Long Beach · Masonry Services
Concrete
Driveways, patios, stairs, slabs and walls, poured and finished properly, plus stamped finishes and repair work.
Concrete · Long Beach
Concrete Poured To Last
Concrete is the material most often done badly, because a bad pour and a good pour look identical for the first two years. What separates them is entirely under the surface: compacted subgrade, an adequate gravel base, rebar or mesh at the right position in the slab rather than lying on the dirt, the right water-cement ratio, and control joints cut at the right spacing before the slab decides where to crack on its own. We pour concrete driveways, concrete patios, concrete stairs, concrete walls, garage and shed pads, and we do city sidewalks and driveway aprons under encroachment permit. We also handle concrete repair, from crack routing and sealing to slab replacement where the damage has gone too far. Stamped concrete is available in slate, ashlar, cobblestone and wood-plank patterns for anyone who wants the look of pavers at a lower price point. All of it is part of the hardscape and masonry construction we do across Long Beach.
Why Go With Us For Concrete
We pour concrete every week, which matters more than it sounds, because finishing is a timing skill and timing is learned by repetition. Floating too early traps bleed water at the surface and gives you a slab that dusts and scales; floating too late gives you a rough finish you cannot fix. Beyond the finish, we spend the money where it counts, which is the base. Six inches of compacted aggregate under a driveway is not exciting and it is the reason the slab is still flat in twenty years. The same base-first thinking runs through our paver installations and the footings under our retaining walls.
- Subgrade compacted and a proper aggregate base laid before any forms go up.
- Rebar grid or fibre mesh chaired up into the slab rather than resting on the ground where it does nothing.
- Control joints cut at the correct spacing and depth, and cut early, so the slab cracks where we chose.
- Slab thickness specified for what will actually park on it, not a single depth used everywhere.
- Encroachment permits pulled for city sidewalk and driveway apron work, and poured to the city standard detail.
Reasons To Pour New Concrete
Concrete gets replaced rather than repaired more often than people expect. When it is time:
The driveway has cracked into pieces
Hairline shrinkage cracks are normal and cosmetic. A slab broken into separate plates that rock under a wheel, or one with sections settled an inch below their neighbours, has lost its base support and needs tearing out. Patching it buys a season at most.
The walkway is a trip hazard
Lifted and offset sections, usually from tree roots, are a liability as much as an eyesore. Depending on the cause we either grind and level, or cut out and replace the affected panels and deal with the root that caused it.
You need a pad for a shed, ADU or equipment
A reinforced slab poured to the right thickness with the right sub-base and, where needed, thickened edges. If there is plumbing or electrical coming up through it, that gets sleeved and located before the pour rather than cored afterwards.
The city sidewalk or apron is your responsibility
Long Beach and the surrounding cities hold property owners responsible for the sidewalk fronting their property in most circumstances. We pull the encroachment permit, pour to the city detail and get it signed off, which is the part homeowners find most awkward to arrange themselves.
You want the look of stone at a concrete price
Stamped concrete in a slate, ashlar or cobblestone pattern, with integral colour and a release, costs meaningfully less per square foot than the real thing. It is a genuine option, with the tradeoff that a crack cannot be repaired invisibly the way a paver can be swapped.
Water is pooling where it should not
A slab pitched the wrong way sends water at the foundation. A replacement pour is the moment to fix the fall and add a channel drain, and doing it then costs a fraction of cutting a finished slab open later.
Tell us the rough dimensions and what parks on it, and we can give you a number within a day. Call: (562) 379-4372
How We Work
Site walk, samples, engineering and permit, then build. One crew chief from excavation to cleanup.
1. Measure, spec and demolish
We measure the area, agree the finish and the fall, and specify the thickness and reinforcement for the actual use. Then the old slab comes out and gets hauled, which is a bigger part of the job than most people expect.
2. Base, forms and steel
Subgrade compacted, aggregate base laid and compacted in lifts, forms set to the finished grade and the fall we agreed, and reinforcement placed and chaired into position. This is the stage that decides whether the slab lasts.
3. Pour, finish and cure
Concrete placed, screeded, floated and finished to the specified texture, whether that is broom, smooth trowel, exposed aggregate or a stamp. Control joints get cut early, the slab is cured properly, and we tell you exactly when you can walk and drive on it.
Concrete Work We Cover
What we pour, form and repair around Long Beach:
Concrete driveways
Tear-out and replacement, widening for an extra vehicle, and new pours. Thickness and reinforcement sized for what actually parks there, which for most homes means four to five inches over a compacted base, and more where a truck or an RV is involved.
Concrete patios
Broom, smooth, salt, exposed aggregate or stamped finishes, with the fall designed to move water away from the house. Often combined with a paver border or a flagstone inlay to break up a large field of grey.
Concrete stairs
Poured steps at entries, on slopes and between terraces, with consistent rise and run, a proper footing under the bottom tread, and a non-slip finish. Existing stairs can often be resurfaced rather than replaced if the structure is sound.
Stamped concrete
Slate, ashlar, cobblestone, wood-plank and custom patterns with integral colour and an antiquing release. Sealed on completion and needing resealing every two to three years to hold the colour and keep the surface sound.
Concrete walls
Poured reinforced walls for retaining, foundations and stem walls. Board-formed and sandblasted finishes are available, or they can be faced afterwards in stone or brick.
Concrete repair
Crack routing and sealing, spall and edge repairs, resurfacing, and slab jacking or replacement where settlement has taken a section down. We are straight with you about which cracks are cosmetic and which mean the base has failed.
City sidewalks and driveway aprons
Sidewalk panel replacement, curb and gutter, and the apron where the driveway meets the street. Poured to the city standard detail under an encroachment permit that we pull and close out.
What Affects the Cost of Concrete
Concrete work generally runs $6 to $15 per square foot, with stamped finishes at $12 to $18. What moves it:
- Thickness and reinforcement. A four-inch patio slab with mesh is one price. A five or six-inch driveway with a rebar grid, sized for vehicles, is another.
- Finish. Broom finish is the baseline. Smooth trowel, exposed aggregate, coloured and stamped finishes step up from there in that rough order.
- Demolition and haul-off. Breaking out an existing slab and getting the debris off site is real cost before anything new is poured.
- Base preparation. Poor subgrade, tree roots to remove or a deep aggregate base on soft ground all add before the pour.
- Access. A truck that can chute directly into the forms is the cheap case. Pump truck or wheelbarrow access adds hours or a separate machine cost.
- Permits. Right-of-way work such as sidewalks and aprons carries an encroachment permit and an inspection, both of which we handle and quote up front.
Free estimate and a flat written quote after the site walk, with demolition, base, pour, joints and cleanup included. If a retaining wall or an outdoor kitchen is going in on the same yard, we price the concrete around it so nothing gets poured twice.
Frequently Asked Questions
How long does concrete last?
Properly poured and sealed concrete lasts 25 to 50 years. Stamped concrete and concrete driveways may need resealing every 2 to 3 years to maintain appearance and prevent cracking.
What is better, stamped concrete or pavers?
Stamped concrete costs less upfront, roughly $12 to $18 per square foot against $15 to $30 for pavers, but it cannot be easily repaired if it cracks. Pavers are more durable, allow individual replacement, and typically add more resale value.
How long before you can walk on new concrete?
You can walk on new concrete after 24 to 48 hours. Vehicles should wait at least 7 days, and full cure takes 28 days. We will give you exact timelines based on your project and the weather during the pour.
Will my concrete crack?
All concrete develops fine shrinkage cracks as it cures, and that is normal and cosmetic. Structural cracking comes from an inadequate base, missing or badly placed reinforcement, or control joints cut too late or too far apart. Those are the three corners we do not cut.
Can you repair a cracked driveway instead of replacing it?
If the slab is still supported and the crack is narrow and stable, routing and sealing it is worthwhile and cheap. If sections have settled, rock under load, or the slab has broken into separate plates, the base underneath has failed and no surface repair will hold. We will tell you which one you have.
Do I need a permit to replace my driveway?
Replacing a private driveway in kind usually does not need one. Work in the public right-of-way does, which means the sidewalk section, the apron and the curb cut. If your job touches any of those we pull the encroachment permit and see the inspection through.
Planning masonry work in Long Beach?
Tell us what you are building or what has failed, and we will come out, walk the site and give you a free estimate in writing.
Or call us now: (562) 379-4372