Concrete contractor in Hermosa Beach - driveways and patios for tight beach lots
Redondo Beach Concrete Company is a concrete contractor based next door in Redondo Beach. In Hermosa Beach we build driveways, patios, walks, steps and footings, starting with the dug-out, packed base under the slab.
Small lots and close quarters shape every pour here
Hermosa Beach is a small, packed city between Manhattan Beach to the north and Redondo Beach, where we're based, to the south. On our jobs here we see older beach cottages next to newer two-story builds, houses set close to the property line, and front yards that are mostly driveway. A lot of the lots are narrow and back onto an alley, so the driveway or garage apron often does double duty as parking and the only way in.
That shapes the work before we mix anything. With little room to stage, we plan where the truck parks, how the concrete gets from the street to the forms, and where the water off a new slab will go when the house next door is a few feet away.
What we know from working in Hermosa Beach
In Hermosa Beach, building permits come from the city's Building and Safety Division, which plan-checks a project before it issues one. Their list covers new construction, additions, alterations and demolition and doesn't name driveways or patios, so whether your job needs a permit is their call, and if it does, plan check is the first thing that sets your start date. If you need one, we tell you up front, handle the paperwork and check with the division before we start. It's also worth asking any contractor whether their Hermosa Beach business license is current, because the city's licenses last one year and have to be renewed every year. We're licensed and insured.
Most calls here are for driveways, aprons, walks and steps on houses that have had the same concrete for a long time. The price moves with how much old concrete comes out, how much base work the ground needs, how hard it is to get material onto a tight lot, and the finish you pick, since a plain broom finish, the light texture that gives shoes and tires grip, costs less than stamped or colored work. If something has to give in the budget, I'd rather cut the finish than the base, because the base is the dug-out, packed ground the slab sits on and nobody can fix it once the concrete is on top. The schedule turns on plan check if there is one and on how long the slab needs to cure, the wait while it hardens before you use it, and my written estimate spells out the prep, the joints and the finish. We work the same way down in Palos Verdes Estates, and if a cracked front walk is your problem, our concrete sidewalk building work covers it.
Concrete work in Hermosa Beach
- Concrete driveway building
- Concrete patio construction
- Stamped concrete services
- Concrete sidewalk building
- Garage floor concrete
- Decorative concrete
- Concrete retaining walls
- Concrete floor installation
- Concrete pool decks
- Concrete steps construction
- Slab foundation building
- Foundation installation
- Concrete parking lot building
- Concrete footings
- Foundation raising
- Concrete cutting
Old slabs and shallow water change the work here
The city says that in some parts of Hermosa Beach the groundwater sits six to 15 feet below the surface, with underground streams running toward the ocean. A driveway or patio doesn't dig anywhere near that deep, but footings and retaining walls go deeper, and wet ground under concrete is what lets it settle, so on those jobs I want to know what's down there before we price anything. It's also why we check where water runs across your lot and make sure a new slab falls away from the house, not toward it.
A lot of the concrete we see here is old, with driveways cracked across the middle and aprons lifted at the street. I spent years on a city public works crew cutting out slabs like that and pouring new aprons and walks, and that's the work most older Hermosa Beach houses need.
Get a free on-site concrete estimate for your Hermosa Beach home
Send the form and we'll get back to you within one business day to set a time. I come out to your Hermosa Beach property myself, walk the job, measure it and write down exactly what's included. The estimate is free, and there's no obligation.
What happens when you call us about a Hermosa Beach job
Call us or send the form
Tell us what you've got, whether it's a cracked driveway, a new patio or a set of steps, and where the house is. We'll set a time for me to come out.
I walk the site with you
I look at the old concrete, the ground and the way water runs, and I ask how you'll use the new slab. Cars, a hot tub and foot traffic each call for a different thickness and different steel.
You get a written estimate
The estimate spells out the prep, the joints and the finish, so you can see where the money goes. If the city may want anything extra before we start, I note that too.
We sort permits and utilities
If your job needs a permit, we handle the paperwork with the Building and Safety Division and wait on plan check before we set a pour date. We also get underground utility lines marked before anyone digs.
We dig, pour and clean up
The city allows construction from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. on weekdays and 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturdays, with no work on Sundays or national holidays, so we fit the groundwork, pour and finishing inside those hours. I work alongside our crew, and we leave the site clean when we go.
Driveways, patios and walks in concrete
Hermosa Beach concrete questions we hear
How much does a concrete driveway cost in Hermosa Beach?
On a Hermosa Beach lot, the biggest swings in price usually come from access and haul-off, because getting concrete in and old slab out of a narrow lot takes more time and sometimes a pump. Extra city steps, like plan check or a soils report when the city asks for one, add cost too. I write all of it into the estimate so you can see what you're paying for.
How long does a new concrete driveway take before I can park on it?
You can walk on it well before you can drive on it, because concrete keeps gaining strength for days after the pour as it cures. I'll give you both dates for your slab before we start, since the mix and the weather that week change them. Plan on parking on the street for a stretch, which is worth sorting out ahead of time on a tight block.
How do I keep a new concrete driveway from cracking?
You can't keep concrete from cracking entirely, but you can decide where it cracks. We cut control joints, straight grooves in the surface, early enough that the slab cracks along them instead of across the middle. We also put rebar, steel that holds cracks tight, where the load calls for it, and pour in the cooler part of the day so the top doesn't come out weak and dusty.
Does my older Hermosa Beach house need an asbestos check before concrete work?
It can, if the house was built before 1980 and the work removes or disturbs 100 square feet of surface area. In that case the city wants either an asbestos survey showing the material poses no risk, or an abatement permit before any removal starts, and it settles that before issuing the permit. We'll ask the city whether your job falls under it when we check on the permit.
Does Hermosa Beach require a soils report before concrete work?
It can. The Building and Safety Division lists a geotechnical report, an engineer's study of the soil, as one of the city's own requirements and asks applicants to submit one before construction starts. Whether your job calls for one is the division's decision, so we ask them before we price anything that depends on it.
Which building code applies to my concrete project in Hermosa Beach?
Your project stays under the building code that's in effect on the day the city receives your complete permit application and plans. A planning approval doesn't set it, only that complete submittal does. If your job needs a permit, we put the full application together so the city has everything it goes by.
Get your Hermosa Beach concrete job priced
Call (424) 402-3940 or send the form, and if your job needs a permit, starting early gives plan check time before your pour date.