage behind them, since trapped water is what pushes walls over.

  • Concrete steps construction

    Front steps on older Oakland houses settle and chip at the edges over the years. We form new ones with even step heights, so no single step catches your foot.

  • Concrete sidewalk building

    Tree roots in Oakland yards lift walkways into trip edges. We take out the broken sections, rebuild the base and cut control joints, grooves that give cracks a planned line.

  • Foundation raising

    Older Oakland houses can settle unevenly, and it shows as sticking doors or sloping floors. We find which sections dropped and raise them back toward level on new support.

What a concrete job in Oakland involves before the pour

In Oakland, the city's Planning & Building department takes building permit applications and its Bureau of Building oversees construction, so the city decides whether your job needs a permit. When it does, we handle the application and the paperwork and tell you up front which office it goes through, and because the city wants an approved plan for recycling the job's debris before it issues the permit, that step goes near the start of the schedule. If it isn't clear whether a permit applies, we check with the city before we start. Before you hire anyone, ask for their state contractor license, and since the city says anyone doing business in Oakland files and pays an annual business tax, including businesses based outside the city, it's fair to ask about that too. The city's business page has the current terms. We're licensed and insured.

Your price mostly comes from the site, so I look at how much old concrete has to come out, how far we carry material from the truck, how much base the ground needs, and the slab's size, thickness and finish. Narrow hill streets with cars parked on both sides can mean the truck stops well short of your yard and we wheel the concrete in, which takes more hands, and we plan for the same on the hill streets in Berkeley. The schedule turns on the permit step, the curing wait and our crew's calendar, and the written estimate I send after measuring is where your own figure comes from.

Oakland, CA properties and local conditions

On the hill lots, water is the first thing I look at. A driveway on a grade carries whatever runs off the street down toward the garage or the house, and when the old slab went in without anyone checking where that water goes, you see pooling at the bottom, a sunken edge and cracks running across the slope. We set the fall so water leaves the slab away from the house, dig out and pack the base instead of raking it level, and add rebar, steel bars inside the slab that hold it together if it cracks, where cars and the grade put the most load on it.

Down in the flats, the houses are older and so is the concrete. Walks, steps and garage floors there have often been patched more than once, so I'd rather break them out and start from a sound base than lay a new skin over the same problem.

Get a written estimate for your Oakland concrete job

Thank you for reaching out. We reply within one business day to set up a visit, and I come out myself to measure, look at access and send you a written estimate for your Oakland project. The estimate is free, and there's no obligation.

How an Oakland concrete job runs after you call

  1. Call or send the form

    Tell us whether it's a driveway, patio, walk or wall and roughly where it sits on your lot. We'll get back to you to set a time for me to come out.

  2. I visit, measure and estimate

    I come out myself to look at the slope, the old concrete and how we'll reach your yard, and it helps if you're home to talk it through. Afterward I send a written estimate, so you know the cost before you commit to anything.

  3. City steps, prep and pour

    We line up any city steps first, and the city has made it easier to apply through its same-day digital permits. Then our crew sets the forms, packs the base, pours and finishes with me on site, and you don't need to be home for the pour.

  4. Clean up and walk through

    We clean up and walk the finished job with you, including how long to keep feet and cars off while it cures. Curing is the stretch while concrete hardens and gains strength, and cutting it short is how a good slab gets marked up early.

Frequently asked questions

Does a concrete retaining wall need a permit in Oakland?

Some do and some don't, because retaining walls are on the city's list of work that needs no building permit, but only within limits set out on the city's exemption page. Since those limits are specific, we check your wall against the city's building permit rules before we start rather than guess, and we file for the permit if it needs one.

When does a concrete contractor need a California license?

A California contractor needs a state license when the project requires a building permit, uses any additional workers, or has labor and materials on one or more contracts adding up to $1,000 or more. The Contractors State License Board only excuses small jobs that stay under all three and where the person doesn't advertise as licensed. Any job done with a crew needs the license, so ask for it before you sign.

How large a down payment can a contractor ask for in California?

The state licensing board says a contractor can't ask for or accept a down payment of more than $1,000 or 10 percent of the total contract price, whichever is less. The board applies that to home improvement projects in California and repeats it in its guidance for people rebuilding after a declared disaster, so keep it in mind when you compare contracts.

How much does a new concrete driveway cost in Oakland?

An Oakland driveway's price is set by its size and thickness, how much old concrete gets broken out and hauled away, how much base the ground needs, how hard the site is to reach and the finish you choose. Steep access and added wall or drainage work tend to raise it, while a plain broom finish keeps it down. If the budget is tight, I'd keep the money in the base and save on the finish, because in a kitchen a plate is only as good as the setup behind it, and a fancy top over a weak base cracks like the old one did.

How long does it take to replace a driveway in Oakland?

Most of the time sits on either side of the pour, in the city's permit steps when your job needs them and in the curing wait before you can drive on it. You'll be walking on the new slab well before you can park on it. I'll give you dates for your job once I've seen it and we know whether the city needs to review it.

What causes concrete driveways and patios in Oakland to crack and sink?

Most cracking and sinking comes from what's under the slab, usually a base that was raked level instead of dug out and packed, or water running toward the house and softening the ground. Joints cut late or skipped put cracks in places nobody chose, and a pour finished in the heat of the day can leave a weak, dusty top. We pack the base, slope the slab away from the house, pour early and cut joints on time, and I'll tell you plainly that concrete can still get fine cracks, which is why the joints are there to give them a place to go.

Service areas

Explore the services

Piedmont, CA

Tell us about your Oakland concrete project

We take calls at (510) 738-1848 until 11 PM on weekdays and 10 PM on weekends, so you can describe the job after work and ask which permit steps it might need.

Request a quote(510) 738-1848
(510) 738-1848Request a quote