Concrete Contractor in Pleasant Hill, CA - Slabs Graded Right Before the Pour
Excel Antioch Concrete Company is a concrete contractor based in Antioch, CA, and we pour driveways, patios, walkways, steps and foundations for homes and small businesses in Pleasant Hill, with the ground and grade set before the truck arrives.
- Licensed and fully insured.
- Free on-site estimates.
- Replies within 1 business day.
Pleasant Hill homes and the concrete around them
Pleasant Hill is mostly neighborhoods of single-family homes, with shops and offices along the busier roads, and most of what we pour here is the concrete people walk and park on every day. A lot of these houses have been standing long enough that the driveway, front walk and back patio are the originals or patched versions of them. We also hear from small business owners who need walks and parking areas redone. Pleasant Hill shares a border with Martinez, and the work there looks much the same.
Backyards and side yards here are often tight, with fences, plantings and the house close on both sides, so before I price anything I work out how the old concrete comes out and the new concrete gets in. That access plan shapes the job as much as the square footage does.
Concrete work we do on Pleasant Hill homes
Concrete driveway building
Older Pleasant Hill driveways that have sunk, split or started pooling water get torn out, dug down to firm ground and rebuilt on a packed base.
Concrete patio construction
A backyard patio here usually sits right against the house, so we set the grade to carry rainwater out to the yard instead of toward your foundation.
Stamped concrete services
Stamping presses a stone or brick pattern into a patio or front walk, and the slab underneath gets the same dug-out base as plain concrete.
Concrete sidewalk building
Walkways along the side of the house or out to the street often get lifted by roots and settling, and we replace them with even, joint-cut sections.
Garage floor concrete
A cracked, uneven garage floor in an older home can be broken out and repoured with a slight fall toward the door, so water runs out.
Decorative concrete
Color, borders and textured finishes let a plain front walk or patio match the house, and the base and grading still come first.
Concrete retaining walls
Where a Pleasant Hill backyard steps down a slope, a concrete retaining wall holds the soil back and gives you flat ground for a patio or garden.
Concrete floor installation
We pour new concrete floors for additions, workshops and small commercial spaces, flat over a packed base so flooring or equipment sits on even ground.
Concrete pool decks
Around a backyard pool, the deck needs a finish with grip for wet feet and a slope that carries splash water away from the house.
Concrete steps construction
Front and back steps on older houses often settle or chip at the edges, and we rebuild them with even step heights so nobody trips.
Slab foundation building
For a new addition, garage or backyard unit, we pour the slab foundation on a dug-out, packed base with the steel and thickness the plans call for.
Foundation installation
When an addition or rebuild needs a new foundation, we dig, form and pour it to the approved plans, working around the house and yard you already have.
Concrete parking lot building
Small business owners with a worn parking area get concrete laid out for drainage and traffic, poured in sections so part of the lot can often stay open.
Concrete footings
Footings are the concrete under posts, walls and additions that carries their weight, and we dig them to firm soil at the depth the plans require.
Foundation raising
When part of a house has settled and doors stick or floors slope, raising the foundation can bring it back up before the cracks spread further.
Concrete cutting
We cut out a sunken driveway section or open a slab for a new drain line, so you don't always have to tear out the whole thing.
Get a written concrete estimate for your Pleasant Hill property
Send the form and we'll get back to you within one business day to set a time. I come out, measure and send you a written price, free and with no pressure to book.
Call (925) 503-1201- Based in
- Antioch, CA 94509
- Hours
- Mon–Sun: 6 AM–11 PM
Working in Pleasant Hill: permits, licenses and what moves the price
The City of Pleasant Hill takes permit applications for work here, and it says a permit is needed for any work that physically changes or adds a structure on your property. That usually covers foundations, footings and retaining walls, and those jobs don't start until the city signs off, so the permit sets the start date. Flatwork like driveways, patios and walks is a different question, answered in the questions below. Before you hire anyone, check two things. The contractor should hold a state license from the California Contractors State License Board, and the city requires a Pleasant Hill business license from any contractor working here, even one based outside the city like we are in Antioch.
Before we start, we check with the city about your address, and if a permit's needed we apply for it as your contractor or help you through it if you'd rather file it yourself. The price turns on the size of the slab, how much old concrete and soft dirt has to come out, how much base goes back in and the finish you pick. The schedule turns on the permit, the weather and the curing time, the days new concrete needs to harden before it takes weight. If the budget gets tight, I'll tell you to keep the money in the base and go with a plain broom finish, the light brushed texture that gives shoes and tires grip, because a fancy top on a thin base is the slab that settles and cracks, and you can't fix a base without tearing it all out. Pleasant Hill sits on Interstate 680 next to Concord and Walnut Creek, so we time the truck around freeway traffic and the load shows up fresh. Your own number comes in the written estimate after I've walked and measured the job.
Pleasant Hill ground and what it does to concrete
An older city document points to clay soils throughout Pleasant Hill, and clay swells when it's wet and shrinks when it dries, so a slab sitting on it gets pushed up and let down a little every year. That's why we dig out the soft soil and pack a rock base, so the subgrade, the ground the slab sits on, is firm and even, and we add rebar, steel bars set inside the slab, where the job calls for it so any cracked pieces stay together. That finding covers the whole city and isn't a test of your lot, so I look at what's under your old slab before I price the new one.
A lot of the driveways and patios on older houses here were poured without enough joints or a proper slope, so cracks run wherever they like and water sits against the house. Concrete cracks, and control joints, the straight grooves we cut across the slab, give it a place to crack in a clean line, so we cut them on time and check where the water runs before we set a single form.
What to expect when you hire us for concrete in Pleasant Hill
From your first call to the final walk-through, here's how a job goes, and you'll have a written price in hand before anything gets scheduled.
Call or send us a message
Call (925) 503-1201 or use the form and tell me what you've got, like a cracked driveway, a new patio or a set of steps. We get back to you and set a time for me to come out.
I walk and measure the site
I come out myself, look at the old concrete, the ground, where the water goes and how we'll get concrete to it, then send you a written price. It helps if you're home so you can show me what's bothering you and ask me anything about the cost.
We sort permits, then pour
Once you say go, we take care of anything the city or county needs, set the forms, pour and finish. We work inside Pleasant Hill's construction hours, 7:30 a.m. to 7 p.m. on weekdays and 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. on weekends, and we like the truck there early so the pour isn't fighting midday heat, which leaves a weak, dusty top.
We walk the finished job
I walk the finished slab with you before we leave and show you where the joints are and why. I'll also tell you when it's ready to walk on and when it's ready to drive on, because cutting the cure short is how a new slab gets marked up.
Questions about concrete work in Pleasant Hill
Call (925) 503-1201The city says ground work like driveways, walkways and patios doesn't need a building permit, but that isn't always the end of it. If the work reaches city property, like the street, curb or gutter, it may need an encroachment permit through the Engineering Division. When in doubt, the city says to call its Building Division at (925) 671-5200, and we confirm what your address needs before we start.
Almost always, yes, because California requires a license from the state licensing board when a job needs a building permit, uses any additional workers or costs $1,000 or more in labor and materials combined. The small-job exemption is now $1,000, up from $500, and it only covers work with no permit and no employees, which rules out nearly every real concrete job. We're licensed and fully insured.
The cost of a Pleasant Hill driveway comes down mostly to what's underneath and around it, like how much old concrete has to be broken out and hauled, how deep we dig to reach firm ground and how much base goes back in. Size and finish matter too, and so does access, since running concrete through a narrow side yard costs more than pouring straight from the truck. Your number comes in the written estimate after I've seen the job.
Start with the city, because it says improvements in the floodplain may require a Floodplain Development Permit. FEMA has mapped flood hazard areas in Pleasant Hill, and an undated city handout counts about 700 homes inside them. We ask about it at the estimate and check before we set forms, and on a lot that takes on water the grade and drainage plan matter even more.
A one-story detached shed of 120 square feet or less doesn't need a building permit, the city says, but it still needs a Planning Zoning Permit. Any accessory structure with electricity needs a building permit, so if you plan to run power out to the shed, get that sorted before we pour. We size the slab to the shed you're putting on it.
Usually the best fix is to cut out the sunken section, or the whole driveway if it's dropped in several places, and rebuild it on a dug-out, packed base. Patching or topping a slab that sank doesn't fix why it sank, which is almost always the ground underneath, so it tends to go down again. I'll tell you at the estimate whether cutting out one section will hold or the whole thing needs to come out.
Antioch, CA
Call about your Pleasant Hill concrete job
Our hours run 6 a.m. to 11 p.m., seven days a week, so call (925) 503-1201 or send the form after work or on the weekend, whenever you've got a minute.