Concrete contractor in University of California-Santa Barbara - slabs that drain right

On University projects, UC Santa Barbara is the code authority itself, and its Code Compliance Program handles permitting for all campus work that falls under building codes. That stays true when the University leases a building or the ground under it to someone else, so a lease doesn't change who reviews the work. We check which office covers your address first, and when the job needs a permit, we handle the application and set up the inspections.

If county rules cover your property rather than the campus, the County of Santa Barbara decides, and it issues two kinds of permits, planning and building. A planning permit lets an owner carry out a project on their parcel, and a building permit lets the county track the construction. The county asks owners to contact it with questions about which permit a project needs, and I'd rather sort that out before we form anything than after.

Yes, for any job worth $500 or more, counting labor and materials together, California requires a license from the Contractors State License Board. The board also says concrete contractors have to carry workers' compensation insurance whether or not they have employees. We're licensed and fully insured, and you're welcome to ask me about it when I come out.

I can't give you an honest number until I've seen the spot, because the price turns on what's under the driveway and what has to come out first. Tearing out an old slab, digging out soft ground and a thicker pour for heavy vehicles all raise it, while a plain broom finish costs less than stamped or colored work. The estimate at your property gives you a written figure for your driveway.

You can't stop concrete from cracking at all, because it shrinks a little as it dries, but you can control where it cracks and keep it from breaking up. We cut control joints, straight grooves that give the slab a planned line to crack along, early enough that the cracks land there and not across the middle. Most of the bad cracks and sinking we're called out to fix come from a base that was raked level instead of dug out and packed, so if the budget's tight, the base is the last place I'd cut, even though nobody sees it after the first day.

You can walk on a new slab well before you can drive on it, because concrete keeps gaining strength for days after the pour and a car puts its weight on the edges. Pouring in the midday heat to save time leaves a weak, dusty top later, so we'd rather pour earlier in the day. I'll tell you before the pour how long to stay off it, so you can plan around being without your driveway or patio.