Concrete driveway building in Glendale CA - built for the cars you park on it
Cracked, sinking driveway or water pooling by the garage? We tear it out and build a new slab on a packed base that sheds water.
- Fully licensed and insured.
- Free quotes on site.
- We respond within 1 business day.
What goes into building a concrete driveway in Glendale?
Concrete driveway building in Glendale starts with digging the topsoil out down to firm native ground and packing the base level, then pouring and finishing a slab sized for the vehicles that will park on it. The pour goes fast, and most of the wait comes after, while the concrete cures.
If you're here, the old driveway has probably cracked, sunk or started holding water, and you're deciding whether to patch it or start over. The price moves with the size, how much old concrete comes out, how deep we dig to reach good ground, how thick the slab needs to be and the finish, since plain gray costs less than a pattern or color. The schedule turns on the weather, the cure and whether the job needs a permit, and my written estimate spells out what's included so you see your own number before anything gets dug up.
How do you know your driveway needs replacing?
Cracks that keep growing
Hairline cracks are normal, but cracks that widen, run across the whole slab or leave one side higher than the other usually mean the base underneath has moved. Patching the top won't stop that, and the longer it goes, the more the slab breaks up and the more there is to haul away.
An edge or corner sinking
When the end by the garage or the edge along the lawn drops, the base under it was usually raked flat instead of packed, or water has been washing it out. A dropped edge turns into a trip lip and a spot that holds water, and it keeps settling.
Puddles running toward the house
Water sitting on the driveway or running back at the garage door usually means the slab was poured flat or falls the wrong way. Every rain then sends that water toward your house, which is the last place you want it.
How we handle concrete driveway building
My first question is what's going to park on it, because two sedans and a work truck with a trailer need different plans. We break out the old slab, dig down to good ground, the subgrade the whole slab sits on, and compact the base, since a base that's only raked level settles later and takes the slab down with it. Before the forms go in, we check where the water runs and pitch the driveway away from the house and garage. The quote says plainly whether the slab gets rebar, steel bars set inside to hold it together, fiber mixed into the concrete, or both. We pour in the cooler part of the day, because midday heat leaves a weak, dusty top, then give it a broom finish, a light ridged texture for grip when it's wet, and cut control joints, shallow grooves that give the slab a straight place to crack instead of a random one. If the budget gets tight, I'd rather keep the full base and go simpler on the surface, because you can dress up a sound slab later but you can't fix a bad base without tearing it all out.
Since the forms and the crew are already there, plenty of people add the back of the house to the same job with concrete patio construction. If plain gray isn't the look you want out front, stamped concrete services press a pattern and color into the surface, and it goes on over the same dug-out, packed base.
Get a written estimate for your new driveway
Send the form and we'll get back to you within one business day to set a time. I'll come look at the driveway myself and give you a free written estimate, with no obligation to go ahead.
- team@glendaleconcretecompany.com
- Based in
- Glendale, CA 91205
- Hours
- Mon–Sun: 6 AM–11 PM
What happens after you call about a driveway in Glendale?
Here's how a driveway job runs from your first call to the walk-through at the end, and what you'll have in hand before you decide.
Call or send a request
Call (747) 372-8605 or use the form, and we'll set a time to come out. Have the driveway's rough size and what parks on it handy, since that's where I start.
I come out and look
I walk the old driveway, see where the water goes and how the cars get in and out, and ask a lot of questions. You get a written estimate that spells out what's included, so you know what you're paying for before you decide.
We build it and walk it
Once you say go, we take care of any permits, prep the ground, pour and finish. At the end we walk the driveway with you, and I tell you when it's ready for the car.
Why Glendale homeowners call Masterwork Glendale Concrete Company for driveways
The owner writes your estimate
I come out myself to look at the driveway and give the estimate, and our own crew does the work with me running it. The person who heard what you'll park on it is the same person standing there on pour day.
On our own since 2020
I spent years as another concrete contractor's right-hand person, working up from forming and finishing to running jobs, before starting this company in 2020. We get called for the jobs with a puzzle in them, and I'd rather work out why the old driveway cracked or sank than pour right over the problem.
Fully licensed and insured in California
California treats forming, pouring and finishing flatwork, the flat concrete you walk and drive on, as work for a licensed concrete contractor. We're fully licensed and insured, and you're welcome to see the paperwork before you sign.
On a driveway, the part that counts most is the part you won't see again once it's poured. Send us a request through the contact page or call (747) 372-8605 and tell me what's going to park on it.
Driveways and the work around them in Glendale
Glendale's Inspection and Right-of-Way Permits Section issues the city's right-of-way permits, mostly excavation and encroachment permits for public and private improvements tied to capital projects. That doesn't settle whether your driveway needs a permit, and I won't tell you it doesn't. If we're not sure, we check with the city before we start, and when a permit is needed we pull it through the city's online permit portal, where every Glendale application now goes, and line up the inspections. Glendale also adds its own amendments to the state building code, so we work from the city's version.
California only lets an unlicensed person take minor work under $1,000, and only when it needs no permit of any kind and they employ no one, so unless a driveway job is that small and needs no permit, it takes a licensed contractor. We're based in Glendale and work all over the city and the cities around it, and the older driveways we tear out in Pasadena and La Crescenta-Montrose tend to fail the same way, cracked across a thin slab or sunk where the base was never packed.
Questions about concrete driveways in Glendale
How much does a new concrete driveway cost in Glendale?
A new concrete driveway in the Los Angeles area usually costs about $6.50 to $12.50 per square foot, and that's the going rate around here, not our price. Where yours falls comes down to the size, the prep and the finish, and my written estimate gives you your own number after I've seen the site.
How thick should a concrete driveway be?
Planning for a home driveway often starts around a 4-inch slab for passenger cars. Heavier vehicles or weak support underneath can call for a different design, so tell whoever you hire exactly what will park on it.
Does a concrete driveway need rebar or fiber?
One reinforcement guide says driveways call for rebar, with fiber as an add-on. Its reasoning is that fiber limits shrinkage cracking but adds almost no strength against being pulled apart, while rebar carries that load and holds cracks tight, so check which one any quote you get includes.
When can I drive on a new concrete driveway?
You can drive on it later than you can walk on it, because concrete keeps gaining strength after it's hard enough for feet. How dark or hard the surface looks is a poor guide for a car, and the edges and corners need the most protection from early traffic, so I'll tell you when it's ready at the walk-through.
What causes a new concrete driveway to crack?
Usually it's a base that moves, a surface that dried too fast or joints cut too late to do their job. Sunny, windy, hot or dry days can dry fresh concrete fast enough to crack and flake it, so ask how the crew will protect the surface, and control joints are usually saw-cut within four to 12 hours of the pour, as soon as they can be without pulling stones loose.
What's the best way to cure a new concrete driveway?
One builder's guide gives two ways, sealing it with a spray-on or roll-on curing compound once finishing is done, or keeping it constantly wet for seven days. Keeping it wet means wet burlap, soaker hoses, waterproof paper or plastic sheeting, and the point either way is to stop the surface drying out while the concrete gains strength.
Other concrete work that pairs with a driveway
Concrete patio construction
If the yard out back is bare dirt or cracked old concrete, a patio on a packed base gives you a level spot for chairs and a grill.
See the service Concrete patio constructionStamped concrete services
When gray concrete feels too bare for the front of the house, a stamped pattern gives a sound slab the look of stone or brick.
See the service Stamped concrete services
Service areas for driveway work around Glendale
Masterwork Glendale Concrete Company is based in Glendale, California, and the 12 areas below each have their own page, including Burbank and Arcadia. They aren't the only places we go, so if your city isn't listed, call and ask.
Glendale, CA
Have us look at your old driveway
I can tell a lot from the old slab, like where it dropped and where the water sat, and that shapes what goes into the new one.