Concrete Contractors in Norco, CA

Norco is not a typical suburb, and concrete contractors who treat it like one miss what owners here need. In 2003 it became a charter city for one main reason: to protect the right to keep animals. The charter covers three subjects, horse trails, lot size and animal keeping, and any change to those rules needs four of the five City Council votes. Add large lots, backyard stalls and arenas, and a street system where riding trails often stand in for sidewalks, and the concrete list looks different from the rest of the Inland Empire.

Heavier loads than a normal driveway

A standard residential driveway is designed for cars. In Norco, the same driveway may carry a pickup towing a loaded two-horse trailer, a hay delivery or a small tractor. For those owners we talk about slab thickness, base depth and reinforcement up front. A thicker slab over a well-compacted base, with rebar tied on a grid and held up on chairs so it sits in the middle of the pour, handles concentrated wheel loads much better than a thin slab with mesh lying on the dirt.

We also look at the turning path. Trailers swing wide, and the edge of a driveway is where heavy tires crack thin concrete. A thickened edge along the turn is a simple way to prevent that.

Slabs for barns, tack rooms and wash racks

Many Norco properties need concrete that has nothing to do with the house:

• Trailer and RV pads sized for the rig plus room to open doors and ramps
• Wash rack slabs sloped to a drain or a gravel pit, with a rough broom finish for hoof traction
• Tack room and feed room floors raised slightly to keep water out
• Equipment pads for water troughs, hay barns and shade structures

For any area horses walk on, we avoid a slick trowel finish. A coarse broom texture, or a light exposed finish, gives shod hooves more grip when the surface is wet.

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Trail dust, arena sand and the house

Because Norco has few sidewalks and relies on trails, sand and dirt get carried everywhere: onto driveways, into garages and onto back patios. On the house side, many owners want a cleaner, more finished look. Stamped concrete patios and sealed driveways are easier to rinse off than bare broom-finished concrete. We usually recommend sealing decorative concrete here, since a sealer keeps fine dust and manure stains from soaking into the surface.

Weather on a horse property

Wikipedia's climate data for Norco lists a record high of 117 degrees and a record low of 22, with about 14.30 inches of rain a year falling mostly in winter and early spring. Open lots take full sun and wind. On a big pour such as a barn slab, we break the pour into sections that can be finished before the surface dries, and we cure it well afterward. Large slabs also need control joints spaced correctly so shrinkage cracks fall in the joints rather than across the middle of a stall.

Patios and pool decks for the people

Four out of five occupied homes in Norco are lived in by their owners, and once the barn and fences are sorted, the house side of the lot usually comes next. For that work we pour patios, covered-patio footings and pool decks just like anywhere else in the Inland Empire. The difference is scale: Norco lots leave room for a long patio along the back of the house, a separate fire-pit area and a walkway out to the barn, all in one project.

We give written estimates after walking the property, and we check with the City of Norco about permit needs for your project before work begins.