How long does concrete take to cure before I can use it?

You can walk on new concrete after 24 hours, roll light vehicles on it after 7 days, and allow normal vehicle traffic after 28 days, when the concrete has reached its full design strength.

What's the difference between cement and concrete?

Cement (usually Portland cement) is the binder — about 10–15% of the mix. Concrete is the finished material: cement + water + sand (fine aggregate) + gravel (coarse aggregate). When people say 'a cement driveway' they almost always mean a concrete driveway.

Do I need a permit for concrete work in Los Angeles?

Flatwork replacement in kind on private property generally doesn't require a permit. Foundations, retaining walls over 30 inches, work in the public right-of-way (sidewalks, curbs, driveway approaches), and any structural pour do. We pull all required LADBS and BCA permits as part of the job.

How do you prevent cracks?

Concrete can naturally develop minor hairline shrinkage cracks over time. We help minimize cracking by installing a properly compacted 4-inch Class 2 base where deemed necessary, placing #4 rebar at 16 inches on center each way, installing saw-cut or tooled control joints, and following proper placement and curing practices.

(818) 357-0321

Freshly poured concrete driveway by Moderncore Concrete at a modern Los Angeles hillside home at sunset

Serving Southern California since 2008

Concrete poured right
all across Southern California.

Moderncore Concrete is a licensed, bonded and insured cement contractor working across Greater LA and Southern California — driveways, foundations, patios and retaining walls, poured to spec and finished right.

Lic #: CSLB 1156238
Class: C-8 Concrete
Bond: $25,000

Years pouring in LA

2,400+

Yards placed / year

30+

Cities served

C-8

Licensed concrete

What we pour

Every form of flatwork, footing and finish.

01 / 07

Driveways & Approaches

Standard 4"–6" reinforced concrete slabs on a properly compacted base with #4 rebar at 16" on center each way. Includes saw-cut or tooled control joints, depending on the owner's preference, and your choice of broom, salt, smooth, or washed exposed aggregate finish. Concrete approaches are constructed to meet applicable city requirements. Engineered to perform in Los Angeles' expansive clay soils and withstand daily residential vehicle loads.

Rebar reinforced
Control joints
City compliant

02 / 07

Foundations & Slabs

Footings, stem walls, post-tension pads, ADU slabs and structural pours poured to CBC & LADBS spec. Engineered rebar schedules, moisture barriers, and slump-tested loads when required by the city or project engineer.

LADBS permits
Post-tension
Vapor barrier

03 / 07

Patios & Pool Decks

Broom-finish, salt-finish and stamped hardscape. Cool-deck coatings keep pool surrounds walkable in 95° August heat. Integral color and score lines tailored to your architecture.

Stamped
Salt finish
Cool deck

04 / 07

Retaining Walls

Cantilevered, gravity, and segmental retaining walls for hillside properties in the Palisades, Hollywood Hills, and Altadena. Perforated drain pipe, waterproofing membrane, and geogrid reinforcement are installed as required to meet applicable engineering and local jurisdiction requirements.

Cantilever
Drainage
Geogrid

05 / 07

Sidewalks & Curbs

Public right-of-way replacements permitted through LA Bureau of Contract Administration. ADA-compliant ramps, curb-and-gutter, cross-gutters, and 311 sidewalk repair program work.

BCA permits
ADA ramps
311 program

06 / 07

Decorative Concrete

Board-form walls, exposed aggregate, polished concrete floors, integral pigments and custom form liners. Architectural finishes built for photograph-ready homes.

Board form
Polished
Exposed aggregate

07 / 07

Trenching & Grading

We also provide trenching for electrical, water, gas, sewer, and drainage lines, as well as rough and finish grading to prepare sites for concrete construction and utility installations.

Utility trenching
Rough grading
Finish grading

Recent work

From Malibu to Long Beach.

Slate-pattern stamped concrete patio with charcoal integral color installed by Moderncore Concrete in Sherman Oaks, Los Angeles — Sherman Oaks
Slate-pattern stamped concrete, integral charcoal color, penetrating sealer.
2026

Freshly poured broom-finish concrete driveway with saw-cut control joints at a Culver City home — Culver City
Freshly poured broom-finish concrete driveway, 5" reinforced slab with saw-cut control joints.
2026

Six-foot board-form cantilevered concrete retaining wall on a Hollywood Hills hillside property — Hollywood Hills
6' cantilevered retaining wall, board-form finish, French drain, integrated lighting.
2026

Concrete crew placing a post-tension slab foundation for an ADU in Long Beach, California — Long Beach ADU
Post-tension slab foundation for 800 sq ft ADU, permitted through LADBS.
2026

From the neighborhood

What SoCal homeowners say.

Stamped driveway · 780 sq ft concrete project completed by Moderncore Concrete in Pasadena, CA

"Nazario's crew tore out our cracked driveway and poured a stamped ashlar-slate finish in three days. Clean forms, clean cuts, clean job site. Best contractor we've hired for the house."

Marisol Delgado

Pasadena, CA

Stamped driveway · 780 sq ft

Broom-finish driveway · 620 sq ft concrete project completed by Moderncore Concrete in Glendale, CA

"Tear-out and full driveway replacement in a weekend. Broom finish came out perfectly even, saw cuts are dead straight, and the edges against the garage apron are tight. Curb appeal is a different house now."

Kevin Tran

Glendale, CA

Broom-finish driveway · 620 sq ft

Front walkway · 90 linear ft concrete project completed by Moderncore Concrete in Sherman Oaks, CA

"New front walkway from the sidewalk to our porch. Nazario matched the grade to our existing steps and tooled clean joints down the whole run. Landscaping went back in the same week — looks like it's always been there."

Priya Ramanathan

Sherman Oaks, CA

Front walkway · 90 linear ft

Backyard patio slab · 400 sq ft concrete project completed by Moderncore Concrete in Burbank, CA

"Turned our patchy backyard into a proper 400 sq ft patio. Slab came out flat as a table, edges cut clean against the lawn, and the trowel finish looks sharp even in the harsh afternoon sun. Grill and table went on it the next weekend."

Diego Martinez

Burbank, CA

Backyard patio slab · 400 sq ft

Tiered retaining wall · 62 linear ft concrete project completed by Moderncore Concrete in Studio City, CA

"Our hillside was eroding into the neighbor's yard. Nazario engineered a tiered board-form retaining wall with built-in planters — solid drainage, real rebar, and the wood-grain texture looks like custom architecture. Zero movement after the winter rains."

Amanda Chen

Studio City, CA

Tiered retaining wall · 62 linear ft

Exposed aggregate pool deck · 720 sq ft concrete project completed by Moderncore Concrete in Encino, CA

"Full pool deck redo in exposed aggregate. Old deck was cracked and slippery — the new one drains right, stays cool underfoot, and the sawcut layout follows the pool line perfectly. Kids can run on it barefoot without a scrape."

Robert Alvarez

Encino, CA

Exposed aggregate pool deck · 720 sq ft

Under the surface

What's actually in a cubic yard of concrete.

A residential concrete mix is a precise recipe — and the right strength depends on the job. Get the ratios wrong and you get spalling, scaling, or full-slab failure in five years. We spec every truck, verify slump on delivery, and reject loads that don't hit target. Below is our standard exterior flatwork mix design.

Moderncore Concrete finisher smoothing a wet concrete slab with a steel trowel on a Los Angeles job site

01: Portland cement; 10–15%; The binder. Type II low-alkali for LA's sulfate soils.
02: Coarse aggregate; 41%; 3/4" crushed rock from local Sylmar pits.
03: Fine aggregate; 26%; Washed concrete sand, gradation per ASTM C33.
04: Water; 16%; Municipal potable water, 0.45 water-to-cement ratio.
05: Air & admix; 2–7%; Water reducer + air entrainment for freeze cycles inland.

Design strength

Per job

Spec'd to plans · ASTM C39

Slump target

4 ± 1"

Verified per load · ASTM C143

Method

Six steps from string line to sealed slab.

01
Site walk & quote
We visit on-site within 48 hours, measure, check grade and soil, and email a written line-item quote — no back-of-napkin numbers.
02
Permits & engineering
For work over 30" or in the right-of-way we pull LADBS or BCA permits and coordinate stamped drawings when structural.
03
Demo & sub-grade prep
Existing surfaces removed, sub-grade compacted to 90% relative compaction, base rock imported and screeded to spec.
04
Forming & reinforcement
Forms set to string line, rebar tied on chairs to specified cover, embeds and dowels placed for cold joints.
05
Pour & finish
Mix designed for the job, slump verified on delivery, screeded, bull-floated, edged and finished to spec. Curing compound applied same day.
06
Cut, seal & walk
Control joints cut within 12 hours, penetrating sealer applied at 28 days, and a final walkthrough with photos.

Coverage

Greater LA, coast to foothills.

We dispatch out of a Sylmar yard with three crews running Monday–Saturday. Standard service radius is 45 miles — from Malibu east to Rancho Cucamonga, south to Long Beach and San Pedro, north through the San Fernando Valley and San Gabriel Valley into Santa Clarita.

◆ Downtown LA
◆ Hollywood
◆ Silver Lake
◆ Echo Park
◆ Los Feliz
◆ Pasadena
◆ Altadena
◆ Glendale
◆ Burbank
◆ Studio City
◆ Sherman Oaks
◆ Encino
◆ Woodland Hills
◆ Calabasas
◆ Malibu
◆ Pacific Palisades
◆ Santa Monica
◆ Venice
◆ Culver City
◆ Marina del Rey
◆ Manhattan Beach
◆ Redondo Beach
◆ Torrance
◆ Long Beach
◆ San Pedro
◆ Whittier
◆ Downey
◆ Norwalk
◆ Cerritos
◆ Arcadia

Questions

What homeowners ask before they pour.

Straight answers on cement, concrete, permits, cost and timeline. Have something else? Call, text or email — we return every message within one business day.

How long does concrete take to cure before I can use it?: You can walk on new concrete after 24 hours, roll light vehicles on it after 7 days, and allow normal vehicle traffic after 28 days, when the concrete has reached its full design strength.
What's the difference between cement and concrete?: Cement (usually Portland cement) is the binder — about 10–15% of the mix. Concrete is the finished material: cement + water + sand (fine aggregate) + gravel (coarse aggregate). When people say 'a cement driveway' they almost always mean a concrete driveway.
Do I need a permit for concrete work in Los Angeles?: Flatwork replacement in kind on private property generally doesn't require a permit. Foundations, retaining walls over 30 inches, work in the public right-of-way (sidewalks, curbs, driveway approaches), and any structural pour do. We pull all required LADBS and BCA permits as part of the job.
How do you prevent cracks?: Concrete can naturally develop minor hairline shrinkage cracks over time. We help minimize cracking by installing a properly compacted 4-inch Class 2 base where deemed necessary, placing #4 rebar at 16 inches on center each way, installing saw-cut or tooled control joints, and following proper placement and curing practices.

Free on-site estimate

Book a walk-through this week.

Tell us the address and the scope. We'll be on-site within 48 hours to measure, check grade, and email a written line-item quote before we leave the driveway.

(818) 357-0321 nazariodls@moderncoreconcrete.com

Mon–Sat · 6:30a–7:00p · Sylmar yard

Concrete poured rightall across Southern California.

Get a free quote