Cement & Concrete
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Cement & Concrete
March 2003
we just did floors & countertops in kitchen & shower/tub
in bathroom. The range of prices & tech is all over the
board, some make molds at their shop & install large
pieces, but we wanted concrete for the seamless look
not a tiled look. We found one to pour in place for
decent price. This is our 1st remodel & our contract
didn't specify a finish date or discount. Contractor said
would take 2 wks to finish, & took over 14. More
unhappy with work ethic than actual job. Workmanship
was OK. I love floors, counters are ok, not the color I
picked, but job took so long I no longer cared, just
wanted it done. Keep in mind, that the finished product
is completely dependant on the workmanship,
supposed to be a bit rough & the coloring process is
COMPLETELY dependant on the contractors artistic
ability, his interpretation of what you want & the how
concrete takes stain. Look very closely contractors
whole portfolio for style themes. I have pics if you want
to see them, tough to see colors, but may give you an
idea. What contractors are you talking with?
Brandi
Concrete Floors
April 2007
We need to install a floor in our sunporch--it is the original porch and was
later
enclosed. We use this entryway room for our toddler to play and it doubles
as the
guestroom when we pull out the sofabed. the house is a 1924 bungalow with
oak
floors. We are interested in durable attractive floors that wont cost a
fortune to
instll on the bumpy, cracked old cement floor that is there now. Also, it
doesn't
make sense to spend an arm and a leg on the floor. ''Green'' options are best
(no
vinyl, etc).
I am particularly interested in hearing from anyone who has a floor they like
that
was installed over an old yucky concrete floor, what brand of materials you
used and
who you had install it.
floor seeker
You could acid stain the cement. It is expensive to hire someone
but neither expensive, nor very difficult to do it yourself. My
parents did a room in their house and the hardest part was the
preparation. You have to get a grinder and grind the surface of
the floor. That said, it wasn't so much the grinding as getting
the right equipment. They had to go back to the rental place and
get the heaviest one. Then it is just a matter of slowly moving
the machine across the floor while wearing a ventilator. After
you grind the floor and clean up the dust, you just spread a
layer of acid (wearing the ventilator, I think) which is very
quick and easy, and then a day or two later you have to seal it.
It cost them a total of $500 not including their labor, and it
looks absolutely fantastic. It looks like stone, and cracks in
the cement only make it look better. It is incredibly durable
and easy to clean. On the other hand it will be cold and hard on
your toddler's head should he fall.
We have laminate in our sun porch. If you get acoustic padding
underneath it will also cover a number of sins of unevenness, but
check with an installer. It has been great for us, but if you
have hardwood in your house I think you may like the look of the
acid stained floor better. By the way, my brother is a
mechanical engineer who owns a green consulting business and he
says that there are environmentally friendly acid stains. I
don't remember a specific recommendation, though.
susan
April 2001
We are looking for someone to stain and seal our concrete floor in a newly
constructed 2-bedroom apt. Any names would be helpful. Thank you.
-Tracy
My husband does artisanal concrete staining and has quite a bit of
experience with it. If you'd like to reach him his company is called
Architectural Color and his number is 415/285-7314. His name is Frank Zip &
he's done several places in the E. Bay and San Francisco that you could
look at.
-Valerie
January 2003
We're currently renovating an old Victorian in Alameda and
would appreciate recommendations for a Cement contractor for a new driveway.
We did extensive outdoor work, including new cement patios
and a driveway. For our cement work, we used Counterforce,
who also did our earthquake retrofitting. 510-835-5400
We also did lots of fencing, and liked our fence builder,
William Earl Roberts, 510-841-8830
Karen
June 2002
Can anyone recommend someone to resurface a
small, flat driveway and rebuild our stairs, which are
currently stone and not built to code? I would like
creative and relatively inexpensive ideas for these two
projects. Concrete would be okay, but what other nice
alternatives are there? Thanks for any ideas you all may
have.
Hilary
I resurfaced my driveway with cobblestone pavers
made of concrete. The driveway took a long time but
was worth the effort. You will probably have to have
some soil removed from the driveway. (See Hauler
recommendation in this newsletter.) You then prepare
a base by spreading and shaping about six inches of
special fine ''blue'' gravel. It is good to have a slight
arch in the middle so that water falls to the sides. You
can rent a heavy compactor which you can use to
pound it solid. You then cover the base with an inch of
sand that you spread evenly with 1'' PVC pipe. You set
the pavers in the sand and fill the cracks with a fine
sand. I also built some matching steps by placing the
pavers in wet concrete set in two by four forms. The
steps were surprisingly easy to construct.
- Jenny
April 2002
Can anyone recommend an inexpensive but reliable person/company who can
help
us resurface our driveway in concrete? It will involve solving a drainage
issue too. Thank you! Hilary
If you are resurfacing your driveway to cover cracks I would recommend
against it. I'm not a contractor but I moved into a house two years ago in
which the driveway had been
resurfaced with about two inches of concrete just before we bought the
house. At this point there are numerous cracks in the new surface. The
problem is earth movement and
settling. If the original driveway did not have rebar (and enough of it)
then no amount of
resurfacing will last. You might want to ask other neighbors if there are
driveway-cracking
problems in the neighborhood.
Larry
August 2002
We are in need of a good/reliable concrete company/person
to redo and enlarge our patio. This would include
preparation as well. We live in Concord.
Thank you!
I recently had a new driveway poured by Paradigm Concrete &
Masonry. We were very satisfied with their work and have
received many compliments from neighbors. They have been
in the business for many years, are licensed, insured,
etc. You can reach them at (925) 755-4940. Or call me if
you'd like to know more. -Dara
I noticed in the last Household Digest that two people were
looking for recommendations - one for a concrete
person/stamper and one for a Contractor (Well I believe
this guy does both). The one that worked on my parents
house was great. He was a nice guy, did great work, was
reasonably priced and cleaned up after himself. My parents
originally found him from a recommendation and they weren't
disappointed. His name is Roger Bergin, the company is
Curragh Construction. You can contact him directly on 415-
640-7963 or 925-957-9047. He works both East Bay and San
Francisco. Good Luck!
Stephanie
Cutting into a Sidewalk
May 2000
The City of Oakland will give me a tree in front of my house -- they'll
even plant it.
However, since there's no grass verge between the sidewalk and street, I'm
responsible for finding, hiring and paying for the concrete cutter to make
room for
the tree. Can anyone recommend someone and give me a general sense of what
the cost might be?
Lorraine
Concrete Cutters - I used Rapella and Sons in Albany for a small concrete
removal job. Actually the job was so small that they gave the job to one
of their workers to do as side work. It will probably cost you $100-200.
That's the minimum that any concrete removal company will charge. The guys
who did it from Rapella were very nice and the work was done well. I also
had it done free by another group and they made a mess and cut into
concrete that didn't have to be removed.
Lisa
We used a guy named Hillary, with Hulk's Hauling, when we had a big concrete
removal job to do. At the same time, he cut spaces for trees for me and my
neighbors, then removed the concrete debris.
Our job was big, but I seem to remember that he charged by the hour, plus the
wear (in 1/8" increments) on his diamond-tipped saw blade. I think it would
have been about $50 to do just the two tree holes.
You might ask your neighbors if they want trees, too, because it would be
cheaper to share the costs around.
Vamail
The price was probably high because the contractor will use a diamond-edged
saw blade to cut through the concrete. Going after it with a jackhammer
without cutting first could cause cracks and breakage in the whole sidewalk
and will definitely look like hell.
I had the same situation and hired a guy named Hillary from Hulk's Hauling to
cut the holes, break up the concrete and haul it away. He was very reasonable
and even brought me a free load of topsoil from another job. This was maybe 5
years ago. Another tip: ask your neighbors if they want to do the same and
will split the cost with you.
Sidewalk Repair
August 1999
The sidewalk in front of our house in Berkeley is cracked and the Berkeley Cement
crews won't be passing through for at least a couple of months. One estimate we have
gotten is ridiculously high. Any recommendations would be welcome.
Phyllis
Can anyone recommend a reasonably priced person to redo
part of our sidewalk? The City of Berkeley has ordered us
to do this work within the next 60 days to coincide with
utility undergrounding. Thank you. -
Ask the City of Berkeley what contractor they're using for
the undergrounding, and ask that contractor to give you a
quote. They may give you a good deal because they're
already there and they don't have the additional setup costs
that another contractor would incur.
Standing water on sidewalk
I have a concrete sidewalk next to my house where 2-4 inches of standing water accumulates
whenever it rains. Eric Burtt (recommended by this list) charges $250 just to come out to look
at the problem and tell me how to solve it--it seems like he wants to do a complete inventory of
my drainage system which I really don't need. Although I may wind up using him, I would
like other alternatives as well.
Any other current or recent expericnces with drainage and/or rebuilding a concrete walkway?
Thanks.
Kathy
I think that you should consider calling up a few small job type concrete contractors and
taking bids on having a thin new sidewalk poured over the top of the existing one. The new
one would be formed at the proper elevations and pitch to shed water away from the house.
There are methods and mix recipes that will accomplish this but whoever does it has to know
what they are doing because your average concrete mix has to be 4 or more inches thick. I
suggest this because for one, you will not have to break up and remove the existing
sidewalk,and two, the contractor would have a minimum of form work and only need a small
amount of material. Again, I caution you that this is a job for someone who knows what they
are doing, not because the work requires any special skills beyond that of ordinary concrete
work, but because it is essential to obtain a mix that is designed specifically for this purpose
and because good bond must be achieved between the old and the new ! ! material. You can
also ask for the cost of removal and installation of an entirely new sidewalk for comparison. I
may be missing the point here since I have not even seen the situation and my suggestion
could be wrong, but I think that you just might save a good deal of money if you can find a
contractor that will take this route. Unless water is getting into your house or lack of drainage
is causing foundation settlement, I would avoid calling in a drainage guy. The problem is the
pitch and elevation of the sidewalk.
-Frank
From: Cathy
To the person looking for a concrete contractor for a driveway replacement:
We used Continental Pacific (510-654-7733) for our driveway and sidewalk
replacement project and had a good experience. We worked with Tim Smith, who
was knowledgeable and pleasant. His bid was very reasonable, which may have
been because he was handling a bigger project in the neighborhood.
Oct 2004
I visit this site all the time and have recently used it to find a contractor to replace my entire sidewalk, driveway, add a drain at the end of the driveway and put in a french drain across the front of my house.
I highly recommend Tim Smith of Continental Pacific (510-654-7733)
He did fantastic work replacing my entire sidwalk & driveway as well as adding a french drain across the front of my house. I now have the best strech of sidewalk on my block. His attention to detail was fantastic. He was knowledgeable, pleasant and personally worked the trouble spots of the job. His bid was reasonable and he was open to working with the homeowner to find the best solutions to problems. His crews were great, leaving the job site cleaner than when they started.
November 2003
We were very happy with Francisco Sanchez of
FCO-S Concrete and Construction. He rebuilt part of our cement drainage/foundation during
a large remodel project. It involved tearing out about 10 feet of old crumbling gutter at the back of our
house and repouring it. We hired him because of a great review on the website and
because his estimate was extremely reasonable. While onsite, he also
offered to rebuild a small brick and morter column for a great price so we
hired him for that too - he did a nice job. I can highly recommend him.
Francisco Sanchez, FCO-S Concrete and Construction, PO Box 5249, Vallejo 707-642-0361
Ginger
June 2003
Re: Seeking licensed concrete contractor
I have an EXCELLENT concrete person for you. I cannot
speak more highly of him. He has now done all of our
concrete work for our home over the last 3 years. He
did our gutter drainage, poured over 1000 sq. ft of
walkways, poured a new driveway, built a custom
driveway extension and laid flagstones over the
walkways. He is clean, professional, knowledgeable,
licensed, courteous, and reasonably priced. He can even
do small carpentry jobs on the side.
His name is Francisco Sanchez. His cell phone is
707-310-9070. He provides free estimates and can give you
a local address in Oakland to see samples of his work.
You can also contact me directly if you have further
questions.
Jana
2001
We used Live Oak Structural to replace an old cement terrace and pour a new
pad for a hot tub and we were very happy with the work. Ginger
1998
From: Andrea
i can recommend Emilio Duenas
(707) 642-7668 as an good cement contractor.
He is knowledgable and reasonably priced.
He did a slab foundation for my garage/studio
and soon is redoing the foundation for my house.
He is used by many local general contractors.
From: David (9/98)
Regarding Concrete:
We used a company called Sonoma Marin Drilling and their sister company to
pour a new concrete foundation and driveway in our Berkeley Hills home.
They did an excellent job and were much less expensive than several other
bidders. I don't have their number handy but it is a 707 area code and
they are listed in the directory.
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