Advanced San Clemente Concrete Company

Concrete Contractor in Rancho Santa Margarita - Slabs Built for Sloped Lots

Advanced San Clemente Concrete Company pours driveways, patios, retaining walls and foundations for homes in Rancho Santa Margarita, and we get the ground prep and drainage right under every slab we set on these hillside lots.

A wide concrete driveway leads to a large brick-and-stone house, with a curved lawn and landscaped beds.

Hillside homes and graded ground below Saddleback

Rancho Santa Margarita is a planned city tucked into the foothills below Saddleback. It's mostly neighborhoods of single-family homes and townhomes, with shopping centers and the Business Park on the flatter ground. A lot of the houses are a few decades old now, so much of the original concrete around them has sat on the same ground the whole time. The ground acts a lot like it does in Mission Viejo and Ladera Ranch, where one yard sits on cut hillside and the next sits on dirt that was pushed in to level it.

That's why, on a job here, I look at which way your yard falls and what the subgrade, the dirt the slab sits on, is made of before I think about color or texture.

What we've learned working in Rancho Santa Margarita

When a concrete job here needs a permit, it goes through the city's Building and Safety Division. Work that involves grading, like cutting into a slope for a patio, also needs a grading and encroachment permit from Public Works. We get those as your licensed contractor, and since we don't book a pour until they're in hand, the permit usually sets the start date. I picked up that habit on big commercial slabs, where nobody mixed a yard of concrete until the paperwork was straight. The city doesn't issue business licenses, so the license to check on any contractor you're considering is the state one from the Contractors State License Board. We're fully licensed and insured.

We're a concrete contractor based in San Clemente, CA, and we work the hill neighborhoods here the same way we do in Rancho Mission Viejo. Your price mostly comes down to the size of the job, how much old concrete comes out and gets hauled off, and how much work the ground needs before we pour. The schedule turns on the permit, the weather on pour day and the curing time before you can use the slab. The written quote I give you after walking the site lists what's in it, like reinforcement and hauling.

Concrete work in Rancho Santa Margarita

Slopes and runoff shape most jobs here

On sloped lots the water decides a lot. The signs we see most here are puddles against the house, a patio that tips the wrong way, or a crack where runoff from the yard above has been washing under the slab. We set every slab to fall away from the house and give the runoff somewhere to go. Where a yard steps down, we give the same care to the ground under the wall holding it back and under any foundation installation for an addition. If the budget gets tight, I'll steer you toward a plain broom finish over a skimpy base. That's the light texture that gives shoes and tires grip, and you can dress up a good slab later, but you can't fix the dirt under a pretty one.

Soils across Orange County are corrosive, enough to shorten the life of metal water pipes that touch them. If we find an old line running under your patio, we talk it over before we pour on top of it, because replacing it later means cutting concrete. We also set the rebar, the steel inside the slab that holds cracks tight, up off the dirt so concrete surrounds it.

Get a free on-site estimate in Rancho Santa Margarita

Send us a few lines about your job and we'll reply within one business day, and most of the time I'm the one who calls. I'll set a time to come out to your place in Rancho Santa Margarita, walk the job and take measurements. Then you get a written quote with no obligation attached.

(949) 312-6327

How a concrete job in Rancho Santa Margarita goes

  1. Call or send the form

    Call (949) 312-6327 or use the form and tell us what's going on with your driveway, patio or wall. Most of the time I'm the one who calls back to set a time to come out.

  2. Walk the job with me

    I come out myself to walk your property, take measurements and ask what you're hoping for. Show me where the water runs when it rains, because on a sloped lot that decides a lot about the base and the fall of the slab.

  3. Get a written quote

    You get a written quote that lists what's included, like reinforcement and hauling off the old concrete. That way you can compare it line for line with anyone else's.

  4. Line up permits before pouring

    If the job needs a permit, an engineer or a scan for buried lines, we line it up before we book the pour. We'll tell you early if the city needs anything from you, like an old soils report or property drawings.

  5. Pour, finish and walk through

    Our own crew does the work, with a crew lead running the site from the dig-out and the base through the pour and finish. When it's done, I walk it with you and explain curing, the stretch while the concrete keeps hardening and needs to be left alone.

Concrete questions from Rancho Santa Margarita homeowners

How do I know if my concrete project needs a permit in Rancho Santa Margarita?

The city says a permit is required for most construction or repair work the building code covers, and it publishes a list of permit exceptions for the rest. We check your job against that list before we quote it. I won't guess until I've seen your site, because a wall, a set of steps or some grading can change the answer.

Does my concrete contractor need a California state license in Rancho Santa Margarita?

Yes, for most concrete jobs. The state requires a Contractors State License Board license when the project needs a building permit, when the contractor uses employees, or when labor and materials together come to $1,000 or more. Home improvement contractors have to be licensed before they even bid. Salespeople who sign home improvement contracts for a contractor generally have to register with the board too.

When does a retaining wall in Rancho Santa Margarita need a permit?

Plan on a permit once the wall is taller than 4 feet, measured from the bottom of the footing to the top of the wall. The same goes for a wall of any height that holds back extra weight above it, like a slope or a driveway. Either one falls outside the city's exceptions. That second part catches a lot of walls here, because so many yards are cut into hillside.

Is my home in a fire hazard zone in Rancho Santa Margarita?

Parts of Rancho Santa Margarita fall in Very High, High and Moderate fire hazard zones on the draft maps state fire officials released. The city posts the draft fire hazard zone map, and since it's still a draft, check it instead of assuming. For concrete work, it matters most if you're putting a small structure on a new pad, because even a small one may still fall under the state's wildland fire code.

How much does a new concrete driveway cost in Rancho Santa Margarita?

Your price comes down to the driveway's size and thickness, how deep the base has to go, and the finish you pick. On sloped lots, extra forming adds to it, and so does a pump truck when the mixer can't back up to the pour. A plain finish keeps it down. Our concrete driveway building page goes deeper.

What causes concrete driveways to crack and sink on Rancho Santa Margarita hillside lots?

Usually it's the base, especially on graded lots where the dirt was raked level instead of dug out and packed, so it keeps settling under the concrete. Control joints, the grooves cut so a slab cracks along a line we picked, get skipped or cut late. A midday pour in the heat leaves a weak top. Concrete still cracks some as it dries, so we pack the base, cut joints on time and pour in the cooler hours.

Where we work

Call about your Rancho Santa Margarita concrete job

Water that gets under a cracked slab keeps washing out the base, so call (949) 312-6327 or send the form before it spreads.

Request an estimate(949) 312-6327
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