Concrete parking lot building in Pomona CA - pavement that drains and holds up

Most owners who call us are either starting on bare ground or tired of patching an old lot that cracks and holds water. The price moves with the size of the lot, how much old pavement has to come out, how deep we dig for the base, how thick the slab has to be for your trucks, and what the drainage needs. The schedule turns on that same prep work, on the cure, which is the wait before cars can go on fresh concrete, and on how much of your lot has to stay open while we work. If the lot needs a walkway to the front door too, we can pour it in the same run as our concrete sidewalk building work. After I've walked the lot, I'll give you your own figure in a written estimate.

I start with the ground, because concrete remembers everything you did to it. We dig out the subgrade, the soil the slab sits on, down to firm material, then bring in base and pack it in layers, since loose dirt that's only been raked flat settles and takes the slab with it. Before any forms go up, we plan where the water runs so it heads to the drains and away from buildings. We also plan where the joints go and which lanes delivery trucks will use, so heavy loads stay off the areas built for cars. We set rebar, the steel that holds the slab together if it cracks, where the traffic calls for it. We pour early in the day, because midday heat leaves a weak, dusty top. Then we give it a broom finish, a light texture that keeps tires and shoes from slipping, and cut the control joints, the grooves that tell the concrete where to crack, before it picks its own spots. We also talk through the upkeep down the road, so you know what the lot will ask of you years from now. When budgets get tight, the base is usually the first thing people want to cut because nobody sees it on day one. I'd rather lose the bid than pour on bad ground, since a nice finish on a soft base is just an expensive crack waiting to show up.

A lot rarely stands alone. Light poles, sign posts and low walls along the edge sit on concrete footings, and we pour those as part of the layout so they line up with the joints and curbs. If the building beside the lot has started to sink or crack, that's a job for foundation raising, and it's worth sorting out before new paving goes in against it.

In Pomona, any lot with 25 or more spaces, or with 5,000 square feet or more of hard surface, needs the city to approve its stormwater pollution controls before the project is done. So we draw those controls into the layout at the start, where they fit easily, instead of tearing up fresh concrete to add them later. Rules change, so check the current requirements for your lot with Pomona's Building & Safety Division before you settle on a design.

What we see most around here are older lots paved on a skimpy base, now cracked where the trucks turn and puddled in the low stalls. We're based in Pomona and work in the cities around it, and we run into the same worn lots on jobs in Ontario and Chino.