Driveways, sidewalks & flatwork
Concrete driveways,
sidewalks and flatwork in
Ventura and Los Angeles County
Private driveways, city sidewalks and commercial aprons, including the work that crosses into the public right-of-way.
What this covers
Cast-in-place concrete driveways, sidewalks, aprons and flatwork, formed and placed to grade. The scope includes curb, gutter and driveway approaches inside the public right-of-way, where a city encroachment permit and an approved traffic control plan are required before any concrete is removed.
EMAE & Sons Inc works across Ventura, Los Angeles and Orange County. Where a frontage runs from a private driveway across the property line into the public way, a single license carrying both Class A General Engineering and Class B General Building means one contractor, one permit holder and one contract for the whole of it.
- CSLB license
- #1107216 — Class A, B, C-36
- Office
- Thousand Oaks, CA 91360
- Local service area
- Thousand Oaks · Newbury Park · Westlake Village · Agoura Hills
- Recent flatwork
- West Hollywood · Brentwood · Costa Mesa
What we build
Residential driveways and parking pads
Replacement of a failed driveway, new construction, and the apron where the drive meets the garage slab.
Sidewalks and walkways
New and replacement panels formed to city grade, including tree wells where street trees sit inside the walk.
Commercial aprons and lot concrete
Aprons at roll-up and loading doors, graded from the door threshold out to the existing lot surface.
Curb, gutter and driveway approaches
Work inside the public right-of-way, under a city encroachment permit and an approved traffic control plan.
Flatwork tied into structural scope
Slabs, footings and wall bases placed as part of a foundation or retaining wall package rather than as a separate trade.
Trench and surface reinstatement
Reinstatement of a frontage after a utility or stormwater line has crossed it, in concrete to the existing grade.
Should a cracked driveway be repaired or replaced?
The answer depends on whether the concrete failed or the ground beneath it moved. Those are not the same repair.
Cracking with no movement
Fine cracking that appears in the first year, with both sides of the crack still level, is usually shrinkage. The slab is intact. This is a repair, not a replacement.
Cracking with a step in it
Where one side of a crack sits higher than the other, the slab has been moved. Replacing the concrete without finding out what moved it produces the same crack in the same place.
Sinking at the garage
A driveway that drops where it meets the garage is often sitting on fill placed against the foundation when the house was built, and still consolidating. The slab is the symptom. The subgrade and the water reaching it are the job.
EMAE & Sons examines the subgrade and the drainage path before quoting a slab. Where the cause is structural rather than surface, it is identified in the quote, including where doing so enlarges the scope beyond the work that was asked for.
Curb, gutter and driveway approaches, under permit
Where a driveway meets the street, the work crosses out of private property and into the public right-of-way. From that line onward the city sets the grade, the detail and the inspection, and the work requires its authorization first.
The encroachment permit
A city's authorization to work within the right-of-way, issued by its engineering or public works department. EMAE & Sons applies for it as the licensed contractor rather than leaving it with the property owner.
The traffic control plan
Required where a lane, a parking stall or a walkway is taken out of service. It sets the signage, the cone taper and the pedestrian route, and the permitted work hours are posted on the frontage.
Inspection and close-out
Forms are set to the city's grade and the finished work is left for city inspection. The surface along the gutter line is restored to close the job out.
A sidewalk replacement in West Hollywood covered all of it: demolition inside the right-of-way, stormwater and irrigation sleeves, new flatwork placed to city grade, and a pedestrian route held open every day the walk was closed. See how this project ran →
How the work is placed
Subgrade
Prepared and compacted before any form goes in. On a replacement this is where a failed slab is diagnosed rather than repeated.
Formwork
Staked to grade along the full length of the run, with every steel stake capped, and adjacent walls and finishes sheeted before concrete arrives.
Placement and finish
Concrete placed, hand floated and steel troweled. Broom finish where the surface will carry vehicle traffic.
Joints
Control joints tooled while the slab is still plastic, on a grid set to the pour rather than added afterwards.
Close-out
Forms struck, the surrounding surface reinstated and the area washed down before the crew leaves.
Mix design, slab thickness and reinforcement are set per job. Inside the right-of-way they follow the city's standard detail; on private work they follow the engineer's drawing where there is one. EMAE & Sons does not publish typical values, because the figure that matters is the one specified for your job.
Completed flatwork projects
Each of these is a completed job in this scope, photographed on site while the work ran, and each carries a record of its own. They include frontages rebuilt inside a public right-of-way and commercial concrete placed and finished by EMAE & Sons crews.
Who this is for
Work we are the right contractor for
- Owners replacing a driveway or frontage that has failed rather than worn
- Architects and general contractors needing flatwork tied into a structural scope
- Property managers and commercial owners with aprons, loading areas and lot concrete
- Any frontage that crosses into the public right-of-way and requires a city encroachment permit
What we do not take on
- Decorative finishes — stamped concrete, integral color, exposed aggregate
- Pavers, hardscape design and landscape construction
- Sealing or filling a crack without establishing what moved the slab
EMAE & Sons Inc works on commercial and residential property with the same crews and the same license. The Costa Mesa aprons are a commercial job and the West Hollywood frontage is a private residence; the scope of work is the same on both.
Questions about driveways and flatwork
Does EMAE & Sons pull the permit for work in the public right-of-way?
Yes. EMAE & Sons Inc holds Class A General Engineering on California license #1107216, pulls the city encroachment permit itself, prepares the traffic control plan where a lane or walkway has to be closed, and holds the closure through to city inspection. On a West Hollywood frontage the sidewalk stayed closed and pedestrian traffic was routed for the duration of the work.
How soon can a new concrete driveway be driven on?
A slab placed by EMAE & Sons Inc will normally carry foot traffic within 24 to 48 hours and vehicle traffic after about seven days, with concrete continuing to gain strength to 28 days. Cold or wet weather extends all three. We give the vehicle figure per pour rather than as a rule, because it depends on the mix and on the weather that week.
Does EMAE & Sons do stamped or decorative concrete?
No. EMAE & Sons Inc places structural and functional flatwork — driveways, sidewalks, aprons, curb and gutter — and does not offer stamped concrete, integral color, exposed aggregate or hardscape design. Where a project needs a decorative finish, that scope belongs with a specialist and we will say so rather than take it on.
The city sent a notice about the sidewalk in front of my house. What does the work involve?
A sidewalk in front of a house sits in the public right-of-way, so EMAE & Sons Inc pulls a city encroachment permit before any concrete is removed, forms the new panels to the city's grade, and leaves the work for city inspection. A panel that has lifted is normally replaced rather than patched, because something underneath it has moved and a patch leaves that in place.
Related services
Send us photographs and an address
Photographs of the frontage, the address, and whether the work crosses the sidewalk. That is enough for EMAE & Sons to tell you whether it needs a city permit and what has to be established before it can be priced.