Concrete Contractor in Los Angeles and Across Southern California: Driveways, Patios, Slabs and Walkways

Green Design and Build is a licensed residential general contractor (CSLB #1110975) that designs, permits and pours concrete flatwork for homeowners across Los Angeles County, the San Fernando Valley, Orange County, Ventura County, western Riverside County and western San Bernardino County. If you searched for a concrete contractor near me, this page explains what we pour, what it costs, why slabs fail and how we build them so they do not.

A slab is not a surface. It is a compacted base with a wearing course on top, and almost every heaved driveway and cracked patio we are called out to inspect failed in the base, not in the concrete.

What we pour

Residential flatwork from tear-out to cure, on its own or as part of a larger outdoor living project.

Driveways, including widening and replacing one that has heaved. See what a concrete driveway costs and driveway replacement cost.
Patios, from a plain broom-finished pad to a stamped or exposed-aggregate terrace under a patio cover.
Walkways and front paths, usually 3 to 4 feet wide, graded so water leaves the house.
Garage and shed slabs, where thickness, reinforcement and edge footings are set by what will sit on them and what the plan checker requires.
Pool decks, sloped away from the coping, with expansion joints at the pool shell.
Steps and landings, poured with the patio or separately when the grade change is more than one riser.
RV pads, poured thicker and reinforced with rebar, because a loaded motorhome is not a car.
Side yards, the strip that turns to mud every winter, usually paired with a flush channel drain at the low end.

If the surface sits over a sewer lateral, a mature tree or an irrigation main, we will usually point you to pavers instead. More below.

Why slabs fail

When we are asked to look at a cracked or heaved slab, the cause is almost always one of these, and usually more than one.

No base, or a base that was never compacted. Poured straight onto native soil, concrete bridges every soft spot and cracks the first time the ground moves. We excavate, place crushed aggregate base and compact it in lifts. This is the step cheap bids skip, and it is why their slabs crack in year two.

Control joints in the wrong place, or none at all. Concrete shrinks as it cures and will crack somewhere; a control joint tells it where. Our rule of thumb is joint spacing in feet of two to three times the slab thickness in inches, so a 4-inch slab gets joints every 8 to 12 feet, cut a quarter of the depth. A joint cut too shallow or too late is decoration.

Wire mesh lying on the bottom. Mesh only works in the middle of the slab. On most failed slabs we open up, it is on the dirt, doing nothing. We use #3 rebar on chairs at mid-depth for any slab that carries a vehicle.

Expansive clay in the Valley. Much of the San Fernando Valley sits on clay that swells when wet and shrinks when dry. A slab on it moves with the seasons unless the base is thick enough, the subgrade is moistened before the pour and roof water is kept off the slab edges.

Tree roots. A ficus or a camphor within 15 feet of a walkway will lift it. We cut a root barrier, move the path, or recommend pavers so the lifted section can be reset.

Water with nowhere to go. A slab poured dead flat, or sloped toward the house, holds water at the edge, softens the base and starts the cycle above. Every slab we pour falls about a quarter inch per foot away from the structure, with a drain line where the yard cannot shed water on its own.

How we build a slab

Sequence is the difference between a slab that lasts and one that does not.

Grade and drainage. Finished elevations first, so the slab sheds water to a place that can take it.
Rough utilities and sleeves. Conduit for future outdoor electrical, gas or irrigation crossing the slab goes in now. Cutting a slab for a sleeve later costs more than the sleeve.
Footings. Where a slab supports a patio cover post or a wall, the footing goes in and is inspected before the flatwork.
Base and compaction. Crushed aggregate, compacted in lifts with a plate compactor.
Forms, reinforcement and pour. Rebar on chairs, forms checked for fall, the pour at first light in summer with a retarder in the mix so the surface does not flash-set.
Finish, joints and cure. Joints cut the same day or the next morning, curing compound applied, nobody on it for 24 hours.

A finish rushed on a 100-degree afternoon looks fine for a month and then dusts and crazes.

Permits

Flatwork at grade normally needs no building permit. In the City of Los Angeles, the code exempts platforms, walks and driveways not more than 30 inches above grade and not over a basement or story below, and most cities in our area follow the same model code. Beyond that:

Structural slabs for a garage, workshop or ADU are part of the building permit for that structure.
Retaining walls over 4 feet, or any wall carrying a surcharge such as a driveway or a slope above it, need a permit and engineering. See retaining walls.
Outdoor electrical and gas lines always need a permit. We pull it and our licensed electrician or plumber does the work.
Driveway approaches in the public right-of-way are separate. In the City of Los Angeles the apron, curb cut and sidewalk are permitted by the Bureau of Engineering, not the building department. Other cities handle it through their own public works desk.

Thresholds vary by city and we confirm what applies to your address before we quote.

Concrete or pavers

We install both, so we have no reason to steer you. Concrete is cheaper and reads as one clean plane. Pavers cost $15 to $25+ per square foot installed and buy you repairability: a settled or root-lifted section can be pulled up, the base fixed and the same stones reset without a visible patch. These are typical Los Angeles budgeting estimates, not a price list or a quote. Your project can come in lower or higher depending on the house, the scope and the finishes; the only real number is a written proposal after a site visit.

Our rule of thumb: with a mature tree, a sewer lateral or an irrigation main anywhere under the surface, pavers pay for themselves the first time anyone needs to get underneath. On a wide-open patio or driveway with nothing below it, concrete is the better value and we will say so. The paver driveway and side yard in Anaheim shows the paver route from bare dirt through excavation, base and flush drains.

Where we pour concrete

Los Angeles County and the San Fernando Valley. Clay soils in the Valley and hillside lots from the Santa Monica Mountains to the foothills. On clay we go thicker on base and stricter on drainage; on a hillside the truck often cannot reach the pour and the concrete comes in by pump.

Orange County. Flatter lots and a lot of homeowner associations. Color, finish and even the driveway outline can be subject to design review, which we build into the schedule.

Ventura County. Larger lots and longer driveways in Simi Valley, Moorpark and Thousand Oaks, with hillside clay in the foothills. Bobcat access is usually easy, which helps the per-foot number.

Western Riverside County. Big inland lots, RV pads and summer heat. We pour early and thicken slabs for motorhomes; concrete that dries too fast in Murrieta or Corona is weak concrete.

Western San Bernardino County. Ontario, Rancho Cucamonga and the alluvial fan below the San Gabriels. The dig often hits cobbles, and the ground drains fast: good for the slab, hard on the excavator.

Full list on our service areas page. Residential only.

Timeline

A typical residential flatwork job runs 3 to 7 days on site from tear-out to the end of the pour, depending on square footage, access and whether an old slab has to come out first. Walk on a broom-finished slab after 24 hours, a stamped one a day later. Keep cars off a driveway for 7 days. Concrete reaches its design strength at 28 days; that is when RVs, boats and loaded trucks go on it and when decorative finishes get sealed.

Finishes and what they cost installed

Every decorative finish is an add on top of standard flatwork, because the base, forming, reinforcement and pour are the same work whether the top gets a broom or a stamp.

Item	Installed cost	What you are paying for
Broom finish	$8–$18 per sq ft	The standard. Grippy, plain, easiest to repair and match.
Salt finish	$8–$18 per sq ft	Rock salt pressed into the fresh surface and washed out. Same range as broom on most jobs.
Color or stain	$10–$23 per sq ft (adds $2–$5)	Integral color in the mix, or a stain after the cure.
Exposed aggregate	$11–$24 per sq ft (adds $3–$6)	The top paste is washed off to expose the stone, then sealed.
Stamped	$12–$26 per sq ft (adds $4–$8)	Color hardener, release agent, mats and sealer. See stamped concrete cost.
Thicker slab or extra reinforcement	Adds $1–$3 per sq ft	5 to 6 inches with rebar instead of 4 inches. Worth it for RVs and work trucks.
Demolition and haul-away of an old slab	$1,500–$3,000	The line item most often missing from a low bid.
Difficult access	Adds $500–$1,500+	Wheelbarrow and pump instead of Bobcat and chute.
Drainage	About $90 per linear foot	Channel or area drain run to daylight or a dry well.

These are typical Los Angeles budgeting estimates, not a price list or a quote. Your project can come in lower or higher depending on the house, the scope and the finishes; the only real number is a written proposal after a site visit.

Frequently asked questions

How much does a concrete contractor charge per square foot in Southern California?

Standard broom-finished flatwork runs $8 to $18 per square foot installed. Exposed aggregate adds $3 to $6, color $2 to $5 and stamping $4 to $8. Demolition and access are priced separately. These are typical Los Angeles budgeting estimates, not a price list or a quote. Your project can come in lower or higher depending on the house, the scope and the finishes; the only real number is a written proposal after a site visit.

Do I need a permit to pour a patio or driveway?

Usually not for flatwork at grade; in the City of Los Angeles, walks and driveways not more than 30 inches above grade are exempt. You do need one for a structural slab, a retaining wall over 4 feet or carrying a surcharge, any electrical or gas line, and for apron and sidewalk work in the public right-of-way, which the City handles through the Bureau of Engineering. Cities differ and we confirm for your address.

How thick should a residential concrete slab be?

Four inches is standard for patios, walkways and driveways that carry cars and SUVs. For an RV pad, a work-truck driveway or a garage slab we go to 5 or 6 inches with #3 rebar on chairs instead of wire mesh. The base matters as much as the slab: crushed aggregate, compacted in lifts, before any concrete is placed.

How long before I can use my new concrete?

Walk on it after 24 hours, or 48 for stamped work. Park a car on a driveway after 7 days. Concrete reaches its design strength at 28 days, so heavy vehicles, boats and RVs wait until then. From tear-out to the end of the pour a typical job is 3 to 7 days on site.

Why did my old driveway crack and heave?

Almost always the base. Concrete poured on uncompacted soil, or on San Fernando Valley clay without a proper base, moves with the ground. Add wire mesh that ended up on the bottom of the slab, control joints too far apart, tree roots or water pooling at the edge, and cracking is a matter of when, not if. We fix the ground before we fix the concrete.

Should I choose concrete or pavers?

Concrete costs less and reads as a single clean plane. Pavers cost more and can be lifted and reset if a tree root or a plumbing repair disturbs them. With a mature tree, a sewer lateral or an irrigation main under the surface, choose pavers. On an open area with nothing below it, concrete is the better value and we will tell you so.

If you are planning a driveway, patio, walkway or slab anywhere in our five-county area, we will come out for a free site visit, look at the ground, the access and what is already there, and send a written proposal within 48 hours.