Slab foundation building in Yakima WA - a flat, solid base and floor for your home
Planning a slab-on-grade house, garage or shop? We dig out and pack the ground first, so your floor has something solid under it.
- Licensed and fully insured.
- Free in-person estimates.
- We respond within 1 business day.
What goes into building a slab foundation in Yakima?
Slab foundation building in Yakima, WA means pouring concrete right on prepared ground so the slab serves as both the foundation and the first floor of your house, garage or shop.
Most people who call about a slab already have plans, or are close, and want to know what it'll cost and when the framers can start. The price mostly comes down to the slab's size, how much digging and packing the ground needs, the steel that goes inside and how easily a concrete truck can reach the spot. The schedule turns on the permit, the weather and the wait while fresh concrete gains strength. Your written estimate spells out the mix, the prep and what's included, so you can see where the money goes before you decide.
When does a slab foundation make sense for your build?
Plans that say slab-on-grade
If your drawings show the floor sitting right on the ground with no crawlspace, the slab is your foundation and your first floor, so it gets planned before anything else. Leave the concrete crew until late and framing usually waits, because nobody builds until the slab is down and hard.
A garage or shop going up
A detached garage, a shop or an addition usually needs its own slab, and it has to carry vehicles, tools and walls. Pouring a thin pad on raked dirt to save money is how you end up with a floor that sinks under the weight later.
An old slab sinking or cracking
If an old slab has dropped at one corner, tilted toward the house or opened gaps along the walls, the ground under it usually wasn't dug out and packed. Water finds those gaps and the settling keeps going, so the longer it sits, the more there is to tear out.
How we build a slab foundation
I go over your plans before we bid and explain what normal cracking looks like on a slab, and we talk early about when it'll be ready for foot traffic and when it can take heavier work, so nobody's surprised later. On the job, our crew digs out the soft topsoil and packs the subgrade, the ground the slab sits on, in layers, because a base that's only raked level settles right along with the dirt. We check where the water runs so the slab sheds it away from the house instead of toward it. Then we build the forms and set rebar, the steel inside that holds the concrete together if it cracks. We pour early in the day, since midday heat leaves a weak, dusty top, and we cut control joints, shallow grooves that give the slab a planned place to crack, before it hardens too far. After that the slab cures, which is the slow hardening that gives concrete its strength. If the budget gets tight, I'd rather trim something you can see than cut the base, because nobody sees the base on day one and nobody can fix it once a house is sitting on it.
Some plans don't suit a slab, like a house with a crawlspace or basement, and that's where our foundation installation work comes in. For small businesses and builders putting up a shop or office, we also handle concrete parking lot building, so the building slab and the lot around it can be planned together.
Slab for a new house
This suits a homeowner or builder putting up a slab-on-grade home, where the slab is the whole foundation and the finished floor. It takes the most planning up front, because plumbing, edges and drainage all have to be right before the pour.
Slab for a garage, shop or addition
This suits anyone adding a detached garage, a shop or a room off the house that needs its own floor. The prep is the same as a house slab, sized to what's going to sit on it, whether that's a truck, a workbench or new walls.
Get a written estimate for your slab foundation
We respond within 1 business day to set up a visit. I come out myself, measure and look over the site, and your written estimate is free and obligation-free.
Call (509) 452-5002- Based in
- Yakima, WA 98901
- Hours
- Mon–Fri: 6 AM–10 PM, Sat–Sun: 8 AM–10 PM
What happens after you call about a slab foundation in Yakima?
Here's how a slab job runs from your first call to the cleanup, and who you'll be dealing with at each step along the way.
Call or send a message
Call (509) 452-5002 or use the form, and we'll set a time for me to come out to the site. Weekday mornings, evenings and weekends can all work.
I measure and write it up
I measure, look over the ground and the drainage, and ask how you'll use the slab. You get a written estimate with the mix, the prep and what's included spelled out, so you know what you're paying for.
We prep, form and pour
Once you say go, we sort out the permit side, then our crew digs out, packs the base and builds the forms. I'm on site for the pour.
Cleanup and the curing wait
I stay through the cleanup, and the slab is left alone to cure before any heavy work goes on it. Your framers or builder can plan around that wait from the start.
Why Yakima homeowners call United Yakima Concrete for slab foundations
The owner writes your estimate
I come out myself to look at the job and write the estimate, and I'm on site for the pours. The person who promised you a packed base is the one standing there when the concrete goes in.
Pouring in the valley since 2013
I learned concrete on a flatwork crew here in the valley, pouring driveways, patios and walks, before starting this business in 2013. Thirteen years of pouring on this ground means I know what the dirt under your slab is likely to do.
Licensed and insured for every job
We're licensed and fully insured, so you're not carrying the risk if something goes wrong on your property. Our work is also backed by our satisfaction guarantee.
If you've got plans in hand, send them over through our contact page or call (509) 452-5002, and I'll come take a look at the site.
Slab foundations, permits and frost in Yakima
Inside Yakima, you apply to the city for a building permit with construction plans that include a site plan, a floor plan and the state energy code worksheets. A project that adds more than 5,000 square feet of new hard surface also needs a stormwater permit from the city, and any work in the right of way, the public strip along the street, needs its own permit. Some addresses fall under the city and some under Yakima County, so I check which office covers yours and what it asks for on your job. We handle the permit paperwork for our part of the work and tell you plainly where things stand before we set a pour date. If you have your own questions for the city, its codes line is (509) 575-6126.
The city's design criteria put the frost depth, how deep the ground is expected to freeze, at 24 inches below grade, so we plan the slab's edges around it. The city also points owners to the current flood map to check a site for flood hazards, and that's worth doing before your plans are final. Winters freeze the ground on our jobs in Selah and Ellensburg too, so frost is part of every foundation conversation we have there.
Questions about slab foundations in Yakima
Call (509) 452-5002A local cost guide puts a reinforced concrete slab in Yakima, without staining or stamping, at about $7 to $12 per square foot. That's the going rate in the area, not our price, and an unreinforced pad costs somewhat less per square foot than a reinforced slab. For your own number, I'll come out and write you an estimate.
Some cracking is likely, because even with the best design and proper construction, a little cracking and curling, where the edges lift slightly as the slab dries, is normal on every slab. A crack doesn't necessarily mean poor work. Ask any contractor you're talking to what cracking to expect before they pour.
A slab should be walkable within 48 hours, but waiting a week before heavier loads go on it is the safe course. Concrete takes about a month, 28 to 30 days, to fully cure, so plan heavy work for after that first week.
Look them up in the state Department of Labor & Industries' Verify a Contractor, Tradesperson, or Business tool before you hire. Washington requires every construction contractor to register with L&I, and state law requires them to be bonded and insured.
On a flatter lot, a frost-protected shallow foundation is worth asking about, because insulation placed around the building raises the soil temperature so the foundation can sit shallower. A national builder's guide says it suits slab-on-grade homes on sites with moderate to low slopes, and it can go in with one placement of concrete, which speeds up construction. Bring it up when I look at your plans and we'll talk through whether it fits.
Have the site address, the size of the slab and any site plan or drawings ready when you call (509) 452-5002 or fill out the form. That way I'm looking at the right spot and the right plans when I come out.
Other foundation and concrete work we do
Foundation installation
If your plans call for a crawlspace or basement instead of a slab, this is the foundation work that carries the house on walls and footings.
Concrete parking lot building
Putting up a shop or office on a new slab? Customers will need somewhere to park, and a concrete lot stands up to cars and delivery trucks.
Service areas for slab foundations around Yakima
United Yakima Concrete is based in Yakima, WA, and we build slab foundations in the cities around it, from Ellensburg down to Grandview. The 8 cities below each have their own page, and they aren't the only places we work.
Yakima, WA
Book a site visit for your slab
The slab comes before everything else on your build, so getting it on the calendar early keeps the rest of your schedule from waiting on it.