Concrete Contractor in Fortuna, CA - Slabs and Walls Built for Your Ground
Eureka Concrete is a concrete contractor based in Eureka, CA, and working in Fortuna. We build driveways, patios, steps, garage floors, retaining walls and foundations here, and we explain the base, drainage and joints under each one.
Homes on Fortuna's hills and river flats
Most of what we pour in Fortuna is for houses. Near downtown you find older homes with narrow driveways, porch steps and walks that have been patched more than once. Farther up the hills there are newer neighborhoods with steeper drives and cut slopes behind the houses, and toward the Eel River the land flattens out into fields, farms and some industrial lots, with shops along the main roads in between.
We do the same kind of work up in Arcata and McKinleyville, but in Fortuna the ground can go from hillside to river flat inside a couple of miles. That's why the first thing I look at on a job here is what's under the old slab and where the water goes.
What we know about working in Fortuna
Fortuna has its own Building Official and its own building code, so for an address inside city limits the permit question goes to the city, not the county. Humboldt County's building department covers the land outside city limits and leaves Fortuna to the city. The city's proposed new code lists grading, demolition and work on a building or structure as work that needs a permit, but it doesn't name a driveway or a patio either way, so whether your job needs one is a question for the city's Building Official, and we'll get that answer with you. When a permit is needed, the paperwork usually sets the start date, so we handle it with you and start early. Before you hire anybody, look up their state license with the Contractors State License Board. We're fully licensed and insured.
We're based in Eureka, and Fortuna is about a 15-minute drive for us, so getting the crew and the truck here is easy. On a Fortuna job the price usually moves with how much old concrete has to come out, how steep the lot is and how close the truck can get to the pour, and the schedule moves with the permit answer and the weather on pour day. Your estimate puts your own figure in writing.
Services in Fortuna, CA
Concrete driveway building
Older driveways here often sink at the edges because they sit on loose dirt. We dig out, pack new rock and slope the slab away from your house.
Garage floor concrete
Garage floors that have carried cars for decades crack and chip. Our garage floor concrete work starts with a packed base and joints cut where cracks belong.
Concrete patio construction
Hillside backyards here usually tip one way, so a flat patio pools water. We shape the ground so rain runs off the patio and away from your house.
Concrete retaining walls
Slopes cut for driveways and yards here keep pushing on whatever holds them back. We pour walls on footings with drainage behind, so water doesn't pile up.
Concrete steps construction
Front steps here settle and pull away from the porch as the dirt under them shifts. We tear out the old set and pour new steps on footings.
Foundation raising
Houses on soft, low ground settle unevenly, which shows up as sticking doors and sloping floors. We look underneath first and tell you straight whether raising makes sense.
What Fortuna ground asks of a slab
The city's hazard plan says homes in the low areas near the Eel River carry more flood risk than the rest of the city, and wet ground like that is hard on a slab. Down there we dig past the soft dirt, pack the rock in layers and set the slab so water sheds away from the house instead of toward it, because a base that stays soggy settles and takes the concrete with it.
Up the hills, the trouble is water running downhill under and across the slab. On a lot that falls toward the house we change the grade before we pour, and on a steep driveway we put on a broom finish, a light texture dragged across the top so tires and shoes grip when it's wet.
Get a free on-site estimate in Fortuna
Send the form and we'll get back to you within one business day to set a time for me to come out to your place in Fortuna. I look at the job myself and answer your questions, and you get a free written estimate with no obligation to go ahead.
How a Fortuna job goes
Call us or send the form
Call (707) 572-3701 or send the form and tell us what you're looking at, whether that's a sinking walk, a cracked driveway or a new slab. We call you back and set a time for me to come out.
Walk the job with me
I come out myself, look at the ground, the drainage and the old concrete, and answer whatever you want to ask. Your written estimate spells out what each part is for, the base included, so you know what you're paying for.
Check the permit office first
We confirm whether your address goes through the city or the county before anything is scheduled. If a permit is needed, the start date waits on it, and we keep you posted on where it stands.
Pour, finish and walk it
Our crew digs out, packs the base, pours and cuts the joints with me on site the whole time. When it's done we walk it together, and I tell you how long it needs to cure, the wait while it hardens enough to walk on and then drive on.
Questions we hear in Fortuna
What happens if I start concrete work in Fortuna before getting a permit?
Under the city's proposed building code, starting permit-required work before you have the permit would add a fee on top of the permit fees, set at double the building permit fees with a $500.00 minimum. A $500.00 fine could also be added for each type of work done without one. That's a big part of why we settle the permit question before we dig.
How long does a building permit last in Fortuna?
Under the proposed city code, a permit would expire two years after it's issued. It would also go void if work doesn't start within 180 days or stops for more than 180 days, though the Building Official could grant extensions of up to 180 days at a time on a written request with good reason. We plan the pour around those dates.
Do I need an engineer for a new house foundation in Fortuna?
Under the city's proposed code, a new home would need design by a California architect or civil or structural engineer unless the Building Official waives it. New construction would also need a survey of the lot's slopes by a licensed land surveyor or civil engineer, which can be waived for minor additions. The city's hazard plan says everyone in Fortuna is exposed to very strong shaking from the Big Lagoon Bald Mountain Fault, so we pour footings and foundations to the engineer's drawings.
How much does a concrete driveway cost in Fortuna?
Most of what moves a driveway price in Fortuna is the ground work under it, then the size and the finish on top. When a budget's tight, the base is the first thing people want to cut because nobody sees it once the pour is done, and it's the one thing I won't cut, since a nice finish on a bad base cracks and sinks with the dirt. A plain broom finish costs less than stamped or colored concrete, so that's where I'd save, and I'll walk you through the trade on site if it isn't clear.
How much of a down payment can a concrete contractor ask for in California?
The state licensing board says a contractor can't take a down payment of more than $1,000 or 10 percent of the contract price, whichever is less, on a home improvement job. After that, each payment has to be listed in the contract and tied to work done or materials delivered.
What causes concrete driveways and patios to crack and sink in Fortuna?
Most cracking and sinking comes from the base, when the dirt was raked level instead of dug out and packed, so the slab settles as the dirt does. The rest usually comes from water running under the slab, a pour that dries too fast and leaves a weak, dusty top, or control joints, grooves cut in the slab so it cracks along a line we picked, that were cut late or skipped. Concrete can still crack, but we pack the base, check where the water runs and cut the joints on time so any cracks tend to land in the joints.
Service areas
Ask about your Fortuna concrete job today
We pick up seven days a week from early morning until 9 PM, so call (707) 572-3701 or send the form whenever it suits you.
