Our Work
Recent Projects
A few driveways, patios and repairs we've poured recently.
Every job below is one we do ourselves across Palo Alto.
We compact the base rock before any concrete goes down, because a driveway is only as good as what's underneath it. We use rebar on driveways that see regular car and truck weight, not just wire mesh, and we cut control joints within the first day so the slab cracks where we tell it to instead of wherever it wants.
Patio slabs get a slight pitch away from the house so water doesn't sit against your foundation. We can finish it broomed, troweled smooth, or with a light exposed aggregate depending on how much slip resistance you want by the pool or the back door.
We run a color hardener into the surface before stamping, then a release agent so the pattern lifts cleanly. It costs more than a plain slab but a lot less than real stone, and it seals the same way once it's cured.
Not every crack means a new slab. Spalling from old de-icing salt or a heaved section from a tree root can usually be cut out and repoured in sections, and we'll tell you straight if full replacement is actually the cheaper option long term.
Footings get poured to the depth your soil and the local building department call for, with rebar tied before an inspector ever sees it. We work with clay soils that expand in winter and pull away in summer, which is exactly the kind of ground that punishes a shortcut foundation.
Steps get poured to a consistent rise and run, because uneven steps are how people trip and how contractors get called back. Walkways get a broom finish for grip and control joints every few feet so hairline cracking stays invisible.
A retaining wall lives or dies on drainage. We put gravel and a perforated pipe behind the wall before backfilling, so groundwater has somewhere to go instead of building up pressure against the concrete.
Garage slabs, shed pads and equipment pads all need a vapor barrier under them if you don't want moisture wicking up through the concrete later. We size the thickness and reinforcement to whatever's going to sit on it.
Exposed aggregate, integral color and scored patterns can turn a plain slab into something that looks intentional. We pick the aggregate and the scoring layout with you before the truck ever shows up, since that decision is permanent once it's poured.
A penetrating sealer keeps water and de-icing salt out of the pores of the concrete without leaving it slick. We reseal driveways and patios every couple of years, more often if the slab gets full sun most of the day.
Four steps, and no surprises in any of them.
You tell us what you want doing, we look at what is actually there, and we ask the awkward questions early.
In writing, itemised, free. If something might add cost later we flag it now rather than at the end.
Same crew throughout. We cover your floors, keep the dust down and tidy up before we leave each day.
You point out anything you are not happy with and we fix it before the invoice, not after.
A few driveways, patios and repairs we've poured recently.
We haul forms, base rock and crews to job sites throughout this list.
Questions that come up once a concrete job is actually underway.
Describe the problem and we will tell you what it probably is. No obligation.