Planning a new house, an addition or a replacement? We read your soils report first, then pour a foundation that fits your lot and budget.
Foundation installation in Gilroy means forming and pouring the concrete base your house sits on, and on clay soil that base has to be stiff enough or deep enough to resist the ground's constant push and pull.
If the foundation falls short on either count, the house bends with the soil as the clay swells and shrinks. Over the years that shows up as cracked slabs, sloping floors and damaged framing. That's why the soils report comes first for us, because it tells us whether a slab or a raised foundation makes sense for your lot. Then we weigh the two against your budget and any remodels you have in mind.
The price moves with the foundation type, how deep we have to dig and how much weak soil has to come out. The schedule turns mostly on the soils report, the design and the inspections. Your own figure comes from the estimate. We're based in Gilroy and take work in many of the cities around it, so if you're not sure we cover your address, call and ask.
Tell us the address, whether it's a new house, an addition or a replacement, and whether you have a soils report yet. I'll set a time to come out and see the lot.
I take the measurements myself and look at what's under and around the job, including slope, access and where the water runs. Then I write the estimate line by line, so you can see what's included and what isn't.
Before any concrete shows up, we go over the layout with you, including the foundation type, the joints and how water will drain away from the house. A question is cheaper to settle on paper than after the pour.
Our own crew does the work, and I'm on site for the layout and the pour. We cure the new concrete, keeping it damp and protected while it gains strength, before we hand it over.
On swelling clay, the two usual answers are a stiff slab or a raised floor. A post-tensioned slab has steel cables pulled tight inside it, which clamps the concrete together so the whole house rides the soil as one piece instead of cracking at one corner. A raised foundation with a crawlspace keeps the plumbing, wiring and mechanical lines where you can reach them, which suits you if you expect remodels or repairs later.
Where the clay runs deep, a pier-and-grade-beam foundation has a drilling rig bore shafts, called piers, down through it to stable soil or bedrock, and concrete beams tie their tops together. Whichever type you choose, we check the forms, the rebar that keeps the concrete from pulling apart, and the concrete footings against the plan before the truck arrives.
What our foundation work covers:
When an older house shows cracked slabs or sloping floors, the first question is why it happened. If the foundation itself is sound and the house just settled, raising and leveling it can be enough, and that's far less work than starting over. If the foundation was never stiff or deep enough for the soil under it, I'd lean toward replacing it, because a patch leaves the same weakness in place and the house keeps bending with the ground.
The soils report sets most of it, because it decides between a slab, a raised floor or piers, and each one takes different digging, steel and labor. After that it's the size and shape of the house, how much soft soil has to be dug out and replaced, whether a drilling rig can reach the lot, and any hazard work the permit may call for. Very little of what you pay for shows once the house is framed.
I learned concrete at a big commercial outfit, on slabs, footings and paving for buildings and concrete parking lots. That's where I saw that the base, the forms and the layout decide how a slab holds up. I started this business in Gilroy in 2017 to bring that same care to homes and smaller commercial jobs.
I'd rather settle questions on paper before the truck shows up than fix them after, so you'll know what goes in the ground, why it's there and what each line of the estimate pays for. Our crew works to the plan we agreed on and leaves your lot clean. Your satisfaction, guaranteed.
Have your address and any soils report handy when you call (408) 427-8265, so we can talk slab or raised on the first visit.
Send your address, the type of job and any soils report. We reply within one business day to book a free on-site estimate, and there's no obligation to go ahead.
The one your soils report points to, because its expansion index rates how much your clay swells, and that drives the choice between a slab and a raised foundation. One structural engineering firm says budget and design goals weigh heavily in that choice too. That's why we get the report before the design is final, then walk you through the slab, raised and pier options.
A contractor licensed for concrete work, since the state licensing board's concrete class covers contractors who form, pour, place, finish and install concrete. A general building contractor can also take a foundation-only contract when the job brings in at least two other unrelated trades, when they hold the right license, or when they hire a licensed specialist. We're licensed and insured, and our own crew does the pour.
Type your address into the state's EQ Zapp map and it shows whether the property lies in a mapped earthquake hazard zone. Those zones include liquefaction, where the soil temporarily acts like quicksand and can't support a building. Check your own address, because the answer shapes both the foundation design and the permit step.
Yes, for new construction or a significant remodel, the California Geological Survey says a site-specific geologic study is required, so builders can work around known hazards or build in protection against them. On a lot in a seismic hazard zone, you may also be asked to investigate the hazard and address it during the local permit process. When a job needs a permit, we pull it and line up the inspections, and I check with the city or county office for your address first, since the rules differ from place to place.
I can't give you a fair number until I've seen your soils report and measured the lot, because the foundation type it calls for moves the price more than anything else. Deep piers, extra steel, soft soil that has to come out and tight access for equipment all add to it, and the line-by-line estimate shows each of those. Call (408) 427-8265 or email service@concretegilroy.com to set up a visit.
Set them on undisturbed native soil, which is the advice from a national masonry and hardscape trade group. Where that soil is weak or soft, the same group says to dig it out and replace it with compacted soil, gravel or concrete. We look at what's under the footing lines when I come out, so any soil that has to be replaced shows up on the estimate instead of on pour day.
We're based in Gilroy and pour foundations in San Martin, Morgan Hill and many of the cities around them. Pick your area below, or call if yours isn't listed.
