SLABS & PADS · HOUSTON, TX · GARAGE · SHOP · SHED
Need a new slab poured?
That's us.
One thing to clear up first, because search engines mix the two: we pour new concrete slabs. If your existing foundation is cracking or sinking, you'll want a foundation repair company, which is a different trade with different licensing, and we're glad to point you in the right direction. Our foundations page explains how to tell the difference and what to look for in a repair outfit.
Still here? Good: you're building something. This page covers the slab under it.
Quote my slabTHE BUILDING DECIDES THE SLAB
Thickness follows what's on top
A slab isn't one product. A shed floor and a workshop with a vehicle lift carry loads that differ by tons, and the concrete under them should differ to match. Here's how we spec it by use, always on the same base prep and steel our published spec requires.
| What you're building | The slab it needs | What matters most |
|---|---|---|
| Shed or storage building | 4-inch slab, the residential standard | A level, compacted base and elevations that keep runoff out of the doorway. |
| Garage or carport | 4 inches with steel on chairs; thickened edges where walls land | Turndown edges under the wall lines and anchor bolts set to the framing plan. |
| Workshop with heavy equipment | Thicker slab where the loads demand it | Point loads. A vehicle lift or big machine concentrates weight on a few square inches, so those spots get designed, not guessed. |
| Room addition | An engineered foundation, not just a slab | Tied to your existing house per an engineer's detail, with floor elevations matched. See new-construction foundations. |
| Equipment & utility pads | Sized and thickened to the unit | Generator, AC, and well-house pads get the same base prep and care as our biggest pours. |
Not sure where your project lands? Tell us what's going on the slab and we'll gladly help you figure out the right spec.
TWO DETAILS THAT MAKE OR BREAK A BUILDING SLAB
Turndown edges and anchor bolts, explained
Turndown edges
Where a wall lands on a slab, the slab has to act like a footing. A turndown edge is the answer: the slab thickens at the perimeter, poured as one piece with the floor, so wall loads bear on deep concrete instead of a four-inch feather edge.
Skip it and the building still goes up. Then the edge cracks and drops under the wall's weight, and there's no fixing it without surgery. If your slab is carrying walls, the turndown is in the spec from day one.
Anchor bolts
Anchor bolts are set into the wet concrete on your building's layout, so the sill plates or column bases bolt straight down when framing starts. Placement is measured off the plan before the truck arrives, because a bolt an inch off its mark is a problem the framer inherits.
Building from a kit? Metal building and shed kits come with a bolt pattern drawing. Send it with your quote request and we set to it exactly.
Rough-ins and blockouts
Anything that has to come up through the slab (a drain, a water line, electrical conduit to a workbench wall) goes in before the pour. We coordinate sleeves and blockouts with your plumber or electrician, because coring through a finished slab is the expensive way to remember a pipe.
Flat, square, and to elevation
A building slab gets checked against the thing being built on it: square corners for the framer, a surface flat enough for the plate lines, and a finish floor height that works with your driveway or the yard's drainage. We shoot it, then we pour it.
PAPERWORK, HANDLED EARLY
Does your slab need a permit?
It depends on where you live and what you're building. Greater Houston is a patchwork of jurisdictions: city limits and unincorporated county land run on different rulebooks, and the size and use of the structure usually decides what's required. Many planned communities add their own layer: architectural approval before any concrete work starts.
We're happy to handle this part for you. Permit and HOA legwork is a service we offer for a fee, priced up front on your quote: we check what your specific address requires, explain it plainly, and build the answer into the schedule before the job starts, so the paperwork never catches anyone by surprise.
What we check before we bid
- Which jurisdiction your address actually falls under
- Whether the structure's size or use triggers a permit
- HOA or architectural committee approval requirements
- Setback lines and easements the slab has to respect
WHEN A SLAB BECOMES A FOUNDATION
Building something bigger?
There's a line where a slab stops being a slab. If the structure has living space, ties into your house, or carries a full building designed around a sealed engineer's plan, that's foundation work: deeper beams, engineered steel, inspections at set points.
We pour those too, and the discipline doesn't change: the plan gets followed exactly, and the work gets photographed before concrete covers it. What changes is that an engineer designs the section and we build to it. If your project is on that side of the line, start on the foundations page. It walks through how the engineer, the inspections, and our crew fit together.
New-construction foundationsWhich side of the line is your project?
- Slab work: this page
- Shed floors, garage and carport slabs, shop floors, equipment pads. We spec it to our published standard.
- Foundation work: engineered
- Room additions, garages with living space above, full shop buildings, new homes. An engineer designs it; we pour to the plan.
ASKED BEFORE MOST POURS
Slab questions, answered
How thick does a garage or shed slab need to be?
Four inches is the residential standard: that covers shed floors, and garage slabs add steel on chairs plus thickened edges where the walls land. A workshop with heavy equipment gets a thicker slab where the loads demand it. Tell us what's going on the slab and we'll gladly help you figure out the right spec.
What's a turndown edge, and does my slab need one?
Where a wall lands on a slab, the slab has to act like a footing. A turndown edge thickens the perimeter, poured as one piece with the floor, so wall loads bear on deep concrete instead of a four-inch feather edge. If your slab is carrying walls, the turndown is in the spec from day one.
Can you set anchor bolts for a metal building or shed kit?
Happily. Kits come with a bolt pattern drawing, and if you send it with your quote request we set to your pattern, measured off the plan before the truck arrives. The bolts go into the wet concrete on your building's layout, measured off the plan before the truck arrives, so the sill plates bolt straight down when framing starts.
Will my slab need a permit?
It depends on where you live and what you're building: greater Houston is a patchwork of jurisdictions, and many planned communities add their own architectural approval on top. We're happy to handle this part. Permit and HOA legwork is a service we offer for a fee, priced up front on your quote and built into the schedule.
What about a drain or electrical line that comes up through the slab?
It goes in before the pour. We coordinate sleeves and blockouts with your plumber or electrician so drains, water lines, and conduit are in place when the concrete arrives, because coring through a finished slab is the expensive way to remember a pipe.
Is a room addition just a bigger slab?
Not quite. An addition is an engineered foundation, tied to your existing house per an engineer's detail with floor elevations matched, and it comes with inspections at set points. We pour those too. Our foundations page walks through how the engineer, the inspections, and our crew fit together.
If your project is on the engineered side of the line, our foundations page is the place to start.
NO PRESSURE · STRAIGHT ANSWERS · HAPPY TO HELP
Tell us what's going on the slab
The building decides the slab. Send whatever you have (a kit spec sheet, a sketch on paper, or just photos of the spot) and we'll spec the pour to match.