We're Groundbreak Redmond Concrete Company, a concrete contractor based in Redmond, WA, building driveways, patios, steps and walls for Mercer Island homes. A lot of the work here starts with figuring out a hillside, which happens to be the part I enjoy.
(425) 285-8618
Mercer Island is packed with homes, and a good share of them sit on slopes that like to move. On our jobs here that shows up as driveways that climb or drop sharply from the street, patios cut into the side of a hill and old walls doing more work than anyone built them for.
So the first questions I ask here are about the ground and the water. Where does the runoff go in a hard rain, what is the old slab actually sitting on, and is that crack from settling or from the hill? Once we've got those answers, the finish is the easy part.
Call (425) 285-8618 or send the form, and we'll reply within one business day. I come out to your Mercer Island address myself, look at the ground and the drainage, and give you a free estimate with no obligation.
(425) 285-8618Most calls on the island are for driveways that have to climb from the street, patios and steps on sloped yards, and retaining walls holding back a hillside. We also build concrete pool decks that shed water away from the house, and we cut into old slabs, pour footings and raise settled foundations when the problem is underneath.
Construction projects on the island go through the City of Mercer Island Building Team, which checks them against the building codes, so the pour date often waits on the city's review. Before we set a date, I find out what your project calls for and tell you plainly who'll handle the permit and the inspections. You can check any contractor's state registration, and a company has to add Mercer Island to its Washington business license before it can work here. We're licensed and insured.
Getting here means bringing a concrete truck over I-90 onto streets and driveways that weren't laid out with one in mind, the same kind of planning we do for jobs up in Maltby. Your price comes mostly from access and ground. How close the truck can get, whether we pump concrete up or down a slope, how much old slab we break out and haul away, and how deep we dig for a solid base all show up in the number. The schedule turns on the permit, the weather and, on slope lots, the season. I'll give you your own figure when I come out to look.
I come out for the estimate myself, look at how the yard falls and where the rain goes, and ask what the old concrete has been doing. Our own crew does the work with me running the job, so the person who priced it is on site.
Nobody sees the base on pour day, so it's the first thing people want to trim. I'd rather spend on digging soft ground, packing the subgrade, the ground the slab sits on, and getting water off it than on a fancy finish, because pretty concrete on loose dirt still cracks.
We've been at this since 2013, licensed and insured, and I want you to understand what the price covers before we start. Your satisfaction, guaranteed. Call (425) 285-8618 or send the form, and I'll come take a look.
Most of the price on the island comes from the ground work and the access, not the concrete itself. A flat, open yard costs less than a slope where we dig deep, pump concrete uphill, haul out an old slab and route the runoff. Thickness, rebar, the steel that holds a slab together, and the finish you pick move it too, and I'll walk you through all of it at the estimate.
On lots with an erosion, potential slide or steep slope hazard, the city doesn't allow clearing, grading, filling or foundation work from October 1 to April 1. A waiver is possible with a strong reason backed by a geotechnical evaluation of the site and the work. If a new structure will sit in a hazard area, the city's geological hazard rules also call for a report signed and stamped by a Washington licensed geotechnical, geological or structural engineer, so on a hillside job we build the schedule around that window.
Yes, the state requires every construction contractor to register with the Department of Labor & Industries, and state law also requires them to be bonded and insured. On any home job of $1,000 or more, a registered contractor has to give you the state's disclosure notice to customers. Check the registration before you sign, whoever you hire.
Most cracks start with a weak subgrade or joints cut too late, not with bad concrete. We dig out soft ground, pack the base and cut control joints, shallow grooves that give the slab a straight place to crack, while the concrete is still fresh. The city's design table puts the frost line, the depth the ground can freeze to, at 12 inches, so footings for steps and walls go below it.
You're off it through the dig, the pour and the curing, the stretch while new concrete gains strength, and you can walk on it well before you can park on it. Digging at the curb, blocking the sidewalk or a materials delivery needs the city's Right of Way Use permit, and street work hours are generally 9 am to 3:30 pm on school days, with tighter limits on school bus routes. I'll give you the walking and driving days at the estimate and plan the pour around those hours.
Probably, because the city's own guidance says the answer to whether you need a tree permit is almost always yes. Sort it out before anything gets cut. If a tree is in the way of the driveway or patio, I'll point it out at the estimate so it's on your list early.
