Foundation installation in Ridgecrest CA - a base built for your lot and soil
Have a lot and plans but no idea what's under the dirt? We sort out the ground first, then pour a foundation that fits.
I give the estimate and run the crew
I come out to look at your lot and give the estimate myself. Once work starts, I'm on site running our own crew, so you're never handed off to someone who hasn't seen the place.
Our own concrete business since 2017
I learned this trade as a helper hauling forms and pushing mud before I started Ridgecrest Concrete in 2017. Nine years in, I still answer my own phone and put the most care into the ground under the concrete.
Covered while we work your lot
Ridgecrest Concrete is licensed and fully insured, so the crew on your property is covered while it works. The work is backed by our satisfaction guarantee. When you're ready, call (442) 294-1117 or send the form.
Foundation installation in Ridgecrest
Foundation installation is the forming, pouring and finishing of the concrete base a house sits on, built as a slab or over a crawl space. We do it for Ridgecrest property owners putting up a new home or addition who want the base right before the walls go up.
Most people who call about a foundation have a lot and a set of plans, and they aren't sure what's under the dirt. That's the right thing to worry about, because the ground decides more about how a foundation holds up than the concrete does. Before we talk about forms or a pour date, we work out whether a slab or a crawl space suits your lot and whether the soil has been tested.
The price moves with the size of the house, slab versus crawl space, how much the lot slopes and what the soils report says, since loose ground means more digging and packing before we pour. The schedule mostly turns on things outside the pour itself, like waiting on a soils report or any studies your lot needs, plus the weather on pour day. I'll go over your own job at the estimate.
Foundations, footings and the ground under them
Slab or crawl space, settled first
Before we price anything, I walk your lot with you and we talk through slab or crawl space, because your lot's grade and how you plan to use the house point toward one or the other. I'll tell you what each one asks of the site, where I lean and why. If the answer hangs on something we can't see yet, like what a soils report will show, I'll say so instead of picking one just to keep the job moving.
Why we wait on the ground here
The 2019 earthquakes here surprised researchers because only part of the rupture ran along faults anyone had mapped, and they later found signs of active faulting along the whole system. Regional geology guidance also says loose, dry sediments left by wind and short-lived streams are common across the desert Southwest, and that collapsible soil packs down and drops once it gets wet. Nobody can tell what's under a lot by looking at it, so we'd rather wait for a soils check than guess. We take these jobs in Ridgecrest and the cities around it.
A packed base, forms and footings
We dig out and pack the subgrade, the ground the concrete sits on, because dirt that's only raked level settles later and takes the foundation with it. We set forms, pour the concrete footings that carry the walls, lay rebar, the steel that holds the concrete together, and pour in the cooler part of the day so the top doesn't turn weak and dusty. That base is hidden on day one and it's the first thing people want to cut, which is why I won't. Need paving too? We do concrete parking lot building on the same kind of base.
Get a free on-site estimate for your foundation
We reply within one business day and set a time for me to come walk your lot, so have your address, a note on its slope and any soils report ready. The on-site estimate is free, with no obligation.
(442) 294-1117How a foundation job goes with us
You call, I come out
Call (442) 294-1117 or send the form, and we'll set a time for me to come out. I look at the lot, ask how you'll use the house and go over the estimate with you, with as many questions as you like.
We sort out the ground
Before we set a single form, we wait on whatever your lot needs, like a soils report or required studies, because the foundation design depends on what they find. Anything we can't know until the ground is open, I'll tell you straight.
Pour, cure and walk-through
I'm on site with our crew from the ground work through the pour and finish. We let the concrete cure, the wait that lets it gain strength before anything heavy goes on it, and we walk the job with you before we pack up.
Foundation questions from Ridgecrest owners
Which foundation type suits my lot in Ridgecrest?
It comes down mostly to your lot's grade and how much moisture risk you'll accept. A national cost guide says a slab gives good moisture control but isn't ideal on graded land, while a crawl space suits uneven ground but is prone to moisture problems. We'll look at your slope together at the estimate.
Do I need a soils test before building a foundation?
On an undeveloped lot, plan on one before the foundation is designed. Regional geology guidance says the surest check for expansive soil is a geotechnical firm, a soils specialist, taking borings and testing them, and that raw lots should also be tested for collapsing soil. Where thin layers of it turn up, they can be dug out and compacted with heavy equipment.
Is my Ridgecrest lot in an earthquake hazard zone?
You can find out by typing your address into the state's EQ Zapp map, which shows whether a property sits in a mapped hazard zone or in an area the state geological survey hasn't evaluated yet. A lot inside a zone needs geologic and engineering studies before construction starts, so plan for them ahead of the foundation work.
Who is allowed to pour my foundation in California?
A contractor licensed for concrete work, which the state licensing board covers with a concrete class for forming, pouring, placing and finishing. A general builder taking on that specialty work needs the class too, or has to hire a licensed concrete specialist for it, so ask your builder which applies. You're welcome to ask us the same.