Concrete Contractor in Downey, CA - Driveways and Patios That Drain Right
H&J Gardena Concrete Contractors pours concrete driveways, patios, walks and slabs for homes and small properties in Downey, CA, built to drain away from the house and hold up.
Concrete work on Downey homes and lots
We're a concrete contractor based in Gardena, CA, and Downey is one of the cities around it where we work, along with Lawndale and Long Beach. Most of Downey is single-family houses, with a fair share of apartments and condos mixed in, so a call here might be a cracked driveway at a house or a worn walk at a small rental. The price moves with the size of the job, how much old concrete comes out, how much work the base needs and the finish you pick. The schedule turns on whether the city wants a permit and on curing, the days new concrete needs to gain strength before you walk on it, and longer before you drive on it. I walk the job, measure it and put the work in writing at the estimate.
In Downey the permit question comes before the pour. The city's own wording is that, generally, any new construction, alteration or repair needs a permit, and hardscapes, the paved parts of a yard, are on its list. We check with the city for your address, and when your job needs a permit we pull it and line up the inspections before we pour. Downey also requires a current city business license from any contractor who pulls a permit there, even one based outside the city, so it's a fair thing to ask whoever you hire. For an unusual case, the city's Building and Safety Division is the office to ask. Past the paperwork, the job comes down to the ground, because an old slab that sank or cracked usually sat on dirt that was raked flat instead of dug out and packed.
What we pour and fix in Downey
Concrete driveway building
A lot of Downey driveways have carried cars for years. When yours is cracked or sinking, we break it out and pour new on a packed base.
Concrete patio construction
Backyard patios here often slope the wrong way after years of settling, so we set the new slab to fall away from the house before we pour.
Stamped concrete services
Stamped concrete gives a Downey patio or front walk the look of stone or brick, and it still gets the same packed base and cut joints underneath.
Concrete sidewalk building
We pour front walks, side yard paths and the walks between buildings on apartment and condo properties, sloped so rain doesn't sit at the door.
Garage floor concrete
If your garage floor is cracked, stained or uneven, we replace the slab so it sheds water out toward the driveway instead of into the corners.
Decorative concrete
Colored or textured finishes suit a lot of Downey front yards. We help you pick one that still has grip when it's wet and wears well.
Concrete retaining walls
Where a yard steps down or a planter bed pushes on a walk, a concrete retaining wall holds the soil, and we plan the drainage behind it first.
Concrete floor installation
For a workshop, a converted garage or a room addition, we pour an interior floor that's flat and ready for whatever goes on top of it.
Concrete pool decks
A Downey pool deck takes wet feet all summer, so we give it a finish with grip and slope it so water drains away from the pool.
Concrete steps construction
Front steps here tend to crack at the edges or pull away from the porch, so we rebuild them with even rises and steel inside.
Slab foundation building
For an addition, back house or garage, the slab foundation is the part you can't fix later, so we start with the ground under it.
Foundation installation
If you're adding onto a house or a rental here, we dig, form and pour the foundation to the approved plans, with the inspection lined up before the pour.
Concrete parking lot building
Parking areas at Downey apartments and shops take cars all day, so we build them for that load and pitch them so water heads to the drains.
Concrete footings
Patio covers, carports and block walls sit on footings, the concrete under the posts or wall, and we size the hole and set the steel before we pour.
Foundation raising
If a corner of your house has dropped and doors have started sticking, we look at why the ground moved before we talk about lifting anything.
Concrete cutting
We saw-cut older Downey slabs for a new drain line or doorway, and cut control joints, the grooves that tell a slab where to crack.
What signs mean your Downey concrete needs a look?
Most of the concrete we see in Downey has been down for years, and the trouble usually starts underneath, so these are the signs worth catching early.
- Cracks that keep getting wider
- One slab sunk below the next
- Water pooling after you hose it
- Driveway sloping toward the garage
- Chipping or a dusty top
- Gaps opening along the house
If you're looking at one of these, call or send the form, and I'll come out, look it over and tell you plainly what's causing it.
Should you patch the slab or replace it?
On a Downey house it usually comes down to the ground under the concrete. If that's sound a repair can hold, and if it's moving, new concrete tends to fail the same way.
When a repair is enough
A few hairline cracks, one sunken section or a chipped edge on a slab that's otherwise flat usually means the base is fine. We can cut out and replace the bad section or seal the cracks, and you keep the rest of the driveway or patio.
When to start over
If cracks run across the whole slab, sections have dropped or water runs back toward the house, the problem is under the concrete. We break it out, dig to firm ground, pack a new base and pour, because patching a slab on bad ground only buys a little time.
What Downey driveways and yards ask of concrete
I come out to look at your job myself, and I'm on the job with our crew, so the person who measured it is there when it's poured.
The base before the finish
When a budget's tight, the money stays in the subgrade, the ground the slab sits on, because it can't be fixed later.
Water that runs away
We check where rain goes on your lot and set the slope so it heads to the street, not the house.
Joints cut on time
We cut control joints early, before the slab picks its own spot to crack, so cracks stay in the grooves.
Pours timed for the heat
We schedule pours to dodge the hottest part of the day, because a top that dries too fast turns weak and dusty.
Licensed, insured, in business since 2017
We're fully licensed and insured and put the work in writing at the estimate. Your satisfaction, guaranteed.
Get your Downey concrete job looked at
We pick up from 6 AM to 11 PM, seven days a week, so call (424) 528-1322 when you're home and looking right at the driveway.
Don't see your city? Call us
Pick another city from the list, or call (424) 528-1322 if yours isn't on it. We work in Gardena and the cities around it.