ServicesGarage Floors
Concrete Garage Floors in Placentia
A garage floor carries the weight of your car every day. When it has sunk, split or soaked up years of oil, we remove it and pour a new slab. We show you what we found and explain every choice before any work starts.
What a New Garage Floor Means
A garage floor is a concrete slab, usually about 4 inches thick, sitting on a packed base of soil and gravel. If that base settles or washes out, the slab cracks and drops. Surface sealers won't fix a slab like that. The real answer is to take it out and start over.
We replace garage floors from the ground up. We break out the old slab, haul it away, fix the base and pour new concrete with steel in it. The new floor slopes slightly toward the door so water runs out instead of toward your house.
Many garages around Placentia still have the original slab from when the home was built. After decades of cars, water heaters and storage, that concrete often has a few honest years left at best. We'll walk it with you and tell you plainly what we see.
What the Job Includes
- Tear-out and haul-away
- We saw-cut the edges clean, break up the old slab and remove every piece. The debris leaves your property the same day.
- Base prep and compaction
- Soft spots get dug out and refilled. We add gravel where needed and compact it, because a new slab is only as steady as what sits under it.
- Reinforcement
- We set rebar or wire mesh on supports so it ends up in the middle of the concrete, where it does its job. Steel lying on the dirt does very little.
- Slope and door threshold
- We set forms so the floor falls gently toward the garage door. At the opening we match the height of your driveway so the car rolls in without a bump.
- Finish and control joints
- Most garage floors get a smooth steel-trowel finish that is easy to sweep. We cut control joints so any shrinkage cracks follow a straight line instead of wandering across the floor.
Signs Your Garage Floor Needs Replacing
Cracks with a step in them
Hairline cracks are normal in concrete. When one side of a crack sits higher than the other, the base underneath has moved.
A gap at the walls
If the slab has pulled away from the stem wall or dropped below it, the soil under the floor has settled.
Water runs the wrong way
Puddles in the middle, or water creeping toward the door into the house, mean the slope is gone. Rinse water should head out to the driveway.
Dusty or flaking surface
A floor that leaves gray powder on your broom, or has a top layer peeling off in patches, is breaking down at the surface and will keep getting worse.
A sunken lip at the door
Where the garage meets the driveway, the edge often drops first. You feel it every time you pull in.
What Moves the Price
Every garage floor is priced on what we find at your home, so we don't quote a number over the phone without seeing it. These are the things that change the cost most. Your written estimate shows each one separately.
Floor size
A one-car garage takes far less concrete and labor than a three-car garage. We price by the actual square footage we measure.
Old slab removal
Thicker slabs, or ones with steel already in them, take longer to break out and cost more to haul away.
Condition of the base
If the soil is soft or washed out, it has to be dug out and rebuilt. We show you photos of what we find so you know why.
Access for the truck
When the mixer can back up to the garage door, the pour goes quickly. A long reach or tight driveway may call for a pump or wheelbarrows.
How the Work Goes
- 1
Look and measure
We come out, check the slab, the cracks and the slope, and measure the floor. We explain what we think is going on underneath in everyday words.
- 2
Written estimate and permit check
You get a written estimate broken out line by line. We check whether the city wants a permit for your job and pull it when it does.
- 3
Demo and base day
You clear the garage beforehand. We protect the door, walls and nearby driveway, remove the old slab and get the base packed and ready.
- 4
Pour and finish
Concrete arrives, we place it, level it and trowel it smooth. Joints get cut, and we clean up the site before we leave.
- 5
Curing
You can walk on the floor in a day or two. We'll tell you when it is safe to park, which is usually about a week out.
Garage Floor Questions
How long before I can park in the garage again?
Plan on about a week before you drive a car onto the new slab. Concrete keeps gaining strength for weeks, but by then it can handle normal parking. We'll give you the exact day when we finish.
Do I have to empty the whole garage?
Yes, the floor needs to be clear wall to wall. Shelves, tools and boxes have to come out, and a water heater or washer may need to be disconnected first. We'll go over what has to move when we visit.
Can you just pour new concrete over the old floor?
We don't recommend it. A thin layer on top of a cracked slab tends to crack in the same spots. It also raises the floor, which can cause trouble at the door to the house and the garage door seal.
Smooth finish or broom finish?
Most people choose smooth for a garage because it sweeps clean and looks finished. A light broom finish gives more grip if the floor gets wet often. We'll explain both and you pick.
Will the new floor line up with my driveway?
We match the height at the garage door so there's no lip. The color of new concrete will look lighter than an older driveway for a while. If the driveway itself is worn, we can talk about our driveways work too.
Ready to Look at Your Garage Floor
Tell us what you're seeing, whether it's a sunken edge, a split slab or water running the wrong way. We'll set a time to come out, measure and explain your options.