Concrete Contractor in Montecito, CA - Flatwork Built for Hillside Lots

The County of Santa Barbara issues them, because Montecito is unincorporated and has no city government of its own. Permits come from the county's Building & Safety Division. We check with the county about your address before we price the job, and when your job needs a permit we handle the application and set up the inspections.

The county's exempt list covers retaining walls up to 4 feet tall, measured from the bottom of the footing to the top of the wall, as long as the wall carries no surcharge, which is an extra load like a sloped yard or a driveway above it. Walks are on the list only when they're no more than 30 inches above the ground at any point, sit over no basement and aren't part of an accessible route. Plenty of hillside walls here hold exactly that kind of extra load, so we look at what sits behind and above yours and check with the county before we tell you which side of the line it falls on.

The state licensing board requires a license for anyone building or altering a structure when the job needs a building permit, uses any other workers, or totals $1,000 or more in labor and materials across one or more contracts. A bigger project can't be split into smaller contracts to get under that line. We're licensed and fully insured.

There's no honest number until I've seen the property, because the price comes down to the size and thickness of the slab, how much old concrete we break out, how much base work the ground needs and the finish you choose. On Montecito lots, long drives, steep grades and tight lanes where the truck can't get close usually add labor, and stamped or colored concrete costs more than a plain broom finish. The estimate is where you get your own figure.

Besides a weak base, most cracking comes from water running under the slab, joints cut late or skipped, and pours done in the midday heat. Some cracking is normal because concrete shrinks as it dries, so we cut control joints early, which are grooves that give those cracks a straight line to follow where we chose. We also pour early in the day so the top doesn't dry too fast and turn weak and dusty later.

Usually you can walk on new concrete after a day or two and drive a car on it after about a week, and heavier trucks should wait longer. Curing is the slow hardening concrete does while it holds onto its water, and rushing it leaves a slab weaker than it should be. I'll give you your dates when we schedule the pour so you can plan where to park.