Slab foundation building in Lincoln CA - a base built for the ground it sits on

Most people who call us have a lot, a set of plans and a builder or designer asking who's doing the foundation. The price moves with the size of the slab, the type you choose, how much digging and grading the lot needs and what has to run underneath it. The schedule turns mostly on the city's plan review and on passing each inspection before the next step. When I come out, I walk the lot with you, explain what I see and put it all in writing, so you have a figure for your job instead of a guess.

I start by going over slab options with you, including post-tensioned, because the right one depends on your ground and your plans. Then we lay out the footprint, dig the trenches for the footings and pack the subgrade, the dirt the slab sits on, so it doesn't settle once a house is on it. The plumber and electrician set their pipe and conduit, and we spread the gravel or sand the plans call for. Then we roll out the moisture barrier, a plastic sheet that slows water vapor coming up from the ground, and keep foot traffic off it until the pour so it goes in without holes. The rebar, steel bars that hold the concrete together when it wants to crack, or the post-tension cables go in next, and we have the trenches, steel and under-slab work ready when the inspector comes. Pour day is like a dinner rush in a restaurant, because the prep decides how it goes and once the truck shows up there's no starting over. If a budget has to give somewhere, I won't let it be the base, because nobody sees it on day one and everybody feels it later when a floor dips.

Not every house sits on a slab. If your plans call for a raised floor or a perimeter wall, that's our foundation installation work. Property owners who need a big flat area for a shop or customer parking can talk to us about concrete parking lot building.

Lincoln's Building Division handles permits, and the city requires one whenever a structure is built. Its list names new home construction, not slab foundations, so whether your slab needs a permit of its own is a question for the Building Division. Before we start, we check with the city or county office that covers your address, and when a permit is needed we take care of the paperwork and inspections with you. On a typical Lincoln job, the inspector wants the trenches dug out and clean, with forms, steel and earthquake hardware in place, because the city designs for strong shaking. There's no frost line or snow load to plan around. A second look before the pour checks the pipe, conduit and any gravel, sand and plastic. The city also requires contractors working here to hold a current City of Lincoln business license, carry workers' compensation and be bonded, and the same goes for their subcontractors, so it's fair to ask anyone you're comparing about all three.

Placer County reports that soils which shrink and swell can damage foundations, and that they're concentrated in low-lying ground in the western county, from Rocklin out to the county line. That's a pattern across the area, not a reading of your lot. We work the same question on jobs in Rocklin and Roseville, so tell me what you know about your lot when you ask for an estimate and we'll weigh it in the slab choice.