Garage floor concrete in Cupertino CA - a slab that sits on solid ground

A new slab should be walkable within 48 hours, though it takes a month to fully cure. An area guide suggests waiting a week before heavier loads to be safe, so plan for the car to sleep in the driveway that first week.

A concrete slab or pad in the San Jose area usually runs about $7 to $15 per square foot, according to an area cost guide, and that's the market's range, not our price. Where your floor lands turns on the size, base and steel mentioned above, and the estimate spells those out.

Some cracking is normal, because an industry guide says even the best slab design and proper construction won't give a floor free of cracks or curling, where the edges lift slightly. What we control is where it cracks, by cutting control joints on time, shallow grooves that give the slab a planned place to crack.

Light flaking may not need repair at all, because minor scaling, as the trade calls it, is a cosmetic problem. When scaling is heavy and keeps spreading, an industry group says repair may not be practical, so how far it's gone decides between a fix and a new slab.

Pour in dry weather, with time for the slab to cure before rain, as Santa Clara Valley stormwater guidance advises. We plan pours that way in Cupertino and the cities around it, and on clean-up we keep fresh concrete out of storm drains, which the law prohibits because it's toxic to fish.

Usually yes, because California puts flat concrete work like a garage slab under its C-8 concrete contractor license. The state's exemption for unlicensed minor work is $1,000, and it applies only when the job needs no permit and the person has no employees, so ask anyone bidding your floor for their license.