True North Malibu Concrete is based in Malibu, and I come out to measure every job myself. We build driveways, patios, pool decks and foundations here, and we put the most care into the part you never see, the base under the slab.
(424) 388-5404
Malibu is home for us. Most calls here come from homeowners planning a driveway, patio or pool deck, and from owners working through a rebuild with their architect or engineer. On the old slabs we're asked to replace, the trouble usually started underneath, with a base that was raked level instead of dug out and packed, or a slab that tips water back toward the house. We see the same thing in nearby Topanga, so the fix starts in the same place, below the surface.
We reply within one business day, by phone or by message, and the estimate is free with no obligation. I come out to your Malibu property, measure the area and look at access and any existing concrete. Then I send you a written scope with a price you can compare line by line.
(424) 388-5404Most of what we pour in Malibu is flatwork, the slabs you walk and drive on, like a new concrete driveway, a patio off the back of the house or a pool deck. On rebuilds we also pour footings and slab foundations to the engineer's drawings. When a settled slab has to come out before the new one goes in, we cut and remove the old concrete.
Permits here go through the City of Malibu, where Building Safety takes requests for building, excavation and pool permits through the city's online Development Portal. Some projects also need Planning Department approval, and the order of those reviews often sets the start date more than our crew does. Before I price a job, I look into what the city asks for at your address and tell you what I found. Where approvals are needed, we plan the start around them and can handle the concrete side of the paperwork or work alongside your architect or engineer. We're fully licensed and insured, and for questions about your own lot, the city has the final word.
The city's design figures for building here assume rain falling at 2 inches an hour. That's a city-wide number, not one for your parcel, but it tells you what a winter storm can do, and here those cool, wet winters follow long, dry summers. So I check where the water runs before anything else and slope the slab away from the house. We also dig out and pack the subgrade, the ground the slab sits on, so it doesn't settle with the dirt. In summer we start pours early, because midday heat dries the top too fast and leaves it weak and dusty later. The price moves with the size of the area, how much old concrete comes out, how deep the base goes, the rebar and the finish. Access can matter as much as size when a truck can't reach the back of the lot. The schedule turns on approvals and weather. We do the same work in Calabasas, and either way your estimate puts all of it in writing.
Before work starts, you get a written scope listing what goes under and into your concrete. It covers the base, the joints and the rebar, which is the steel that holds the slab together if it cracks. You know what you're paying for and can compare it line by line.
Nobody sees the base on day one, so it's the first thing people want to cut. I'd rather you pick a plain broom finish, the light texture that keeps a slab from getting slick, than thin the base. Settling and cracks usually start there.
I ran a sign shop for years, where a job was only right if every measurement was right, and I still take the measurements myself. Our crew works with me on site, with your engineer or architect when you have one. Satisfaction guaranteed. Call (424) 388-5404 or use the form.
I can't give you a fair number until I've seen the site. On a Malibu driveway, the base work and the access usually move the price more than the square footage does. A stamped or decorative finish raises it, and a plain broom finish keeps it down. After I measure, you get a written scope with a price you can compare line by line.
I check with the city before I price your job. Its permit list names building, excavation and pool permits but doesn't name patios or driveways on their own. Some projects skip the building permit but still need Planning approval, and work without what's required brings a Stop Work Order. If you want to ask first, Building Safety or Planning takes those questions at 310-456-2489, ext. 484.
You can usually walk on new concrete well before you can drive on it. The slab keeps curing, which means gaining strength, for days after it looks hard. I'll tell you when it's ready for feet and when it's ready for your car, based on the mix and that week's weather, and I'll put it in writing.
Most cracks start with a base that was raked level instead of dug out and packed, or with control joints cut late or skipped. Control joints are grooves we cut so that the slab cracks along a line we chose as the concrete shrinks, not across the middle of your patio. Concrete can still crack, but a packed base and joints cut on time usually keep the cracks where we planned them.
The city says an issued permit expires 365 days after it's issued. It also expires if work is suspended or abandoned for 365 days after it starts. That's one more reason we plan the start around the approval. The property owner or a licensed contractor can pull the permit, or an agent with a notarized letter of authorization from either one.
Start with your architect or engineer, because on a rebuild the concrete follows their drawings and the city's review order. A project gets Planning approval first, then goes to Building Safety plan check. While it's in plan check, the applicant submits to any outside agencies, such as the Los Angeles County Fire Department. We work alongside your team and pour the footings and foundation to the drawings.
