Garage floor concrete in Sunnyvale CA - a floor that drains out the door, not in
Cracked, sunken or stained garage floor? We dig out, pack the base and pour a new slab built for your car and any coating later.
- Licensed and insured.
- Free in-person estimates.
- Replies within 1 business day.
What goes into replacing a garage floor in Sunnyvale?
Garage floor concrete in Sunnyvale means taking out the old floor, building a firm, packed base and pouring a new slab with joints in planned places and a slope that sends water out the door, so it sits flat under your car.
Most calls I get start with an old floor that's cracked across the middle, sunk by the door or stained so deep a pressure washer won't touch it. The price moves with the size of the garage, how much old concrete we break out and haul away, whether you want steel in the slab and whether you're planning a coating or a fancier finish. The schedule turns on the weather, what the city needs before we start and the curing time, which is the days new concrete needs to harden before it takes weight. Your written estimate spells out the price for your garage.
How do you know your garage floor needs replacing?
Cracks that keep widening
A crack you can slip a coin into, or one with one side higher than the other, usually means the ground under the slab has moved. The longer it sits, the more water gets in and the more the edges chip, and a raised edge is easy to trip on in a dark garage.
A low spot or sunken corner
Oil and water pooling in one dip usually means the dirt under the slab settled because it was never dug out and packed. Every soaking softens that spot a little more, so the dip tends to get deeper and wider over time.
Water running in, not out
If rain or a car wash leaves water sitting in the garage or running toward the house wall, the floor or the driveway is pitched the wrong way. Waiting means wet boxes, rusty tools and damp drywall where the garage meets the house.
How we build garage floor concrete that lasts
We break out the old slab, dig down past it to firm ground, then bring in rock and pack it hard, because the subgrade, the dirt and rock the slab sits on, decides whether your floor stays flat. If you want a coating later, tell us before the pour so we can plan what goes under the slab. Before we set forms I check the driveway slope at the door so water heads out of the garage and not in. We pour early in the day so the top doesn't bake in the afternoon sun, and we cut control joints, shallow grooves that give the slab a straight line to crack along, before it can pick its own spot. On the city crew I learned that the base is the first thing people want to cut and the last thing you can fix, so if the budget's tight, I'd spend it under the slab before I'd spend it on a fancy finish.
A new garage floor often ties into the work around it. If you want color, a stain or a pattern on the new slab, our decorative concrete work can go on top, and where the driveway is cut into a slope, concrete retaining walls hold the soil back so it doesn't slump toward the garage.
Broom finish for a working garage
A broom finish is a light texture dragged across the wet concrete so shoes and tires grip when the floor's wet. It suits you if you park, wash the car or work out there and don't plan to coat the floor.
Smooth finish planned for a coating
A smooth troweled top takes a coating better, and we plan what goes under the slab ahead of time. It suits you if you want a sealed, easy-to-sweep floor now or in a few years.
Get a written estimate for your new garage floor
Send the form and we'll get back to you within one business day to set a time. I come out, look at your garage and write up a free estimate, with no obligation to go ahead.
- Based in
- Sunnyvale, CA 94087
- Hours
- Mon–Fri: 6 AM–11 PM, Sat–Sun: 7 AM–11 PM
What happens after you call us about your garage floor?
Here's how a garage floor job runs from your first call to the final walk-through, and who you'll be dealing with at each step.
Call or send us a message
Ring (669) 348-0343 or use the form, and tell us roughly how big the garage is, what shape the old floor is in and whether a coating's on your mind. That tells me what to look for when I come out.
I visit and write it up
I come out myself, look at the floor and the driveway at the door, ask how you use the garage and talk through your choices. You get a written estimate with the price laid out, and we check what the city asks for before anything goes on the schedule.
Our crew pours the floor
Our own crew breaks out the old slab, preps the base and pours, and I'm on site checking it as it goes. Plan on parking outside while the slab cures, and we'll tell you when it's ready for your car.
Walk the finished floor together
We walk the new floor with you and point out where the joints are and why. Then we go over how to look after it, from when to drive in to keeping it clean.
Why Sunnyvale homeowners call Vertex Sunnyvale Concrete for garage floors
I write your estimate myself
I come out to look at your garage and write the estimate, and I'm on site checking our own crew as the work goes. The person who quoted your job is the one watching the base go in and the joints get cut.
Pouring in Sunnyvale since 2013
I started this business in Sunnyvale in 2013 after years on a city crew pouring sidewalks and curbs and fixing what tree roots and time had broken. That crew taught me a slab is only as good as what's under it, and we still build floors that way.
Licensed and insured in California
California's contractor license board licenses concrete contractors to form, pour, place and finish flat work like a garage floor, and we're licensed and insured. Our work is backed by our satisfaction guarantee.
On a garage floor, the base and the slope at the door count for more than anything you see on top. Tell us about your garage and I'll come take a look.
Garage floor permits and tear-out hauling in Sunnyvale
The city decides whether your new garage floor needs a permit, and Sunnyvale's Permit Center says every project has its own requirements, so a call there sorts out the process, the documents and whether plans need review. Before we schedule anything we check with the city, and if your job calls for a permit, we pull it, handle the paperwork and meet the inspector on site. The old slab has to go somewhere too, and in Sunnyvale a contractor can use the city's franchised hauler, haul it themselves or hire another hauling business. The city encourages sorting debris into bins by type, and a garage tear-out is mostly broken concrete, so we keep it in its own bin.
Plenty of the garages we see here are on older homes, often packed with storage or set up as a gym or a shop, so a floor job starts with emptying it and finding somewhere to park for a while. We talk that through at the estimate so nobody's surprised on pour day, and we plan the same way on jobs in Cupertino and Mountain View.
Questions about garage floor concrete in Sunnyvale
How much does a new garage floor slab cost in Sunnyvale?
In the Bay Area, installing a concrete slab usually runs about $9 to $18 per square foot, and that figure leaves out staining or stamping, so decorative finishes add to it. Reinforced concrete, with rebar or steel bars set inside to hold the slab together, costs more per square foot than plain, so ask which one a quote covers. Your written estimate spells out what's included for your garage.
How long before I can walk and park on a new garage floor?
You can usually walk on a new slab within 48 hours, and one Bay Area guide suggests waiting a week before heavier loads like your car, with the concrete taking about a month to fully cure. Trade guidance says to start curing as soon as possible with a curing compound or damp burlap and keep the surface moist for at least 3 days. Plan to park in the driveway or on the street for that first week.
Will my new garage floor crack?
It may get some cracks, because all concrete tends to crack and no slab can be made completely crack-free. The joints we cut take up the movement that comes with heat and moisture, so cracks run along those grooves instead of wandering across the floor, and I'll show you where they'll go before we pour.
Do I need anything under the slab if I want a garage floor coating?
Usually yes, because one trade guide says slabs that get a coating or covering need a vapor barrier or retarder underneath to limit moisture coming up from the soil. It has to go down before the concrete does, so bring up a coating at the estimate even if it's a few years off.
What causes water to run into my garage when it rains?
Usually it's the driveway, because one code guide notes that a floor sloped toward the door only drains if the apron, the strip of driveway right outside the door, keeps sloping away from the house. If the driveway pitches back toward the garage, water comes right in, which is the slope we check before a new floor goes in.
How do I get my garage ready for a new concrete floor?
Empty it completely, shelves and all, because our crew needs the whole floor open to break out the old slab. Line up a place to park for about that first week after the pour, and settle on a coating before we start so it's part of the plan.
Related concrete work for your garage and driveway
Decorative concrete
If a plain gray floor feels too bare, color, stain or a pattern can make a garage that doubles as a gym or shop look finished.
Concrete retaining walls
When your driveway climbs a slope to the garage, a poured wall can hold the hillside in place so soil and runoff stay off the new slab.
Cities where we pour garage floors
Vertex Sunnyvale Concrete is based in Sunnyvale, CA, and works across it and the cities around it. Twelve cities have their own page here, including Santa Clara and Palo Alto, and they aren't the only places we go.
Book a look at your garage floor
Have the garage size, the state of the old floor and any coating plans handy when you call (669) 348-0343 or fill out the form, so the first visit gets you a clear picture.