Foundation installation in Redding CA - a house that sits right on your lot

Most calls come from one of two people: someone with a bare lot and a set of house plans, or someone with an older house that needs a new foundation underneath it. The price moves with the size of the footprint, whether it's a slab or a crawl space, how much the ground slopes and how much dirt has to come out or go in, and how many pipes and ducts run through it. The schedule depends on how quickly the plans settle where those utilities go, and on dry weather for the dig and the pour. If you only need a slab under a garage or shop, our slab foundation building page covers that work. Your estimate is written out so you can see what's included.

I start by walking your lot with you, because the slope, the low spots and the way the water runs tell us whether a slab or a crawl space makes more sense. Before anything gets poured, I want the pipes, wires and ducts marked on the plans, since once concrete covers a line, moving it is a jackhammer job. Then we dig out and pack the subgrade, which is the soil the foundation sits on, so it won't settle later the way loose dirt does. We set the forms and the rebar, the steel bars that hold the concrete together and keep any cracks tight, and we pour in the cooler part of the day so the surface doesn't dry out weak. When a budget gets tight, the base is the first thing people want to trim, because nobody sees it once the concrete is down. I'd cut nearly anything else first, because a clean finish on a poor base won't last.

Foundation work often comes with other concrete. Additions, garages and outbuildings may only need concrete footings, the concrete strip the walls rest on, and we pour those to the same plan as the main foundation. If you're a property owner or small business putting up a building, we can also pour the concrete parking lot around it, so the grades between the building and the lot are set together and water runs away from both.

California's transportation department, in its own guide to building foundations, says soil that swells and shrinks under footings should be investigated and analyzed, because building footings carry light loads and that kind of movement can damage them. That guide is written for the state's own buildings and isn't a rule for your house, but we plan foundations here with the same caution. I ask about soil reports at the estimate and look at what the dig turns up before we form anything. If your job needs a permit, we check whether your address falls under the city or Shasta County and work through it with that office as part of the job.

Around here we see flat lots where a slab sits easily and sloped lots where a crawl space deserves a serious look. We plan the same way on jobs in Anderson and Shasta Lake, starting with the slope and where the water goes.