Concrete foundations today must adhere to a different set of codes and specifications than in years past.  Today’s concrete foundation designs take into account soil conditions, seismic activity for the San Diego area and loads experienced by the structure. Footing sizes, rebar sizes and hardware location and sizes are all components that must be taken into consideration for each individual application.  In thirty two years of concrete foundation installation in the San Diego area, Nevares Concrete has seen many changes. Increased moisture barrier thickness has become a big concern. Many older foundations with less than today’s standard have had moisture infiltration problems. Mold, efflorescence and discoloration don’t have a chance with today’s concrete foundation requirements.

Here are some kind words from one of our satisfied concrete foundation customers in La Jolla:

“We were building a new custom home in the Bird Rock area of La Jolla. We saw T. E. Nevares Concrete’s crews and trucks working on many other projects in the area. When I contacted Tom Nevares, owner of T.E. Nevares Concrete, he quickly put my concrete foundation concerns to rest. After a short conversation, I could tell Tom was well versed and had vast experience in large scale concrete foundations work. My experience with Tom and his company from  a business as well as construction aspects, were both very professional and pleasant. The whole crew was clean, fast, respectful and really did a bang up job for us.”

H.L. Wiggins

La Jolla

Here is an excerpted version of an article written by Balvant Rajani, on the best practices that will help ensure good long-term performance, safety and comfort of concrete sidewalks.

The average service life of concrete sidewalks in San Diego is 20 to 40 years, but failure can occur as early as one to five years after construction. Many of the problems of sidewalks in San Diego are the result of lack of attention to detail during the design and construction stages. This Update describes practices that prolong San Diego sidewalk life and in so doing, advance the four key sidewalk attributes: safety, comfort, appearance, and life-cycle cost performance.

Sidewalk Subgrade

The sidewalk subgrade is the native soil that is graded and compacted to provide an even surface to support the sidewalk. The sidewalk subgrade material should have uniform stiffness to avoid differing frost or expansion characteristics. In some cases, the sidewalk concrete is placed directly on the subgrade, but it is strongly recommended that a granular sub-base be placed between the native soil and the concrete slab.