Concrete floor installation in Santa Fe NM - a floor ready for the finish you want

Probably a little, and that's normal for concrete. The industry's guide to slabs on the ground says some cracking and curling, where the edges lift slightly, is expected on every floor even with good design and proper work, and a few cracks aren't a sign of bad work on their own. I go over that before we start, and the control joints we cut give those cracks a planned place to go. Fresh concrete can also crack soon after it's placed when surface water dries off too fast, mostly in hot weather, and that kind is largely preventable, so ask us what we'll do about it on your pour.

A ground and sealed finish wears well, but only on a slab that stays dry. One coatings maker says grinding and sealing makes a floor resist scuffs, chemicals and stains, last longer and stop dusting, the fine powder bare concrete sheds, but the finish isn't moisture resistant, and moisture in the slab can weaken its grip early or make it blister later. That's why we talk through where water could come from before you pick a finish, and before the pour if we can.

At least three days, starting right after finishing and going as long as possible, with the concrete kept fully wet the whole time. That's the guidance from a Michigan concrete trade group, which also keeps curing concrete between 50 and 100°F, so we pick pour day around the temperature and protect the fresh floor. Plan those curing days into your schedule after the pour.

Inside city limits, the city's Land Use Department issues permits for most construction, and it's the office to ask about a concrete floor, since its permit list names driveways but not floors. Its list of work that needs no permit names things like carpeting and tiling. Outside the cities of Santa Fe, Edgewood and Española, Santa Fe County requires a development permit for all building and development, grading included, except on Pueblo lands, and in the city a homeowner doing their own work signs an affidavit taking on the permit responsibilities. We work across Santa Fe and the cities around it, so I check which office covers your address, and we handle the paperwork when the job needs a permit.

Your price comes from your room, so the real number is the one in your written estimate. Size and slab thickness set the starting point, and it goes up with an old slab to cut out, soft ground to dig out and replace, a spot the truck can't reach, or a ground and sealed finish instead of a plain one. Keeping the shape simple and the access easy are the usual ways to bring it down, but the base is the last place I'd cut, because nobody sees it on day one and everybody sees it when it settles.

Usually the ground under it, not the concrete. A base that was raked level instead of dug out and packed keeps settling after the pour, and water running under the slab softens what it sits on. That's why I spend most of an estimate visit on what's under the room and where the water goes.