Concrete Contractor in Hillcrest, CA - Slabs That Drain Right on Tight Lots
Shafter Concrete is a concrete contractor based in Shafter, CA, and we pour driveways, patios, walks, steps and slabs for homes in Hillcrest, with the ground under them dug out, packed and sloped so water runs away from your house.
- Licensed and insured.
- Free quotes on site.
- Replies within 1 business day.
Hillcrest homes sit close, and that shapes the job
Hillcrest is a small, tightly built place, and you notice it as soon as you try to park a concrete truck. Houses sit close together, driveways run short, and the side yard where you want a walk is often about one wheelbarrow wide. Plenty of homes here are rentals, so we hear from landlords fixing a cracked drive between tenants as well as families who want a patio they'll actually use.
We're a concrete contractor in Shafter, CA, doing the same work in Bakersfield and the cities around it. On lots this tight, the job usually turns on how we get concrete to the back of the property and where the water goes with a house close on each side.
Concrete work we do on Hillcrest homes
Concrete driveway building
Short driveways here take daily parking right up to the garage, so we dig out the old base, pack it and slope the new slab toward the street.
Concrete patio construction
A backyard patio is often the only flat outdoor room on a small lot, so we set it to shed water away from your house.
Stamped concrete services
Stamped concrete gives a small patio or front walk the look of stone or brick, poured as one slab so there are no pavers to settle or shift.
Concrete sidewalk building
Narrow side-yard walks often settle and crack into trip edges, so we re-pour them with control joints, shallow cuts that give any crack a straight line to follow.
Garage floor concrete
When a garage floor is cracked, stained and out of level, we break it out, pack the ground and pour a slab that sweeps clean and sits flat.
Decorative concrete
Color, exposed stone or a scored pattern can dress up an entry when your front yard is small and everything in it shows from the street.
Concrete retaining walls
Where a yard steps up or down between close neighbors, a poured retaining wall holds the soil back and keeps it off your slab and your fence line.
Concrete floor installation
For a shop, an enclosed room or a new addition, we pour interior floors over a packed base so they sit flat under furniture and foot traffic.
Concrete pool decks
A pool deck in a small backyard has to drain away from both the pool and the house, and it needs a finish that grips wet feet.
Concrete steps construction
When front steps pull away from the house or sink at one end, we form and pour new ones with every step the same height.
Slab foundation building
For an addition, a detached garage or a new house, we pour the slab on ground that's dug out and packed before any steel goes in.
Foundation installation
Builders call us for foundations where the forms sit close to the property line, and we set the rebar, the steel that ties the concrete together.
Concrete parking lot building
Small apartment and business lots need concrete that takes turning tires and parked weight, poured thick enough for the traffic and sloped so water doesn't sit.
Concrete footings
A patio cover, a block wall or a carport needs footings, the concrete pads or trenches that carry the load, dug down to solid ground.
Foundation raising
When a slab or a corner of the house has dropped, we look at why it moved first, because lifting it without fixing the ground just buys time.
Concrete cutting
Sawing a clean strip for a drain line or a doorway beats breaking out a whole slab, especially on a lot with no room to haul the rubble.
Get a free estimate on your Hillcrest concrete job
Send the form and we'll get back to you within one business day to set a time to look at the job. The estimate is free, done on site and comes with no obligation.
Call (661) 776-8737- Based in
- Shafter, CA 93263
- Hours
- Mon–Fri: 6 AM–11 PM, Sat–Sun: 8 AM–9 PM
Working in Hillcrest: permits, licenses and what drives cost
Permits come before anything else. For addresses in unincorporated Kern County, building permits go through the county's Building Permit Technician counter at the Public Services Building, and if your job needs one, we handle the application and line up the inspections, so any wait on the county happens before we dig and moves your start date, not the pour. The state's Contractors State License Board licenses the people who build or alter structures in California, and we're licensed and insured. In unincorporated Kern, the county also requires a business license for designated businesses, which is a fair thing to ask any contractor about.
What moves the price comes down to three things, the base, the access and the finish, and what moves the schedule is any permit, the size of the job and curing, the days new concrete needs to harden before it takes weight. If the budget's tight, I'd keep the base and give up the fancy finish, because you can dress up good concrete later and you can't fix a bad base without breaking it out. We run every job out of Shafter the same way, and the written estimate I bring after the visit is where you see your own number and what's included.
Why Hillcrest slabs crack, sink and hold water
Hillcrest fits a lot of houses onto not much land, so water off one roof often lands a few feet from the next house, and a patio or walk poured flat, or tilted the wrong way, sends it straight at your foundation. Water pooling against the house is one of the calls we get most. Before we set a single form, we check where the water runs, then slope the new slab away from the house toward the yard or the street.
The other call is flatwork, the driveways, patios and walks that lie on the ground, that has cracked and sunk. When we break one out, the dirt usually tells the story, raked level and never dug out or packed. We dig to firm ground and pack the subgrade, the layer the slab sits on, because that's where most bad slabs go wrong.
How a Hillcrest concrete job runs, start to finish
From your first call to the walk-through at the end, here's how the job goes and who you'll be dealing with at each step.
Call or send the form
You call or send the form, and we set a time for me to come see the job myself. It helps if you're home, because I'll want to know how you plan to use it.
I measure and write it up
I measure, check where the water runs and ask how you'll use the space, then you get a written estimate that says what's included, so you can see the base work is in there and not left for later. If the job needs a permit, we file it and sort it out before anybody digs.
Our crew digs and pours
Our own crew digs out, packs the base, sets the forms and pours, with me on site for the job. If there are inspections, we line them up so nobody's standing around waiting.
We walk it together
When the forms are off and the site's clean, I walk the finished work with you. I'll tell you when it's ready for feet and when it's ready for the car.
Questions about concrete work in Hillcrest
Call (661) 776-8737How do I find out if my Hillcrest address is in unincorporated Kern County?
Use Kern County's address search, which tells you whether an address is in unincorporated Kern. It matters for concrete work because it decides which office handles a building permit and which business license rules apply, and some unincorporated pockets sit inside city limits. If you'd rather skip the homework, we check with the building office for your address before we start.
When do I need a licensed contractor for concrete work in California?
You need one when the job needs a building permit, uses any hired workers, or costs $1,000 or more in labor and materials across all its contracts. The state licensing board doesn't let a bigger job be split into pieces under $1,000 to get around that, and the small-job exemption only holds if the person doesn't claim to be licensed. Owners who build on their own property, doing the work themselves or with their own employees on wages, may be exempt as owner-builders.
How much can a contractor ask for as a down payment in California?
No more than $1,000 or 10 percent of the total contract price, whichever is less, under the state licensing board's rules for home improvement work. Every payment after that has to be listed in the contract and tied to work done or materials delivered.
What does a new concrete driveway cost in Hillcrest, CA?
Your own number comes from the written estimate after I see the driveway, because size, thickness and how much old concrete has to come out move the price more than anything else. On close-set lots, access matters too, since wheeling concrete to a backyard costs more than pouring straight off the truck, and a plain broom finish, the light brushed texture that gives tires and shoes some grip, runs less than stamped or colored work.
Who inspects a new slab foundation in Kern County?
The Kern County Fire Department inspects all new construction and major remodels for fire code compliance, on top of the building permit side. So a slab for a new house or a big addition usually means more than one inspection, and when our work is part of a permitted job, we line them up so the pour isn't waiting on anybody.
What is the best way to keep a new concrete patio from cracking?
Pack the base right and cut the control joints on time, because concrete shrinks as it dries and it's going to crack somewhere. We cut the joints early, before the slab picks its own lines, and pour in the cooler part of the day so the top doesn't dry too fast and turn weak and dusty later.
Shafter, CA
Get your Hillcrest concrete job on the calendar
One look at where your water runs tells me more than a stack of photos, so call (661) 776-8737 or send the form and I'll come out.