Concrete Contractor in San Carlos, CA - Driveways and Patios Built on a Solid Base
Elite Redwood City Concrete pours driveways, patios, walkways, steps, retaining walls and foundations in San Carlos, CA. I come out myself, and our own crew digs out, packs the base and pours the concrete.
- Licensed and fully insured.
- Free quotes on site.
- Replies within 1 business day.
San Carlos jobs run from the flats to the hills
We're a concrete contractor based in Redwood City, CA, and San Carlos sits between Redwood City and Belmont, so it's a short drive for our crew. The calls we get here run from older houses on the flat streets around downtown and Laurel Street to homes up in the hills, plus small businesses that need a walkway, a ramp or a few parking spaces redone. Most of it is flatwork, the driveways, patios and walks that lie flat on the ground, with a fair share of steps and retaining walls up the hill.
The ground decides more of the job than the house does. A flat lot needs a careful look at where the water will go, while a hillside lot means cutting into the slope, holding it back and building a base made to stay put on a grade.
Concrete work we do in San Carlos
Older driveways here often sink and crack because nobody packed the base. We dig out, compact the ground under it and pour a slab with something solid beneath.
A backyard patio on a flat lot lives or dies by drainage. We set the slope so rain runs to the yard, not toward your back door.
When you want the look of stone or brick at the front walk without the loose pavers, stamped concrete gives you the pattern in one solid slab.
Walkways from the street to the front door take the most foot traffic on the lot. We replace the cracked, lifted sections so nobody catches a toe.
Garage floors in older houses are often cracked, stained and uneven. We break out the old slab and pour a new one with enough fall toward the door.
Colored, exposed-aggregate or scored finishes suit the front of a house where plain gray looks out of place. The base underneath is the same careful work.
Hillside yards often need walls to hold back the slope and make room for a patio or parking. We build them with steel inside and drainage behind.
Interior slabs for additions, workshops and converted spaces need to come out flat and level, because flooring goes on top. We check the heights carefully before the pour.
A pool deck has to shed water and give wet feet some grip. We pitch it away from the pool and finish it with texture.
Front steps on sloped lots settle and crack until each one is a different height. We form new steps with even risers and tie them to a footing.
For additions, backyard units and garages on flat lots, a slab foundation is often the simplest choice. We prepare the ground, set the steel and pour it.
Hillside additions and rebuilds usually need a foundation that steps down with the slope. We dig, form, set the steel and pour to the engineer's plans.
Small business lots and shared driveways off the busier streets see heavy, constant traffic. We pour them thicker and with more steel than a home driveway.
Decks, fences, sheds and room additions all sit on footings, the concrete pads that carry the load into firm ground. We dig them to depth and pour them.
When a corner of the house has dropped and doors start sticking, raising the foundation can bring it back up. I'll look and tell you if it's needed.
Running a new drain line or widening a driveway often means cutting concrete cleanly instead of breaking it up. We saw straight lines and haul the pieces away.
Get a free on-site concrete estimate in San Carlos
Send the form and I'll get back to you within one business day. Then I come out, look the job over and write up a free estimate, with no obligation to go ahead.
(650) 587-4028- Based in
- Redwood City, CA 94063
- Hours
- Mon–Fri: 7 AM–11 PM, Sat–Sun: 6 AM–10 PM
Local knowledge that matters on San Carlos jobs
Start with the contractor's state license. The Contractors State License Board licenses and regulates California's contractors, and an active license only lets someone contract for the kinds of work shown on it, so ask what's on theirs. Someone whose license is inactive can't bid on your job or sign a contract for it at all. We're licensed and fully insured, our work is backed by our satisfaction guarantee, and if your job needs a permit, I'll say so at the estimate and we'll handle the paperwork and inspections with the City of San Carlos or the county.
Once that's sorted, the price comes down to the ground. Breaking out and hauling off the old slab, digging out soft dirt, how big and thick the new one is, how much steel goes in and any finish past a plain broom finish, the light brushed texture that gives tires and shoes some grip, all move the number. Hillside driveways and tight side yards add to it, because forms take longer to set and the truck can't always park close on a narrow street, so we sometimes pump the concrete in. The schedule turns on any permit, our crew's calendar and the curing wait before you use the slab, and your written estimate puts a figure on the price. We work the same way down the road in Menlo Park and up and down the Peninsula.
Old bases and running water on San Carlos lots
A lot of the driveways and patios we break out here were poured on dirt that was raked level instead of dug out and packed, so the subgrade, the ground the slab sits on, settled and the slab went with it. That's where the sunken corners, the cracks running every which way and the puddles by the garage come from. Patching rarely holds on a slab like that, so we usually dig down to firm ground, bring in base rock, pack it in layers and only then call the concrete truck.
Water is the other half. On hillside lots it runs across the driveway and under the edges, and on flat lots it sits wherever it can't get away, so before we set a form I check where the water goes and pitch the new slab away from your house.
How a concrete job runs when you call us in San Carlos
Here's how a job runs from your first call to the final walk-through, and who you'll deal with along the way.
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Call or send the form
Call (650) 587-4028 or use the form, and I'll call back to set a time to come out. Try to be home for the visit, because I'll have questions only you can answer.
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I look the job over
I walk the area, look at how the old concrete failed and where the water runs, and ask a lot of questions. You get a written estimate that spells out what's included, so you can compare it line by line before you decide.
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Our crew pours and finishes
Our own crew digs out, packs the base, sets the forms and steel, then pours and finishes, and I check each stage before the next one covers it up. If there's a permit, the work starts once it's through, and you don't need to be home on pour day.
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We walk it together
When it's done, we walk the job with you and go over curing, the wait while the concrete hardens enough to take weight. I'll give you the day you can walk on it and the day you can park on it.
Questions about concrete work in San Carlos
How much does a new concrete driveway cost in San Carlos?
Your price comes down to the driveway's size, the tear-out, the base work and how easy the spot is to reach, and the written estimate after my visit turns that into a number. When the budget's tight, people want to cut the base and keep the fancy finish, and I'll push you the other way, because a stamped surface on a bad base is just a nicer-looking crack. The base is the part nobody sees on day one, and it's the part that decides how the driveway holds up.
Does a concrete contractor in San Carlos need a California license?
Yes, anyone contracting for concrete work in San Carlos needs a California contractor's license from the state license board. A license from another state or another country doesn't transfer here, though it can help someone qualify for a California one. Ask for the license number when you get the bid.
How much can a contractor ask for as a down payment in California?
On a home improvement job like a new driveway or patio, the down payment can be no more than $1,000 or 10 percent of the contract price, whichever is less. Every payment after that has to be listed clearly in the contract and tied to work that's been done or materials that have been delivered.
How do I find out if my San Carlos home is in a fire hazard zone?
Start with the State Fire Marshal's fire hazard maps, and for a specific address the city is responsible for, ask the City of San Carlos. The Fire Marshal finished its state maps and has been mapping local areas and handing those maps to cities, and for a spot in a local responsibility area it says to contact the local jurisdiction, which here means the city.
How long does a new concrete driveway take before I can drive on it?
You'll be walking on it well before you're driving on it, because a car is a lot heavier than you are and the concrete needs more of its curing time to carry one. Thickness and the weather that week both change the wait, so I give you the exact days for your slab at the walk-through, and until then the car lives on the street.
What causes concrete driveways to crack, and will my new one crack too?
Most cracks in old driveways come from a base that settled, joints that were cut late or never cut, and a top that dried too fast. Concrete still cracks a little, it's about the only promise it keeps, so the goal is to choose where. We cut control joints, straight grooves that give a crack somewhere tidy to run, as soon as the slab can take the saw, set rebar, steel rods that hold the pieces together if a crack opens, and pour early in the day so the surface doesn't end up weak and dusty.
Get your San Carlos concrete job looked at
Water getting under a cracked slab keeps washing out the base, so call (650) 587-4028 or send the form and I'll come look before it spreads.
Redwood City, CA