Cracked, uneven floor or a new space that needs one? We prep the ground, pour and finish a flat slab built to carry your flooring.
Concrete floor installation in Irvine means forming, pouring and finishing a flat slab for a garage, workshop, addition or other space. At United Irvine Concrete, we build it so you can use it as it is or put a coating or other flooring on it later.
Most calls start with an old floor that's cracked, sinking or uneven, or with a new space that needs a slab. Either way, the job starts below the surface. We dig out and pack the subgrade, the ground the slab sits on, because a floor only stays flat if what's under it does. The same thinking goes into our concrete steps and concrete pool decks.
The price mostly follows the size of the floor, how much old concrete comes out and how much ground work it needs. The schedule turns on any permit and on curing, the days the concrete needs to gain strength before you use it. When your floor needs a city permit, we prepare and file it and keep you posted on where it stands. My written estimate gives your own figure and shows what's included.
Call (949) 518-3401 or use the form, and we'll set a time for me to come out to your property. It helps to know roughly how big the floor is and whether flooring will go on top.
I check the ground, where the water runs and what forms the job will need, and I ask how you'll use the floor. You get a written estimate that lists what's included, so you can see what you're paying for before you decide.
If you go ahead, we take care of any permit the job needs, and then our own crew digs out, packs the base and pours, with me or my foreman running the site. We cut the joints and start curing when the concrete is ready, not when it suits our day.
When the work is done, we walk the finished floor with you and go over how long to stay off it. We leave your property as tidy as we found it.
I care most about the part nobody sees, so when a budget gets tight, I'd sooner keep the money in the base than in the finish. We dig out soft dirt, pack the subgrade and set rebar, the steel that keeps cracked pieces from drifting apart, wherever the floor needs it. A nice surface poured over raked dirt usually settles right along with the dirt.
On pour day, timing decides how the floor turns out. We finish the surface, cut the control joints, which are shallow grooves that give the slab a straight place to crack, and start curing, all timed to how the concrete is setting. Rushing those steps or waiting too long shows up later as a dusty top, cracks in places nobody chose or high and low spots. If flooring is going on top, we talk through the moisture barrier and the drying time before we start.
What your concrete floor job covers:
If the old floor has a few fine cracks but still sits flat and solid, a repair is usually the sensible choice, and I'll tell you so. When a slab has sunk, heaved or broken into loose pieces, the trouble is almost always the ground underneath, and patching the top won't fix that. In that case we cut out the old slab, rebuild the base and pour a new floor, so your money goes where the problem is.
Size sets the starting point, and the rest depends on what the job needs. Tearing out an old slab, hauling it away and fixing soft ground all add work. A tight spot that a truck can't reach adds work too. A thicker or reinforced slab costs more than a plain pad, and a floor meant for finished flooring may need a moisture barrier. I list each of these on the estimate, so you can see where your money goes.
I learned this trade from a boss who made me tear out forms and set them again until they were right, and I've run this business the same way since 2013. I come out to every job myself, our own crew does the work, and either my foreman or I run the site while it happens.
Your quote says plainly what you're paying for, and we do what it says. If something won't hold up, I'll tell you before we pour. We leave your property as tidy as we found it. Satisfaction guaranteed on every job.
Call (949) 518-3401 early if flooring goes on top, so the schedule leaves room for the slab to dry before your installer comes.
Send us the floor's size in square feet, where it is and any flooring you plan. We reply within one business day to set up my visit, and the on-site estimate is free with no obligation.
Concrete slab installation in Orange County usually costs about $7 to $14 per square foot, before any staining or stamping. That's the typical range for the area, not our quote. The written estimate from my visit gives your floor's own number and what it covers.
Usually, yes. The City of Irvine requires a permit for most construction, and its list of exempt work names walks and driveways up to 30 inches above grade, not concrete floors. A new building pad also needs the city's precise grading permit, with few exceptions, and plumbing or electrical work in the slab can need its own permit, so permits often come first on the schedule. You can ask the city at (949) 724-6313.
Some cracking and curling is normal on every concrete floor, even with a good design and careful work, so ask me before we start and I'll explain how much to expect for yours. What we can control is where the cracks go, by cutting the joints on time, and how well the slab holds up, by building a packed base. That base matters even more in parts of Orange County with expansive soil, which swells and shrinks as it gets wet and dries.
A new slab should be walkable within about 48 hours, and it's wise to wait a week before you put heavier loads on it. Concrete takes 28 to 30 days to fully cure, so treat the floor gently that first month.
Let the slab dry until its moisture drops to an acceptable level before any coating or flooring goes on, because trapped moisture can cause buckling, blistering, failed adhesive or mold. Industry guidance finds the most protection when the vapor retarder, the moisture barrier under the slab, sits in direct contact with the concrete, so ask your crew where they put it.
Almost always. California lets an unlicensed person take only small jobs under $1,000, up from $500, and only when the work needs no permit and they employ no one on it. Most floors go past one of those limits, and the state licensing board treats forming, pouring and finishing flat concrete as concrete contractor work. We're licensed and insured.
We're based in Irvine and pour concrete floors in Tustin, Costa Mesa and other cities nearby. Pick your city below, or call (949) 518-3401 if yours isn't listed.
