Concrete floor installation in Cupertino CA - a slab that's ready for your tile or wood

A concrete slab in the Bay Area usually costs about $8 to $16 per square foot, not counting staining or stamping, and reinforced slabs run higher than plain pads. If the budget's tight, cut the finish before the base, since the base is what keeps a floor flat. Your own number comes from my estimate.

A Bay Area guide says a new slab should be walkable within 48 hours, and waiting a week before heavier loads is the safer plan. The same guide puts full curing at 28 to 30 days, and the slab should cure and dry out before it's tested for moisture under new flooring.

Probably a little, since a national concrete guide says some cracking and a little edge curl is normal on every slab, even a well-built one. We cut control joints, shallow grooves that tell a crack where to go, and time the finishing and curing closely, because poor timing leads to cracks, a dusty top and high or low spots.

Plan on one if tile, wood or carpet could ever go down, since one trade group calls a vapor barrier under every indoor slab sensible planning. Moisture rising through a slab can make flooring glue fail, so floors lift, warp or stain. That group also advises curing such a slab under plastic sheeting, so ask us about both before the pour.

If you hire a general builder for just the floor, state license rules let them take it only if they hold the concrete specialty license or subcontract it to a licensed specialty contractor. That license covers forming, pouring and finishing flat concrete, so ask any bidder which license covers your floor.

Use the state's EQ Zapp earthquake hazards tool, which shows whether a property sits in an earthquake fault zone, a seismic hazard zone or both. It's worth a look while you plan an addition. We're based in Cupertino and work across it and the cities around it, from the South Bay up the Peninsula.