Planning a home or addition and worried about the ground under it? We form and pour the foundation your engineer designs for that soil.
Foundation installation in Irvine is the forming, pouring and finishing of the concrete your house or addition rests on, built to a design that fits the soil, because ground that moves puts stress on the concrete above it.
If you're building a new home or an addition, the foundation is the one part you can't easily fix later, so the job starts with the ground and not the forms. Some soil swells when it's wet and shrinks as it dries, and that movement can crack concrete even with steel in it. We work from the design your engineer sets for your soil, and we don't start until that design is settled.
Price and schedule both follow that design. The main factors are the slab type, how deep the concrete footings or piers go and how much soil work your lot needs, and the city has to approve the plans before we dig. We're licensed and insured, and my written estimate spells out what's included so you know what you're paying for.
Call (949) 518-3401 or fill in the form, and we'll set a time for me to come out to your property. If you have plans or your engineer's report, please have them handy, because the design shapes the whole job.
I walk the lot, take measurements, go over the design and ask how you'll use the building. You then get a written estimate that shows what's included, so nothing on the bill comes as a surprise.
If you go ahead, we prepare and file any city permit the job needs and keep you posted on where it stands, and if you're in an HOA, we'll give you the drawings and details the HOA needs for its approval. Then our own crew digs, forms and preps the site, with me or my foreman running it.
Our crew places the steel and pours the concrete to the engineer's design. Before we leave, we walk the finished foundation with you so you can see what was built and ask anything you like.
We dig the footings and the base to the depth on the plans, then pack the subgrade, the ground the concrete sits on. Raking loose dirt level isn't enough, because loose fill settles under weight and the concrete settles with it. We prepare ground the same way for concrete parking lot building.
Before the pour, I check the forms and the rebar against the drawings. Rebar is the steel inside that holds cracks tight. We also check where water will run, so the ground falls away from the house. We pour outside the midday heat, which dries the top too fast and leaves it weak and dusty, and we keep the concrete damp while it cures, the slow hardening that gives it strength.
What our foundation work covers:
If your house already sits on a foundation that has cracked or sunk at one corner, a full replacement is rarely where I'd start, and foundation raising may bring it back to level. A new foundation is the right call for a new home, an addition, or a house whose engineer finds the old foundation can't be saved. I'd rather tell you honestly which one you need than sell you the bigger job.
The engineer's design sets most of the cost. After that, it comes down to your lot. How much soil has to be dug out, hauled off or stabilized matters, along with how far the truck and pump can reach and how much forming the shape of the house takes. People often want to trim the base prep first, and I'll talk you out of it, because it's buried on day one and decides whether the slab stays put.
I learned this trade under an old-school boss who had me tear out forms and set them again until they were right. I've run United Irvine Concrete the same careful way since 2013, because the work under a slab matters more than the finish on top.
We do what the estimate says we'll do, and we leave your property as tidy as we found it. If something about your lot worries me, I'll tell you plainly before we pour, since an honest no serves you better than a hopeful yes. Satisfaction guaranteed on every job.
If we see the lot while the plans are still being drawn, we can raise access and forming questions before they turn into costly changes.
Send your address and any plans or hazard zone results you have. We'll reply within one business day to book my visit, and the on-site estimate is free, with no obligation.
The cost comes from your engineer's design and your lot, so I can't give you an honest number until I've seen both. The slab type, the footing depth, any soil that has to be removed or stabilized and access for the truck all move it, as covered in our cost section above. Call (949) 518-3401 and I'll come out, measure and put it in writing.
Your engineer chooses one of the approaches FEMA's national guidance lists for expansive soil. The foundation can be designed to resist the movement or isolated from the soil, or the soil can be removed or stabilized. For homes, the Post-Tensioning Institute, a national trade group, calls a post-tensioned slab a cost-efficient answer, because tightened cables keep the concrete squeezed together so it resists the strain when the ground moves. Deeper systems such as pilings, drilled piers and grade beams need a licensed design professional, FEMA says, so plan for that design work in your budget and schedule.
Anyone who builds or alters a structure needs a license from the Contractors State License Board when the project requires a building permit. The board's concrete classification covers forming, pouring, placing and finishing concrete. A general builder may take the work if it holds that classification or hires a properly licensed concrete contractor, so ask which one they'll do. We're licensed and insured, and our own crew does the work.
Type your address into the state's EQ Zapp tool. It shows whether the property lies in a mapped hazard zone or whether the state hasn't evaluated the area yet. In zones that require investigation, the city must require a site study by a state-licensed engineering geologist or civil engineer before it permits most homes. Single-family frame houses up to two stories that aren't part of a development of four or more units are exempt from the state rule, but the city can ask for more, so call the Irvine permit line at (949) 724-6313 before design starts.
All plans for new projects in Irvine are submitted online through the city's IrvineREADY! system, and the city's permit office takes questions at (949) 724-6313. Inspection requests go to (949) 724-6396. On the jobs we build, we prepare and file the permit for you, as described in the steps above.
Ground movement nobody planned for is the usual cause. FEMA warns it can crack even reinforced concrete, which is why the soil has to be identified before the design is set. After the pour, water matters most. A construction manual for post-tensioned slabs calls drainage around the foundation's edge critical on swelling soil and says the builder should develop a maintenance program and pass it on to the owner, so ask for it. Before we leave, we go over the drainage and the upkeep with you.
We're based in Irvine and pour foundations in Costa Mesa, Tustin and other cities nearby. Choose your city below, or call (949) 518-3401 if yours isn't listed.
