Planning a home, addition or garage on a slab? We dig out and pack the base, keep the barrier whole and pour a level floor.
Slab foundation building in Portsmouth, VA, means pouring one concrete slab that serves as both the floor and the foundation of your home or addition, with thicker sections under the bearing walls that do the job footings would.
Most people who call us are planning a new house, an addition or a detached garage and want to know whether a slab suits the lot. Since there's no foundation wall below the floor, the slab is only as good as the ground under it, so most of the real work happens before the truck arrives. If you'd rather have walls and a crawlspace, our foundation installation work covers that.
The price mostly follows the size of the slab and how much digging and packing the ground needs, and the schedule turns on the city's permit review and the weather on pour day. I'd rather not guess at either over the phone, so I'll give you your estimate once I've walked the lot.
We get back to you and set a time that suits you for a visit. I come out myself, so you'll be talking with the person who runs the job.
I look over the site, ask how you'll use the building and ask you to confirm the lot's review with the city's planning office, since that bears on whether a slab fits. Then I give you your estimate, so you know the cost before anything is decided.
If you go ahead, I run the job alongside our own crew, pull the permit and schedule the inspections. Before each stage, I'll tell you what's happening and when the inspector is due.
When the pour is done, I walk the slab with you and go over how long to wait before your framers start. If anything doesn't look right to you, I'd like to hear it then.
We dig out and pack the subgrade, the ground the slab sits on, because loose dirt raked level settles and takes the slab with it. Rebar, the steel that holds the concrete together, goes in with the thickened edges, and the moisture barrier lies between the base and the concrete. One barrier maker warns boots can puncture or tear that sheet, and even small holes let much more moisture up and can make flooring fail, so we keep foot traffic off it.
Here in Portsmouth, the city's building inspectors look over the construction documents before work starts and then inspect the work, so there are checks before and during the job. The city's Planning Department reviews permit applications for zoning and handles floodplain management and Chesapeake Bay preservation, which is why that review matters before you settle on a slab.
What a slab foundation job covers:
If an older slab has cracked but stayed level, patching the cracks is usually enough, and there's no need to pay for a new one. When it has sunk, tipped or broken into pieces, the ground underneath has usually moved, and patching only covers that up for a while. If the slab is under a house, foundation raising is worth a look first. Otherwise we take it out and pour new on a packed base.
Size and thickness come first, along with how much digging, fill and packing the lot needs before we can pour. A reinforced slab costs more than a plain pad, and plumbing set in before the pour or a lot the truck can't reach easily adds work. If the budget is tight, please don't take it out of the base, because it's buried on day one and it decides how the slab holds up. The same thinking goes into our concrete parking lot building.
I learned concrete on a city crew, pouring sidewalks, curbs and steps to municipal standards, and I've run Advantage Portsmouth Concrete the same way since 2013. We plan the base, the drainage and the joints before a truck shows up, keep your property tidy and let you know what's coming next. I'd rather explain something twice than have you surprised later. Your satisfaction, guaranteed.
Have your lot address and a rough slab size handy when you call (757) 731-7248, so we can start planning from the first conversation.
Please send the lot address, what you're building and when you hope to start. We'll reply within one business day, and I'll come out for a free estimate with no obligation.
Reinforced concrete slab work in Norfolk usually costs about $7 to $12 per square foot, which is the going rate next door and not a quote from us. Your own price depends on the slab's size, the base work and the reinforcement. Please call (757) 731-7248 and I'll come take a look.
Yes, a slab under a new home is part of erecting a structure, and the city's Department of Permits and Inspections issues the building permit for that work. When a contractor does the job, the city highly recommends the contractor get the permit, because whoever holds it is responsible for the work and for scheduling every inspection, and that's how we work. If you're building your own house to live in, the city lets you get the permit yourself, but only for one house in a 24-month period.
Concrete takes about a month to fully cure, though a new slab should be walkable within 48 hours. Curing is the slow hardening of the concrete as it holds its moisture, and to be safe you may want to wait a week before setting heavier loads on it. I'll go over the timing with you and your builder when we finish.
It can be a poor fit, according to one coastal building article, because floodwater can't pass through a slab, so it takes the full force of breaking waves and moving water. The same article says a slab isn't cost-effective where a building has to be raised more than one foot, since that takes a lot more concrete, though it may suit a site on compacted fill where that's allowed. Your lot's floodplain review goes through the city's planning office, so we ask you to confirm it before we price a slab.
Cracks in concrete slabs are common and can't be prevented entirely, but the right steps can greatly reduce or control them, and most cracks are no cause for alarm. Ours are a packed base, rebar, a pour kept out of the midday heat that leaves a weak, dusty top, and control joints, shallow cuts made on time that give the concrete a straight line to crack along. Please ask any builder you talk to which steps they take.
Virginia licenses contractors by the value of a single contract, so the class needed follows the price of your job. Class C covers contracts over $1,000 but less than $30,000, Class B covers $30,000 or more but less than $150,000, and Class A covers $150,000 or more. We're licensed and insured, and I'm glad to talk it through at the estimate.
We're based in Portsmouth and build slabs in many of the cities around it, including Norfolk and Chesapeake. Please choose your city below, or call if yours isn't listed.
