Concrete contractor in Rancho Santa Margarita - slabs that drain and hold up
Complete Lake Forest Concrete Company pours driveways, patios, walks, steps and retaining walls for homes in Rancho Santa Margarita, and replaces slabs that have cracked, sunk or started holding water.
We're a concrete company based in Lake Forest, and Rancho Santa Margarita is one of the Orange County cities we work in. Most calls are for a new driveway, patio or walk, or for a slab that has started to move. We're known for flatwork, the slabs you walk and drive on, that drains the way it should, and for explaining a job before we price it.
- Explain the job before we price it
- Dig out and pack the base
- Cut joints before cracks pick their spot
Driveways, patios and walls in Rancho Santa Margarita
Wherever we work, the jobs are usually the everyday kind: a driveway cracked across or sunk at one edge, a back patio that holds a puddle after rain, a walk lifted by a tree root. When an old slab has failed, we look under it before we price the new one, because the cause is usually in the subgrade, the soil and gravel the slab sits on.
Where a yard slopes, the work changes. A patio has to fall away from the house so rain doesn't run toward the foundation, and a retaining wall needs a footing and a way for water to drain out from behind it. Those parts take time on day one and are buried by the end.
Concrete work we do in Rancho Santa Margarita
Pick the job you're planning in Rancho Santa Margarita to see how we handle it, what drives the work and what to ask anyone bidding it.
Concrete driveway building
A driveway where the old one has cracked, sunk or tipped water toward the garage, built on a packed base.
Concrete patio construction
Backyard patios sloped away from the house, finished smooth or with a broom texture that gives your feet grip.
Stamped concrete services
Stamped patterns pressed into fresh concrete when you want the look of stone or brick on a patio or walk.
Concrete sidewalk building
If a front walk has heaved or broken into a trip hazard, we tear it out and pour it again.
Garage floor concrete
Garage slabs replaced or poured new, thick enough for the car and pitched so water heads for the door.
Decorative concrete
Color, exposed stone and custom borders for concrete that has to look good as well as hold up.
Concrete retaining walls
Concrete walls that hold back a slope, with footings and drainage behind them so water doesn't push them over.
Concrete floor installation
Interior concrete floors for additions, studios and shops, poured level and ready for the finish you choose.
Concrete pool decks
Decks around the pool with a surface that grips wet feet and sheds water where you want it.
Concrete steps construction
Front and back steps formed with even step heights, so nobody catches a toe on one that's taller.
Slab foundation building
Slab foundations for additions and outbuildings, on a compacted base with steel tied in before the pour.
Foundation installation
When a new structure goes up, we set the foundation it stands on, from layout and digging to the pour.
Concrete parking lot building
Parking areas for small properties, thick enough for the traffic and sloped so rain doesn't sit in puddles.
Concrete footings
Footings for walls, posts and additions, dug to size and poured so the load sits on firm ground.
Foundation raising
Where a slab or foundation has started to sink, we find out why before talking about lifting it.
Concrete cutting
Clean saw cuts for new doorways, pipe trenches or removing a damaged section without breaking up the rest.
Serving Rancho Santa Margarita from Lake Forest
We're based in Lake Forest and work in cities across Orange County, Rancho Santa Margarita among them. We do the same work in Laguna Woods and the other cities on this site, and if yours isn't listed, call and ask.
To set up a visit, call (949) 619-8295 or send the form with your address, what you're planning and anything you've noticed, like a crack that keeps growing or water that sits by the garage.
Before you pour in Rancho Santa Margarita
Price comes down to size, thickness, how much old concrete comes out, how much bad soil we dig out and replace, and the finish you pick. The schedule turns on the permit check, the weather on pour day and curing, the wait while the concrete gains strength before you put weight on it. Your estimate gives you your own price.
When the budget gets tight, the base is the first thing people want to trim, because nobody sees it once the slab is down. I'd cut the fancy finish first. A plain broom finish on a packed base outlasts a stamped pattern on dirt that was only raked level, which is a fine way to save an afternoon and lose a driveway. Make sense?
- Where rain runs off your yard now, and where it should go
- Which old slabs come out and which ones stay
- The finish you want, and the budget it has to fit
How a job here runs
You call, I come out
You call or send the form, and I come out to walk the site with you, look at the old concrete and see where the water goes.
Options and an estimate
I walk you through the options and why one fits your yard better, check with the city on permits, and leave you an estimate.
Pour, check, walk-through
Once you say go, our crew handles the prep, forms, pour and finish. I check the work along the way and walk the finished job with you.
Rancho Santa Margarita concrete questions
Do I need a permit for a concrete driveway in Rancho Santa Margarita?
Driveways and sidewalks are on the city's list of work exempt from a building permit, but grading needs its own Grading and Encroachment Permit from the Public Works Department. Before any job starts, we check with the city's Building and Safety Division, and if your work needs a permit, we handle the application with you.
Does a retaining wall need a permit in Rancho Santa Margarita?
A retaining wall up to 4 feet, measured from the bottom of the footing to the top of the wall, is on the city's exempt list unless it holds back extra load, like a driveway or a slope above it. Taller or loaded walls aren't on that list, so we confirm with the city before we dig.
Does a concrete contractor need a California license?
Yes, for nearly any concrete job on a house. The Contractors State License Board requires one when a job needs a building permit, uses employees or totals $1,000 or more in labor and materials, and home improvement contractors must be licensed before they bid. We're fully licensed and insured, and you should ask to see the license of anyone bidding your job.
Is my Rancho Santa Margarita home in a fire hazard zone?
It may be, since draft state maps put parts of the city in Very High, High and Moderate zones, shown on the city's fire hazard map page. A one-story shed of 120 square feet or less can skip a building permit but still fall under the state's wildland-urban interface code, so mention your zone if a shed pad is in the plan.
Will my new concrete driveway crack like the old one did?
It can crack, so our job is to decide where. We cut control joints on time, grooves that give the slab a straight line to crack along, and pour on a dug-out, packed base so it doesn't sink with the dirt. Rebar, the steel laid inside the slab, helps hold a crack tight.
Tell us about your Rancho Santa Margarita job
Use the form to tell us what you want poured or fixed, or call (949) 619-8295. We reply within one business day to set up your free on-site estimate, with no obligation.
Call (949) 619-8295