Foundation installation in Montrose CO - built for the clay under your house
Building on Montrose clay and not sure what foundation it needs? We start from a soil engineer's report and build the design it calls for.
- Licensed and fully insured.
- Free quotes on site.
- Replies within 1 business day.
What does it take to build a foundation in Montrose?
Foundation installation in Montrose, CO, means building the concrete base your house stands on, whether that's a slab, a crawl space or a full basement, to a design made for the ground under your lot.
If you're planning a new house or an addition, the foundation is where the soil matters most, and around here that often means clay that swells when it's wet and shrinks when it's dry. The price turns on the type of foundation, the size of the house and what the soil report says the ground needs. The schedule turns on that report, the permit review and the weather on pour days. You'll get your own number once I've seen the lot and the plans.
How do you know your lot needs a foundation built for clay?
Ground that cracks when dry
Wide cracks opening in bare dirt during a dry spell usually point to clay that shrinks when it dries and swells when it gets wet. That isn't proof on its own, but it's a reason to get the soil tested before you settle on a foundation, because a wrong guess shows up later as cracked walls and doors that stick.
Mud that stays slick
Dirt that turns greasy and clings to your boots after a rain is often clay, and clay holds water instead of letting it drain away. A foundation on that ground needs a plan for the water, and that plan costs far less now than a fix after the house is up.
Heaved concrete next door
When old walks, garage floors or driveways near you have lifted, tipped or split, the ground under them is usually moving. Your foundation will sit on similar ground, so mention it to us and to your soil engineer before anyone draws a design.
How we handle foundation installation
A foundation starts with a soil engineer's report, not my eye, and we build to the design that comes out of it. From there we lay out the house, dig to the depth the design calls for and prepare the subgrade, the ground the concrete actually rests on. We set the forms and place the rebar, the steel that holds the concrete together when the ground pushes on it, right where the drawings put it. Then we pour, finish and let the concrete cure, the slow wait while it hardens to full strength. The whole time, we watch the ground's moisture and keep water from sitting near the forms, because clay that soaks up water or dries out under fresh concrete is clay that moves. All that ground work gets buried on day one, and it's the first thing people want to trim from a budget. I won't trim it, because a good-looking wall on a bad base is still a bad foundation. Does that make sense?
Most foundations stand on concrete footings, the wider strips of concrete under the walls that spread the house's weight over more ground, and we pour those as part of the same job when the design calls for them. Builders and property owners putting up a commercial building can also talk to us about concrete parking lot building, so the lot and the foundation get planned around the same drainage.
Slab on prepared ground
A single slab with thickened edges suits a house without a basement when the soil report shows the ground can be made stable under it. It's the simplest of the three, but on clay it only works if the ground under it is handled the way the engineer says.
Crawl space or full basement
Concrete walls on footings suit homeowners who want room under the house for plumbing, storage or living space. They take more digging and more concrete, and the walls have to be built to stand up to the soil pushing on them.
Drilled piers with grade beams
Concrete piers drilled deep into the ground carry the house, and grade beams, concrete beams that span from pier to pier, hold up the walls. This is the route when the engineer finds clay that swells a lot, because it keeps the house off the ground that moves most.
Get a foundation estimate built around your soil report
Send the form and we'll reply within one business day to set a time. I'll come out, look at the lot and give you a free quote on site, with no pressure to book.
(970) 964-6176- hello@montroseconcrete.com
- Based in
- Montrose, CO 81401
- Hours
- Mon–Sun: 7 AM–11 PM
What happens when you call about a foundation in Montrose?
Here's how a foundation job runs with us, from your first call to the walk-through before we leave.
Call or send a message
Call (970) 964-6176 or use the form and tell us where the lot is and what you're building. If you have a soils report or house plans, keep them handy, because they shape everything I'll look at.
I walk the lot with you
I look at the site, ask how you'll use the building and tell you what I see. Then I go over the estimate line by line, so you know what each part of the foundation costs and why it's there before you decide anything.
We line up the permit
Once you're ready, we check with the office that covers your address. Then we prep the site to the engineer's design.
We pour and walk you through
We pour and finish the foundation, then show you how to care for it before we leave. Most of that talk is about where your water needs to go.
Why Montrose builders and homeowners call Montrose Concrete for foundations
I'm on site for the work
I'm with our crew when the forms go up and the concrete goes in, on jobs in Montrose, Delta and the cities around them. The person who walked your lot is the one watching the rebar go in.
Pouring concrete since 2013
I spent my summers through school on a concrete crew and started this business in 2013. I learned the trade by pouring it and asking why, and that's still how I run a job.
Licensed and fully insured, every job
Montrose Concrete is licensed and fully insured. On a job as big as a foundation, that protects you if something goes wrong on your property.
You'll know why before we pour
I'd rather explain something twice than have you surprised by it later, so we walk you through the design and the drainage before anything gets poured. A homeowner who knows why the water has to go where it goes takes better care of the foundation.
Your satisfaction, guaranteed. If you've got a lot and a set of plans, tell us about your project and I'll come out to look at the ground with you.
Foundation and footing work on Montrose ground
Foundations are structural work. Inside Montrose city limits, the city's Building Services office issues building permits and handles plan checks and inspections for structural work. Outside the city, Montrose County's Building Department does the plan review and inspections. We walk you through what your office asks for and help you sort out the paperwork where a permit is needed, and we handle the permit side the same way on jobs in Delta.
The ground is the bigger local story. Swelling clay is Colorado's most significant geologic hazard and causes more property damage than any other natural hazard in the state. Montrose County regularly sees expansive soils, collapsing soils, ground water that runs high and shifts with the seasons, and radon gas. That's why a site check is part of planning every foundation we build in Montrose and the cities around it.
Questions about foundation installation in Montrose
Do I need a soil check before building a foundation in Montrose?
Yes, and it should come from a professional. Swelling clay does show signs you can see, but only a competent soil engineer and engineering geologist should be relied on to identify it. Budget for that check up front, because what it finds decides the rest of the job.
Which foundation type is best for clay soil in Colorado?
Where soil swells moderately to highly, an older Colorado guide generally recommends drilled pier and grade beam foundations, also called "caisson" foundations. The same guide says a properly engineered foundation should be designed and inspected by a registered professional engineer who specializes in soil and foundation work, so ask any installer who that is on your job.
Can you pour a regular concrete slab foundation on clay?
Not on untouched clay, according to that same older guide, which says an ordinary slab on natural soil isn't recommended in Colorado where the soil has even slight swell and shrink potential. It also says ordinary footings and slabs can work when the swelling soil is dug out deep enough and replaced with compacted soil that doesn't swell, or with site soil that's been chemically treated. Your soil engineer's report tells you which fits your lot.
How much does a new concrete foundation cost?
Across the US, a concrete foundation usually runs about $5 to $50 per square foot, and that's the market's range, not our price. A slab usually costs least per square foot, a crawl space more and a full basement the most, and on clay the engineered design moves the number too. Your own figure comes from the estimate after I've seen the lot and the plans.
What causes problems with foundations on expansive soil?
Besides the clay itself, problems come from how the foundation was built. On swelling ground those include reinforcing steel that's missing or in the wrong place, drilled piers that mushroom out at the top, and too little empty space left between the soil and the grade beams that span the piers.
How do I protect a new foundation on clay soil after it's built?
Keep water away from it. On swelling soils, downspouts and splash blocks should carry roof runoff at least 10 feet from the house, and water shouldn't be left to pond near the foundation. We go over where your water runs before we leave.
Other concrete work that goes with a foundation
Concrete footings
If you're adding a garage, a deck or an addition on clay ground, new footings carry its weight down to firmer soil, poured to the engineer's drawings.
Concrete parking lot building
A new shop or commercial building needs a lot that carries traffic and sheds water, and planning it with the foundation keeps the grades working together.
Areas we serve around Montrose and Delta
Montrose Concrete is based in Montrose, Colorado, and works in Montrose, Delta and the cities around them. The two cities below each have their own page with more on the work we do there.
Montrose, CO
Book a site visit for your foundation
The soil report and the permit review set your start date, so the sooner we talk, the sooner we can plan the pour around them.