Concrete contractor in San Juan Capistrano - slabs built on a packed base

Assume you do unless the work is on the city's list of exempt work, because the city's Building Department issues permits for construction from grading to most repairs and tells homeowners to plan on one for anything off that list. The list does cover retaining walls up to 48 inches from the bottom of the footing to the top of the wall, unless the wall holds back a building or a slope above it or sits at the top of a slope, and concrete or masonry fences up to 36 inches from the top of the footing. When your job needs a permit and we're the contractor, we pull it, handle the city paperwork and plan the schedule around the review.

If your home is in an HOA, you need its written approval before the city will issue a permit for exterior work, and a copy of the approval letter or HOA-stamped plans has to be in by the time the permit is issued. Since that approval has to come from you, I'll tell you at the estimate if your job needs it so it doesn't hold up the schedule.

Yes, the city requires anyone doing business there, contractors included, to get a City Business License before they start. It's a fair thing to ask any contractor before they work on your house.

The price comes down mostly to the size of the driveway, how much old concrete has to come out, how much base work the ground needs and the finish you choose. A steep or tight driveway, stamped or colored concrete and a permit all raise it, while a plain broom finish, the light brushed texture that gives tires and shoes grip, keeps it lower. Your written quote spells out each of those for your driveway.

You can usually walk on it after a day or two and drive a car on it after about a week, a bit longer in cool weather. That wait is curing, the time the concrete takes to harden and gain strength, and driving on it early is how fresh slabs end up with chipped edges and cracks. We'll talk through where you'll park before the pour so the wait doesn't catch you off guard.

Most cracks in new concrete come from ground that moves under the slab, water getting under it, a pour that dried too fast, or control joints cut late or not at all. Control joints are the lines we cut into the fresh slab so that when it shrinks and cracks, as all concrete does some, the crack runs along the line instead of across the middle. A hairline crack in a joint is normal, while one that's wide, growing or uneven at the edges is worth a call.