We're Form & Pour Vacaville Concrete, a concrete contractor based in Vacaville that pours driveways, patios, steps and slabs for homeowners in Richmond. I look at every job myself, and our own crew does the pouring.
(707) 514-3389
A lot of the Richmond homes we work on sit on established lots, with a driveway, a front walk and a back patio that have been there a long time and patched more than once. The calls sound alike: a crack that keeps getting wider, a slab that's dropped at one corner, water pooling against the garage door. Patching usually buys a little time, but once a slab has settled, the real fix is tearing it out and starting over from the ground up.
Richmond is a longer trip from Vacaville than most of our jobs, so we plan pour days with the base ready and the forms checked the day before, because concrete doesn't wait once the truck is turning.
Send the form or call (707) 514-3389, and we'll reply within one business day to set a time. I come out to your Richmond property myself, look at the old slab and the ground around it, and give you a written estimate on site at no cost. There's no pressure and no obligation to go ahead.
(707) 514-3389Most of our Richmond work is flatwork, the driveways, patios, walks and steps that lie on the ground, and most of it replaces older concrete that has cracked or sunk. We also pour garage floors, stamped and decorative finishes, and concrete pool decks for backyards that get used hard. Builders and property owners call us for footings, slab foundations and retaining walls, and every service listed below is one we do here.
In Richmond, building permits come from the city's Building Division, and the city requires one before any building or structure is built, altered or repaired unless the work is on its exempt list, so the permit sets the earliest day we can start. Before you hire anyone, ask to see what the city makes a licensed contractor show when registering for a permit: a state contractor's license card, a workers' comp insurance certificate and a current City of Richmond Business License. When your job needs a permit, we handle the application and set up the inspections, and we check your address with the Building Division instead of guessing.
What moves the price is mostly what you can't see on day one: how big and thick the slab is, whether the old concrete has to be broken out and hauled away, and how much digging and packing the subgrade, the ground the slab sits on, needs before we pour. Then come the choices you can see, like a plain broom finish, the light texture that keeps feet from slipping, or a stamped pattern, plus rebar, the steel inside that keeps cracks from opening up. The schedule turns on the permit, our calendar and curing, the days new concrete sits untouched while it gains strength, and your written estimate lays out your own figures line by line. We do this same work in Concord and the other cities around Vacaville, so a Richmond job gets the same crew and the same prep.
I come out to Richmond myself to measure, check where your water runs and write the estimate, and I run the job once we start. The people pouring your slab are our own crew, so what we agreed on at your house is what gets built.
If a budget has to give, I'd rather trim the finish than the base, because a stamped top on dirt that was only raked flat settles right along with it. We dig out, pack the base and set the slab to fall away from your house.
We're licensed and insured, and we've been pouring concrete out of Vacaville since 2013. Satisfaction guaranteed on every job. If you'd like to talk through a driveway, patio or slab in Richmond, call (707) 514-3389 or send the form above.
It may, because the city's Work Exempt from Permits handout says a permit is likely required for every project except the ones it lists. That list includes one-story detached sheds and playhouses up to 120 square feet, though separate plumbing, electrical and mechanical permits are still required for those unless otherwise exempted. We confirm your slab and its size with the Building Division before we form anything, and we tell you what they said.
Most single-trade permits and residential remodels that need no drawings are issued as soon as the city receives and verifies the application documents, while larger jobs take as long as their scope requires. Applications go in online, and if you can't submit that way, the city takes them in person by appointment, as its Obtaining Permits page explains. We build the permit into your start date so nobody is waiting on a pour that can't happen yet.
I can't give you an honest number until I've seen the driveway, because tear-out, base work and finish move the price more than square footage alone. Keeping the same footprint and choosing a broom finish over stamped work keeps the cost down. The one thing I won't cut to save money is the base, since that's what decides whether the new slab settles like the old one.
Most sinking comes from a base that was raked level instead of dug out and packed, and most ugly cracking comes from joints that were cut late or skipped. Honestly, concrete cracks a little no matter who pours it. Control joints, the grooves we cut across the slab, give those cracks a straight line to follow, and a packed base with rebar keeps them tight and level instead of wide and stepped.
Start with a walk-through, where we measure, look at where water runs off your lot and talk about how you'll use the slab. Once the permit question is settled, we break out the old concrete, dig and pack the base, set the forms so the slab falls away from the house, and pour early in the day so midday heat doesn't leave a weak, dusty top. Then we cut the joints, and you stay off it while it cures, which is the stretch you'll be without your driveway or patio.
