Bedrock Lafayette Concrete is a concrete contractor based in Lafayette that pours driveways, patios, walkways, steps and foundations for Oakland homes and small businesses, starting with the ground underneath each slab.
Oakland covers a lot of different streets, and the work changes with them. In the flatter neighborhoods we mostly meet older houses on narrow lots, with a driveway squeezed along one side and a front walk that has lifted and cracked over the years. Up in the hills the lots tilt, so driveways climb steeply and a patio often needs a wall or a set of steps before there's a flat place to sit. Between them sit apartment buildings, corner shops and small commercial lots, and we take calls from those too.
We're best known for flatwork, the driveways, patios and walks that lie on the ground, and we do the same work in Berkeley next door and out in Concord. What most Oakland jobs share is age. A lot of the concrete we take out here was poured long ago on ground that was never packed well, so the job usually starts below the surface, with the base, before anyone talks about the finish.
Oakland driveways are often narrow or steep, so we plan the base and the slope toward the street first, then finish with a light broom texture for grip.
Explore serviceFor a flat, dry patio, we dig down to firm subgrade, the soil the slab sits on, pack a base and pitch the surface away from your house.
Explore serviceStamped concrete is pressed with a pattern while it's still soft, so it can look like stone or brick, and it needs the same solid base as plain concrete.
Explore serviceWe replace front walks and side paths that have lifted or cracked into trip edges, resetting them on a packed base so water runs off.
Explore serviceA garage floor carries a car's weight every day, so the plan turns on the slab's thickness, rebar to hold it together and where the joints go.
Explore serviceIf you'd like color, a smooth finish or exposed stone, we'll go over how each one wears and cleans before you choose.
Explore serviceOn sloped lots a retaining wall holds back the hill, so its footing, the drainage behind it and its height decide the whole design.
Explore serviceInterior slabs for basements, workshops and additions need a flat, level surface and a vapor barrier under them, so we check levels carefully before the pour.
Explore serviceA pool deck has to stay grippy when wet and shed splash water away from the pool, so finish texture and slope come first in the plan.
Explore serviceWe form and pour front and garden steps with every step the same height so nobody catches a toe, tying them into the walk or slab they meet.
Explore serviceA slab foundation is a building's floor and footing poured as one piece, laid out to the approved plans on ground prepared before any steel goes down.
Explore serviceFor additions, garages and new structures we build the foundation the drawings call for, and I'll say plainly when a question belongs with your engineer.
Explore serviceSmall lots behind shops and apartment buildings take heavier, more frequent traffic than a home driveway, so we plan a thicker slab and drainage across the area.
Explore serviceFootings are the buried concrete that carries a wall, deck post or addition, and their size and depth come from the load and your plans.
Explore serviceWhen part of a slab or house has settled, we start by finding out why, because lifting it back up does little if the ground keeps moving.
Explore serviceWe saw-cut openings, trenches and clean edges in existing concrete, and cut control joints, the grooves that tell a slab where to crack, on new pours.
Explore serviceIn Oakland, building permit applications go to the city's Planning & Building department, which has made it easier to apply with Same-Day Digital Permits. One step comes before the permit, though, because the city wants an approved Recycling Plan and Recycling Summary Report before it issues one, and on a concrete job, where the old slab comes out in pieces, we get that started early so it doesn't hold up the pour. We help you work out which offices your project goes through and handle the permit paperwork with you as part of the job. Before you hire anyone, you can check their license with the California Contractors State License Board, and since anyone doing business in Oakland, including businesses based outside the city, has to file and pay the city's annual business tax, it's fair to ask about that too, with current terms on the city's business page.
Oakland jobs often look like the work we do in Alameda on the flats and Orinda up the hill, and the same things move the price: how much old concrete comes out, how much digging and packing the ground needs, how steep the lot is, how the concrete reaches the forms and which finish you choose. The schedule turns on the permit steps above and on curing, the days fresh concrete needs to gain strength before you can walk or drive on it. When I come out, I'll walk the site with you and give you your own figure.
Thank you for reaching out. Tell us what you'd like poured or replaced and roughly where the house is, and add any questions about the permit steps. We'll get back to you within one business day to set a time, then I'll come out myself to look at the job and give you a free estimate on site, with no obligation and no pressure to book.
(925) 298-0707Yes, a state license is required when the project needs a building permit, uses any additional workers, or its contracts total $1,000 or more in labor and materials, which covers most driveway and patio jobs. The state board allows some small jobs without one, but only with no permit, no employee labor, combined costs under $1,000 and no claim in ads to be licensed. We're fully licensed and insured.
On a home improvement project in California, a contractor can't ask for or accept a down payment of more than $1,000 or 10 percent of the total contract price, whichever is less. That's the state board's rule, and it's worth checking any contract against it before you sign.
Concrete can crack, and I'd rather tell you that plainly than promise otherwise. What we can do is keep cracks small and put them where we choose, with the packed base, steel and on-time joints described above, so a crack usually follows a joint instead of running across the middle of your driveway.
We're a concrete contractor based in Lafayette, CA, and we work in many cities across the East Bay, including the ones listed here. If your city isn't on the list, please call and ask, since these are simply the cities with their own page.
If you have a few photos of the old slab or the spot you'd like poured, send them through the form or mention them when you call (925) 298-0707, because they help me come out prepared.
Thank you for reading, and if you'd like to talk through your Oakland project, we're glad to hear from you.
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