Foundation installation in Covina CA - the right foundation, planned before the pour
Planning a new home or addition and stuck between a slab and a raised foundation? We help you choose, then pour it right.
- Fully licensed and insured.
- Free in-person estimates.
- We respond within 1 business day.
What goes into a new foundation in Covina?
The short answer: Foundation installation in Covina means forming and pouring the concrete a new house or addition sits on, either a slab set right on the ground or a raised foundation over a crawlspace. Which one you pick shapes your budget, your floor design and how easy it is to reach the plumbing and wiring later.
Most people who call about this are planning something new and want to know which type fits and what it takes to get started. The price moves with the type, the size, how much digging and forming the lot needs and what the soils report calls for. The schedule turns mostly on plan check and the permit, not the pour itself. If you already know a slab is the answer, our slab foundation building page goes into that work, and either way the written estimate I give you after a site visit lists what's included.
How do you know it's time to plan a new foundation?
Drawings for new space
You have plans, or a designer working on them, for a house, an addition or a garage on ground with nothing under it yet. That means a foundation goes in first, and every week the plans sit on a desk is a week added to your start date.
A patio where the room goes
You want to build a room where a patio or an old slab sits now. A patio slab usually isn't thick enough or reinforced to carry walls and a roof, so it comes out, because building on it anyway tends to show up later as cracked walls and doors that stick.
Water that sits by the house
After a rain, water stands where the new space is going, or runs toward the house instead of away from it. That usually means the grade has to change before the pour, because a floor that sits low collects water at the walls for as long as the building stands.
How we handle foundation installation
Slab or raised is the first decision, and it turns on your budget, your design and the soils report, so that's where I start with you. Then I lay out the plan check and permit steps up front, so the start date you pick holds up. On the job we dig to the size on the plans, pack the subgrade, which is the soil the foundation sits on, and set the forms and the rebar, the steel rods that keep the concrete from pulling apart under load. We pour early in the day, because concrete placed in the midday heat dries too fast and leaves a weak, dusty top, and then we keep it damp while it cures, since concrete gains its strength slowly over the first days. The base is the part you'll never see again and the first thing people want to cut from a budget. I won't cut it, because a nice finish on a bad base settles right along with the dirt.
A raised foundation stands on concrete footings, and so do most room additions and garage walls, so we often pour both as one job. We also build concrete parking lots for landlords and small business owners, where the same care with the base has to carry cars instead of a house.
Slab-on-grade
A slab sits right on the ground, and one engineering firm ties it to homes with low thresholds, step-down rooms or large polished concrete floors. The trade-off is that the plumbing and wiring under it end up in the concrete, so changing them later means cutting.
Post-tensioned slab
This is a slab with steel cables pulled tight after the pour, and one engineering firm says it takes less labor and formwork than a deep raised foundation, which keeps first costs lower. Another firm says it needs special design, materials and experienced installers, which can raise upfront costs, so we price it against the alternative once your engineer has drawn it.
Raised over a crawlspace
A raised foundation leaves a crawlspace under the floor, so plumbing, mechanical and electrical lines stay reachable for a future remodel or repair. It suits owners who expect to change things later and don't mind more digging and forming up front.
What happens when you call us about a new foundation?
Here's how a foundation job goes with us, from the first call to the walkthrough. Most of the waiting happens before the pour, in plan check and permits, so we plan around that from the start.
- Step 01
Call and talk it through
You call (626) 412-8840 or send the form, and we talk through what you're building, where it is and whether you have plans or a soils report yet. That tells me what to look at when I come out.
- Step 02
I walk and measure the lot
I come out, look at the lot and the plans, and measure. You get a written estimate that lists what's included, so you can see where the money goes before you decide anything.
- Step 03
Plan check and permits first
If the job needs a permit, we take care of it before anything gets scheduled. Covina says the first plan check submittal, the city's review of your plans, can take 4 to 6 weeks, so we count that wait into the start date we give you.
- Step 04
Pour day and the walkthrough
Our crew forms, pours and finishes, I'm there on pour day, and Covina makes construction work that disturbs neighbors unlawful from 8 p.m. to 7 a.m., all day Sunday and on public holidays, so we schedule inside those hours. When it's done, we walk the finished job with you before we call it finished.
Foundation installation in Covina starts with the right office
For a new structure in Covina, the city's Building & Safety Division issues the permit after Planning has approved the project, and the city wants a site plan, a drawing of the lot and the work, for every project no matter the size. Its express permit list covers things like re-roofs and window changeouts, not foundations, so don't count on a quick permit, and if you're not sure what your exact job needs, Building & Safety is the place to ask. That office only handles addresses inside the City of Covina, not West Covina and not county addresses in the Covina area, so the first thing I check is which side of that line your address is on. Then we pull the permit as the licensed contractor and set up the inspections.
Most foundations we pour around here go in on lots that already have a house, a fence and neighbors close by, so we plan where the truck and pump will sit well before pour day. We're based in Covina and do the same work in West Covina, Glendora and the other cities around it across the San Gabriel Valley, and if you're not sure we cover your area, call and ask.
Get a written estimate for your new foundation
Send the form with your address and your soils report if you have one, and we'll get back to you within one business day. Then I come out to walk the lot and measure, and the estimate is free with no obligation.
Why Covina homeowners call Covina Concrete
I write every estimate myself
I come out, look at the job and write the estimate myself, and I'm on site for the pour. The person who priced your foundation is the one watching it go in.
The same crew for years
A crew I've worked with for years does the forming, pouring and finishing. They know how I want the base and the forms set before anyone calls for concrete.
Concrete full time since 2013
I ran a landscape installation business, learned concrete from the finishers I was hiring and switched over full time in 2013. That's 13 years of pours, and I still care most about the parts you won't see.
Fully licensed and insured
We're fully licensed and insured. Covina's permit technicians check a contractor's license before they issue any permit, so ask for our license number at the estimate and look it up yourself.
On a foundation, the base and the forms matter more than anything you'll see once the walls go up. Satisfaction guaranteed, and the next step is to set up a visit with your plans and soils report in hand.
Foundation installation questions from Covina homeowners
How much does a new foundation cost in Covina, CA?
An installed slab foundation in the Los Angeles area usually costs about $5 to $13 per square foot, and that's the going rate for slabs, not our price. Raised and post-tensioned foundations price differently, and the size, the dig, the steel and what the soils report calls for all move the number. Your written estimate after the site visit gives you the figure for your job.
Do I need a soils report before choosing a foundation type?
It's best to have it early, because one engineering firm points to the report's expansion index, a rating of how much the lot's soil swells, as a big part of the slab or raised decision. Getting it early means the type is settled before the plans are drawn around it.
Is a raised foundation better than a slab on a sloped lot?
Often, yes. One engineering firm says raised foundations suit sloping lots because they don't need large retaining walls or hauling dirt away. A slab on a slope usually means cutting and filling the ground flat first, so we look at the slope with you before you settle on a type.
What causes a new concrete slab foundation to crack?
Most cracks come from a base that wasn't packed, concrete that dried too fast or joints cut late or skipped. Concrete shrinks as it cures, so we cut control joints, shallow cuts that give it a place to crack in a straight line where we chose, and keep it damp so the top doesn't dry ahead of the rest.
How do I check a concrete contractor's license in California?
Look the contractor up on the Contractors State License Board site, which shows whether a license is active and what type it is. A concrete contractor license covers forming, pouring, placing and finishing concrete, which is the concrete side of a foundation job.
How does an earthquake zone affect building a foundation in California?
Lots in California's mapped earthquake hazard zones get geologic and engineering studies before building starts, to find and reduce the risk of the ground failing. If your lot is in one, those studies come first, and we build to what your engineer's plans call for.
Other concrete work around a new foundation
Concrete footings
When you're adding a room, a garage or a block wall, footings are the buried concrete that carries the weight down into firm ground.
Concrete parking lot building
Business owners and landlords call us for small lots, where a packed base and planned drainage keep the slab flat under cars and delivery trucks.
Call before your foundation plans are final
Call (626) 412-8840 or send the form now, because switching from slab to raised is easy on paper and a lot harder once your plans are in plan check.