Cracked, sinking or dusty garage floor? We dig out the soft ground, pack the base firm and pour a new slab made to carry your cars.
Garage floor concrete is a new slab poured over a prepared, well-packed base, and at Bedrock Lafayette Concrete we build these floors for homes in Lafayette, CA and many of the cities around it in the East Bay. House floor slabs in the Bay Area usually run four to six inches thick, and a garage floor sits at the thicker end because it carries cars.
The price mostly depends on the size of the garage, whether an old floor has to be broken out and hauled away, how much soft ground has to come out and be replaced with packed fill, and how the slab is reinforced. The schedule depends on the permit steps, the groundwork and the wait while the new concrete hardens. The written estimate I give you after seeing the garage sets out what your job involves and what it will cost.
When an old floor is cracked, sinking or holding water, the cause is usually under the concrete rather than in it, which is why all topsoil and soft spots should come out and the ground underneath should be packed hard before a new slab goes down. Whoever you talk to, please ask how they'll prepare and compact the base under your slab, because that answer tells you more about a quote than the price does. We also help you work out which offices your project goes through, and we handle the permit paperwork with you as part of the job.
Here's who does what, from the first visit to the day we hand the floor back to you.
I come out to see each job in person, take measurements and listen to what you have in mind before I write anything down. I started this business in Lafayette in 2023, after years of summers on concrete crews learning the work from people who'd done it for decades.
You get a written estimate, and we go over your choices and the permit steps together so nothing comes as a surprise. We're fully licensed and insured, and that matters here because state rules allow unlicensed work only on jobs up to $1,000, up from $500, and only when the job needs no permit and the person doing it has no employees, a limit nearly any garage floor goes well past.
I'm on site with our crew during the work, and we look over the finished floor with you before we call it done. Your satisfaction, guaranteed, and when you're ready, call (925) 298-0707 or use the form below to set up the first visit.
On a garage floor, most of our attention goes to the ground under the slab. Once the old floor is out, we clear away topsoil and anything soft, then compact the subgrade, the soil the slab rests on, along with any fill we bring in, until it's firm. We check where water will run so the floor drains toward the door and away from the house. Then we set rebar, steel bars inside the slab that help hold cracks tight, at a depth we agree on with you, since steel in the right spot keeps cracks narrow even though it can't stop them. The base is the part nobody sees on day one, so it's often the first thing people want to trim when the budget is tight. My advice is to keep the base and save on the finish instead, because a nice surface on soft ground still settles, but the choice is yours. If the garage will be heated or cooled, coated, or joined to living space, a vapor barrier under the slab may be worth adding. If a coating is part of your plan, please mention it at the first visit, since the concrete's moisture and surface texture are checked before a coating goes on.
Some garage projects reach past the floor. If you'd like color or a pattern on the walk or patio beside the garage, our decorative concrete work can tie it in. Where a sloped yard crowds the driveway or the side of the garage, we build concrete retaining walls to hold the ground back.
Here's what you'll see from the day we start to the day the floor is yours again.
Before we start, please move cars, shelves and stored things out, because we need the whole floor clear to break out the old slab. We haul the old concrete away ourselves.
Expect most of the digging and machine noise early on, while we take out soft ground and pack the base. We don't rush this part, because it's where the floor's support comes from.
We schedule the pour for the cooler part of the day, because concrete poured in midday heat can end up with a weak, dusty top. Soon after finishing, we cut control joints, shallow grooves that give cracks a straight, planned place to go.
Curing is the slow hardening that gives concrete its strength, so please keep off the new floor until we say it's ready. The answers below cover when you can walk on it and when you can park on it.
Call (925) 298-0707 or send the form, and we'll get back to you within one business day to set a time for me to come out and measure. The estimate is free, done on site and comes with no pressure to book. It helps to have your garage size in square feet ready, along with any coating plans and whether the garage opens into the house.
(925) 298-0707A reinforced concrete slab in the Bay Area usually costs about $9 to $16 per square foot, which is the going rate for slabs in general, not our price for your garage. Reinforced slabs cost more per square foot than plain, unreinforced pads. Your own figure comes from the written estimate I put together after measuring your garage.
You should be able to walk on a new slab within 48 hours, although concrete takes about a month to fully cure. You may want to wait a week before parking or putting other heavy loads on it, so plan on light use only for that first week.
It may, because all concrete tends to crack, and nobody can pour a slab that's completely crack-free. What you should expect is a floor where cracking is kept in check by the packed base, the steel and the joints described above. I'd be careful with anyone who promises zero cracks.
In Lafayette, a building permit starts with an online zoning plan check through the city's Planning office, and Contra Costa County's building inspection office then handles the plan check and inspections. The county office is in Martinez. If you're not sure whether your garage floor needs a permit, the city's Planning office is the place to ask, and we'll work through the answer with you.
We're based in Lafayette and work throughout the East Bay, and we do the same garage floor work in Orinda, Moraga, Walnut Creek and other nearby cities. Most garage calls we get are about an original floor that has cracked, settled or started to dust, and the fix usually starts below the surface.
Call (925) 298-0707 or send the form, because booking early leaves time to sort out the city and county steps before your old floor comes out.
Thank you for reading, and if you have a question about your garage floor, I'd be glad to talk it through with you.
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