El Centro's permit office comes first
Before a form board goes down in El Centro, it helps to know which city office handles permits. El Centro's Community Development Department, at 1275 W Main Street, has three divisions: Building and Safety, Code Enforcement, and Planning and Zoning. The city says its Building & Safety Division handles plan checking for code compliance and issues all City required permits.
Whether your driveway, patio, walk or slab calls for a city permit is a question to ask the contractor and the Building & Safety Division before work is scheduled. Ask too who will pull any permit, whether the fee is in the price, and whether an inspection comes before the pour.
California's license rule
California requires a Contractors State License Board license for construction work that needs a building permit or uses any additional worker, or whose combined labor, materials and other costs reach $1,000 or more; a larger job may not be split into pieces under $1,000 to get around the limit.
Ask each contractor how that rule applies to your job, and keep the written answer with the bid.
Drinking water in El Centro
The City of El Centro says its water source is the Colorado River via the All American Canal and Imperial Irrigation District facilities such as the Central Main Canal; the city receives two sources of water from the Central Main Canal, and IID conducts source water testing.
Sketch the job before anyone bids
A rough drawing on graph paper or a phone photo marked up with a finger can save a lot of back and forth. Show the house, the street, any existing paving and the slab you have in mind. On the drawing, note:
- what the surface is for: parking, a path to the side gate, a shaded sitting area, a pad for a shed or equipment;
- the outside dimensions and any curve, step or change in level;
- old concrete, pavers or gravel that would have to come out;
- doors, gates, hose bibs, irrigation heads and downspouts close to the new edge;
- trees whose roots run near the area.
Hand every bidder the same sketch. When the bids come back, they should describe the same work.
Which way the water goes
A slab sheds water in the direction it is sloped. Ask each contractor which direction each surface will fall, how much slope they plan, and where the runoff will land: the street, a planting bed, a gravel strip or a drain. Ask how the slab next to the house is kept from tilting toward the wall, and what happens where a sprinkler sprays onto the new surface.
Digging and the base
Ask how deep the crew will excavate and why, what they will do if they find soft ground, buried debris or old roots, and what base material goes in. Ask how the base is compacted and checked, and whether it extends beyond the edge of the forms. Ask who calls for the utility locate and how the crew works near the marks.
The mix and a hard pour day
Every load of ready-mix is ordered to a recipe. Ask what strength the contractor orders, what slump the crew expects at the truck, and whether any admixtures go in, such as a water reducer or a set retarder, and what each one is for. Ask whether the driver or the finisher can add water at the site, and what limit the contractor sets for that.
Ask what the crew does differently on a hot, dry or windy day: whether the start time moves, whether the base is dampened first, whether an evaporation retarder is sprayed on during finishing, and what conditions would make them call off the pour.
Reinforcement and crack control
Concrete shrinks as it dries, and joints give that movement a planned place to go. Ask how far apart the control joints will be, how deep, and whether they will be cut with a saw after the pour or formed with a groover while the surface is still workable. Then ask what, if anything, goes inside the slab: rebar, wire mesh, fibers in the mix, or nothing, and the reason for the choice. If steel is used, ask how it is kept off the base so it ends up within the slab rather than under it. Ask, too, what separates the new slab from the house wall, a step or older paving.
Surface and color
Outdoors, a brushed texture adds traction, and the coarseness of the brush can be chosen. Indoors, as on a garage floor, a hard-troweled surface can be easy to sweep, though it can lose grip when wet. Stamping, seeded or exposed stone, and color mixed into the load or dusted on top each add work on pour day and their own care later. Ask to see a sample or a finished job you can visit, and ask how each finish feels to walk on in full sun and how it is cleaned.
Curing and the first days
Fresh concrete keeps gaining strength after the crew leaves, and drying out too fast can weaken the surface. Ask how the slab will be cured: wet coverings, plastic sheeting, a curing compound or a mix of these, and for how long. Ask when the slab can take foot traffic, a wheelbarrow and a car, and whether they suggest a sealer later and which kind. Ask for those instructions in writing so they are on hand once the crew has gone.
Questions for each bidder
- What state license or registration, if any, covers this work, and what is the number?
- Which city permits does the job need, and who pulls them?
- Can you provide proof of liability coverage and workers' compensation?
- Will your own crew place and finish the concrete, or a subcontractor?
- What does your written warranty cover, and what does it leave out?
Checking a written proposal
Hold each proposal up against your sketch, one area at a time. Does it give the area's size and thickness? Does it say what comes out, how it leaves and how deep the crew digs? Are the base, mix, reinforcement and joint plan written down, along with the slope, the finish, the curing method and who handles any permit? Is there a payment schedule tied to stages of the work? Circle anything missing and ask for it in writing before you compare totals.