Concrete Contractor in Pasadena, CA - Driveways and Walks Built for Older Homes
Signature Monterey Park Concrete is a concrete contractor in Monterey Park, CA, pouring driveways, patios, walks, steps, retaining walls and foundations for homes in Pasadena. I look at every job myself, and our crew and I do the work.
Pouring concrete around Pasadena's older homes
Pasadena has a lot of older houses on established streets, and many sit in neighborhoods the city has designated historic, so the concrete we replace there is often the original driveway, front walk or porch steps. We come up from Monterey Park, and we do the same work nearby in San Gabriel and Alhambra.
Most of the job there is fitting new concrete to an old house. A new driveway has to meet a garage, porch and steps that were set long ago. Sloped lots along the Arroyo Seco often need a wall or extra digging, and the rain has to run away from a foundation nobody planned around new paving. What moves the price is mostly the size, how much old concrete comes out, how much base work the ground needs and the finish you pick. The schedule turns on the tear-out, the cure and, when the job needs a city permit, the wait for it, and your written estimate spells out what's included.
Concrete work we do in Pasadena
Many Pasadena driveways are the original pour, cracked and lifted. We dig out, pack a new base and slope the slab away from the house.
Backyard patios behind older houses often butt up to a low back door, so we set the height and slope first and keep water off the house.
Stamped concrete gives a patio or walk the look of stone or brick that suits many older Pasadena houses, poured over the same packed base.
Old front walks lift where roots run under them. We replace the bad sections and pour them flush with the concrete that stays.
Many detached garages behind older homes have thin, broken floors. We break out the slab, rebuild the base and pour a floor that drains to the door.
Color, a stone-studded surface or cut patterns let new concrete sit easily beside an older house, and I'll bring samples to the estimate.
Sloped Pasadena yards often need a wall to keep a driveway or patio level, and we build it on a buried footing with steel inside.
When a garage becomes a room or a shed becomes a workshop, we pour an interior slab that's flat and ready for whatever floor goes on top.
Pool decks here take hot sun and wet feet, so we finish them with a surface that grips and slope them away from the pool.
Front steps on older porches settle and pull away from the house, so we rebuild them on a footing with steel inside and even step heights.
For a room addition or a new garage, we pour the slab foundation to the approved plans and check the base and steel before the truck arrives.
Full foundations for new homes and rebuilds go in to the engineer's plans, and I check the forms and steel myself before anything is poured.
Small apartment buildings and shops along Pasadena's busier streets need parking that carries cars daily, so we build a thicker base and slope the lot to its drains.
Footings are the buried concrete a wall, porch or addition stands on, and we dig them to the plans' depth and set the steel before we pour.
When part of an older house has settled, doors stick and floors slope. We look at what moved and why before we talk about lifting it back.
Sometimes only a strip of old concrete has to go, for a drain line or a root, so we saw clean edges that a new patch can meet.
What older Pasadena houses ask of new concrete
You get the same people from start to finish, and I'll tell you before we pour what to expect, cracks and all.
Base dug out, not raked
We dig down to firm ground and pack the new base in layers, because that's what keeps a slab from sinking.
Water sent away from the house
Before forms go up, I check where the rain runs, so an older foundation doesn't get a driveway that drains toward it.
Cracks in lines we chose
We cut control joints, the shallow grooves where a slab is meant to crack, on time so cracks follow our lines.
A written estimate, item by item
Every estimate is written up with what's included, so you can compare it line for line before you decide.
Licensed, insured, since 2013
We've been in business since 2013, fully licensed and insured, and the work is backed by our satisfaction guarantee.
Pasadena concrete questions we hear
Do I need a permit to replace a concrete driveway in Pasadena?
In a residential zone, yes, because the city lists driveways and other paving among the work that needs a Zoning Permit, which checks the job against Pasadena's zoning rules. Retaining walls up to 4 feet tall, measured from the footing, are on that list too, and most larger construction needs a building permit from the city's Permit Center. When your job needs one, we pull it ourselves and plan the pour around the wait. Skipping it can cost you later, because when a house sells, the city inspects it and reports work done without permits, and an owner can be made to tear it out.
Does a concrete contractor need a license to work in Pasadena?
Yes, almost any concrete job in Pasadena calls for a California contractor's license. The California Contractors State License Board licenses anyone who builds or alters a structure when the project needs a building permit, and the license also applies when a job uses employee labor or labor and materials total $1,000 or more. Pasadena's permit staff check the contractor's license with the board, require workers' compensation insurance and ask anyone pulling a permit for a current City of Pasadena business license, so ask any contractor you're comparing to show you all three.
How much does a new concrete driveway cost in Pasadena?
A new driveway in Pasadena costs what its size, tear-out, base work and finish add up to, so I price it on site instead of over the phone. Breaking out and hauling an old slab adds to it, and so do extra digging on a sloped lot and rebar, the steel bars that hold a slab together if it cracks. A plain broom finish, the light brushed texture that gives tires and shoes grip, costs less than stamped or colored work. If the budget's tight, cut the finish before the base, because the base is buried on day one and it's the part that keeps the driveway from sinking.
How long does a new concrete driveway take before I can drive on it?
Plan on staying off a new driveway well after the pour, because it has to cure, the slow hardening that gives it strength, before it can carry a car. You can walk on it sooner than you can park on it, and I'll give you both waits for your job at the estimate. On hot days we pour early, since concrete that dries too fast in midday heat ends up with a weak, dusty top.
Will a new concrete driveway in Pasadena crack like the old one?
It'll likely get a few fine cracks, because all concrete shrinks as it dries, but it shouldn't break up and sink the way the old one did. Old driveways usually fail because the base under them was thin or loose, or because roots and water got under the slab. That's why we spend the money underneath, on the packed base, steel and timed joints described above, so cracks stay fine and fall where we planned.
How do I plan a foundation for an Eaton Fire rebuild or a room addition in Pasadena?
Start with plans, because the city runs plan review, its check of your drawings, on new structures and room additions. For Eaton Fire rebuilds, the city lists an optional earlier set of state building codes alongside the current ones, so your designer should settle which set your plans follow before we price the footings. Once the plans are approved, we pour the footings and foundation to them and set the pour around the city's inspections.
Your city not listed? Call us
If another city on this list is yours, its page has the local details. If yours isn't listed, call (626) 597-0325, because we work across the cities around Monterey Park.
Ask Signature Monterey Park Concrete for an estimate
Call (626) 597-0325 any day from 7 AM to 10 PM, or use the form, and tell me what's cracking, sinking or pooling at your place.