Concrete Contractor in Montecito, CA - Driveways and Patios That Shed Water
Premier Santa Barbara Concrete builds driveways, patios, walks, retaining walls and footings for homes in Montecito, CA. We're based in nearby Santa Barbara, and we set every slab on packed ground, graded so water runs away from the house.
- Fully licensed and insured.
- Free in-person estimates.
- We reply within 1 business day.
Montecito homes, hillsides and the concrete around them
Montecito sits on the south coast right next door to Santa Barbara, where we're based, so our crew is here often. As a concrete contractor in Santa Barbara, CA, we're mostly asked to do residential work in Montecito, such as driveways that climb up from the road, patios and pool decks behind the house, garden walks, steps and the walls that hold back a slope. Many of the houses are older, on big lots with mature trees, and the concrete around them has usually been there a long time.
Up the hillside, the ground on many lots drops away from the house in at least one direction, and closer to the coast and over toward Carpinteria the lots flatten out. Either way, the ground decides more of the job than the finish does, because wherever the slope sends the water is where a slab will settle or pool if nobody planned for it.
Concrete services we offer in Montecito
Concrete driveway building
Many Montecito drives climb from the road, so we dig out and pack the base and set the slope to send rain away from the garage.
Concrete patio construction
A patio off the back of an older house often needs the old slab broken out and the ground reworked so the new one falls away from the doors.
Stamped concrete services
Stamped concrete gives a patio or walk the look of stone or tile to match an older home, poured over the same packed base as plain concrete.
Concrete sidewalk building
Walks on tree-filled lots get lifted by roots, so we take out the bad sections and pour new ones flat, with joints where we want cracks to go.
Garage floor concrete
A cracked or sunken garage floor gets broken out and replaced on a packed base, sloped toward the door so water off a wet car runs out.
Decorative concrete
Colored, exposed-stone or sandblasted finishes let a courtyard or entry match the plaster, tile and stone already on the house, which matters on the older homes here.
Concrete retaining walls
On sloped lots here, a concrete wall holds back a hillside or terraced bed, with a footing and drainage behind it so water can drain out.
Concrete floor installation
Interior concrete floors suit guest houses, studios and workshops on larger lots, and we set the base and vapor barrier first to keep ground moisture down.
Concrete pool decks
A pool deck here stays wet, so we give it a textured finish for footing and slope it to carry splash water away from the house.
Concrete steps construction
Hillside homes here often have steps between the drive, the garden and the front door, and we form each step to the same height.
Slab foundation building
For a guest house, garage or addition, we pack the ground and tie rebar, the steel that holds the slab together, as the plans show before we pour.
Foundation installation
New foundations on sloped ground often need stepped footings and walls, and we form them to the engineer's plans so the house sits level on the hill.
Concrete parking lot building
Shared drives, guest parking and small commercial lots take steady car and delivery traffic, so they get a thicker slab, a deeper packed base and slope toward drains.
Concrete footings
Footings carry garden walls, gates, columns and decks, so we dig them to the depth the plans call for and clean loose dirt out of the bottom.
Foundation raising
When part of an older house has settled, raising the foundation can bring floors back toward level, and I'll tell you first what the ground shows.
Concrete cutting
We saw-cut old slabs for new drain lines, doorways or a section that's sunk, so the rest of the drive or patio can stay.
Get a free on-site estimate for your Montecito concrete job
We reply within one business day. Then I come out to measure and look at the ground, and you get a written estimate that spells out what's in it, with no obligation.
(805) 869-0160- Based in
- Santa Barbara, CA 93101
- Hours
- Mon–Fri: 6 AM–10 PM, Sat–Sun: 8 AM–10 PM
Working in Montecito: county permits and the state license
Montecito is unincorporated, which means it has no city government of its own, so permits for work here come from the County of Santa Barbara through its Building & Safety Division. Before we set a date, we check with the county on what your job needs, and if it needs a permit we pull it or walk you through it and plan the schedule around review and inspections, because that review can decide the start date more than the work itself. The state has its own rule about who can do the job. The Contractors State License Board requires a license when a project needs a building permit, uses any additional workers, or totals $1,000 or more in labor and materials, so it's worth asking any contractor for theirs. We're fully licensed and insured.
Many roads up the hill are narrow and winding, and a steep drive decides how close the concrete truck can get to the forms, so on some jobs we pump the concrete or wheel it in. That's one of the things that moves the price here, along with the size of the slab, how much old concrete comes out, how much digging and packing the base needs, whether the slope calls for a wall or steps, and the finish you choose. The schedule turns on any county review, on getting the site ready, and on curing, the days new concrete needs to harden before it carries weight. I price and plan Montecito jobs the same way I do in Santa Ynez and Goleta, and the written estimate is where you'll see your own figure.
Why Montecito driveways and patios need careful ground work
On a sloped lot, rain runs downhill across the driveway and patio, and a slab that wasn't graded to shed it will pool at the doors or wash out the dirt underneath until a corner sinks. The mudslides that followed the late-2017 fires destroyed over 100 homes in Montecito, and people here still think hard about where water goes. We can't change what a hillside does in a storm, but we can check how water crosses your yard before we form anything, set the slab to fall away from the house, and dig out and pack the subgrade, the ground the slab sits on, so there's less loose fill for water to carry off.
Many houses here are older, and the concrete around them often went in over dirt that was only raked level, with big trees growing up beside it. Roots lift walks and patio edges, and settled slabs end up tipping toward the house. When we replace them, we break out the damaged sections, cut back roots where it's safe for the tree, and pour on a base that's been dug out and packed.
How a concrete job goes when you call us in Montecito
Here's how a job runs from your first call to the walk-through, so you know who you'll talk to and what you'll have in hand at each point.
Call or send us the form
Call (805) 869-0160 or fill out the form with a few lines about the job, and we'll set a time for me to come out. It helps if you're home for the visit, because I'll want to hear how you plan to use the concrete.
I measure and check the ground
I measure, look at the ground and how water moves across it, and ask what the slab needs to carry. Then I send a written estimate that spells out what's in it, so you can see where the money goes before you decide anything.
We sort out permits and prep
If the job needs a permit, we get it through the county's review first and plan around its inspections. Then our crew digs out, packs the base and sets the forms, with me on site.
Pour, cure and walk through
We pour, finish and cut the joints, and I'll tell you when the slab is ready for feet and when it's ready for cars. Once it's done, I walk the finished work with you.
Questions about concrete work in Montecito
Does a concrete retaining wall need a permit in Montecito?
A retaining wall 4 feet tall or less, measured from the bottom of the footing to the top of the wall, is on the county's list of work exempt from a building permit, as long as it doesn't hold up an added load such as a driveway, a building or a slope above it. On hillside lots many walls do carry that kind of load, so I measure the wall and look at what's above it during the estimate, and we confirm with the county before we schedule anything.
What building code does Santa Barbara County use for concrete work in Montecito?
The county has adopted the 2025 California Building Code with local amendments of its own, and that's the code that applies to building work in Montecito. When a job has a permit, the inspections are made against it, and we build footings and foundations the way the plans show.
Why does concrete work cost more on a hillside lot in Montecito?
Slope, access and old concrete are usually what raise the price on a Montecito hillside, because each one adds digging, forming or hauling before any new concrete goes down. A steep site may also need a retaining wall or steps to hold the grade. If the budget's tight, I'd rather you choose a plainer finish than a thinner base, because the base is hidden on day one and it's the part you can't fix later without tearing the slab out.
Will my new concrete driveway crack like the old one in Montecito?
It may crack, because all concrete shrinks as it hardens, but the goal is a slab that cracks along lines we picked and stays flat. We cut control joints, shallow grooves that give a crack a straight line to follow, while the concrete is still fresh, and we pour on a dug-out, packed base so the slab has firm ground under it.
What is the best way to keep water off a concrete patio on a sloped Montecito lot?
Slope the patio away from the house and catch the water coming from uphill with a drain or channel along the upper edge, so runoff doesn't cross the slab. If that means a French drain, a gravel trench with a pipe that carries water away, the county requires a grading permit when it's more than 2 feet wide or 5 feet deep or moves more than 50 cubic yards of soil, so we size it with that in mind.
How long will I be without my driveway when it's replaced in Montecito?
You're off the driveway from the day we break out the old slab until the new one has cured long enough to take a car, which is a longer wait than before you can walk on it. I'll give you both dates when we schedule the pour, and on a hillside drive we also plan where you'll park and how you'll get to the door in the meantime.
Santa Barbara, CA
Tell us about your Montecito concrete job
Call (805) 869-0160 or send the form before you settle on a design, so I can look at the slope and the water while the plan is still easy to change.