Concrete contractor in South El Monte - driveways and lots built from the base up

Most of the driveway calls we get in South El Monte start with a slab that's sunk at one edge and cracked across the middle. Usually the old pour went down on dirt that was raked level instead of dug out and packed, so the slab settled right along with the dirt. We dig down to firm subgrade, the ground the slab actually sits on, pack a base over it and set rebar, the steel that holds the slab together if it does crack. Then we cut control joints, shallow grooves that give the concrete a place to crack where you won't notice it, and we cut them early, before the slab picks its own spot.

The other thing we see a lot here is water sitting where it shouldn't. Driveways and shop yards poured flat, or tipped toward the building, leave a puddle against the wall after a rain. Before we set forms, I check where your water runs and give the new slab a slight fall away from the house or the shop door.

The City of South El Monte issues building permits for work that builds, alters or repairs a structure, through its building and safety division, and whether your job needs one is the first thing that sets the schedule. When it does, we pull the permit and line up the inspections, and if the city or county wants a soils report or engineer's plans first, I tell you at the start and help you get them, because that paperwork is where a lot of jobs here go sideways. Before you hire anyone, ask for their state contractor's license. We're fully licensed and insured. Your price moves with the size and thickness of the slab, how much old concrete has to be broken out and hauled, how much base work the ground needs, and the finish, from a plain broom finish, the light texture that keeps a wet slab from getting slick, up to stamped. The schedule turns on the permit and on curing, the days new concrete needs to harden before you walk or drive on it, and your written estimate says what the price covers.

A lot of South El Monte is shops and yards mixed in with houses, so some streets see steady truck traffic during the workday. We plan when the concrete truck shows up and where it parks around that, and on a shop job we work around the business's hours where we can. It's the same crew and the same way of working we bring to Temple City and Rosemead.

South El Monte is a small city where houses sit close to shops, warehouses and small industrial buildings, often within the same few blocks. Many of the homes we work on are older single-story houses on modest lots, with a driveway down one side and a backyard that doesn't leave much room for a concrete truck. A good share of our calls here come from small property owners with a yard, a lot or a walkway to redo.

It sits right next to El Monte, where we're based, and we're often in Avocado Heights the same week. On these tight lots the job usually comes down to access and the ground. The old slab comes out in pieces, the base gets dug and packed by hand where a machine can't reach, and the fall has to work with the house next door.