Permits: what to confirm for your address
If your address is in unincorporated Sacramento County, a driveway approach in the county right-of-way needs an Encroachment Permit from SacDOT, obtained by the property owner or representative before construction. Confirm your address's jurisdiction with the county first, since we could not verify it for you.
- The county form GI-21, Work Exempt from Permit, lists work that does not need a building permit. Read it for your specific job.
- The California Building Code baseline exempts driveways and sidewalks not more than 30 inches above adjacent grade and not over a basement or story below. Exempt work still must meet code and setbacks.
- For retaining walls, the state baseline is a permit above 4 feet from footing to top, and any wall supporting a surcharge needs one. The county may be stricter, so check GI-21.
Soil: valley clay to foothill rock, so ask about your lot
Sacramento County soil documents describe hardpan and claypan layers, with expansive soils more common in the eastern county. Foothill soils further east are typically described as clay, decomposed granite or shallow rocky ground. We have no lot-level data for Orangevale, so the practical advice is to ask each contractor what they expect to find, how they will prepare the subgrade, and whether rock or clay could change the price. A 4-inch slab is the usual residential driveway minimum, with joints about 8 to 12 feet apart.
On a sloped lot, retaining walls and drainage at the base of a wall deserve their own line in the quote. Typical national retaining wall pricing is about $20 to $60 per square foot of wall face, not an Orangevale quote.
Common jobs
- Concrete driveways and replacement when cracking has spread
- Concrete patios and stamped concrete for backyards
- Concrete repair and sealing on existing slabs
Local pricing comes only from contractor quotes; national ranges are about $6 to $12 per square foot for a plain driveway and $5 to $18 for a patio. Send a request through the contact form. It costs nothing, and a licensed contractor can visit to measure and quote. Verify the license at cslb.ca.gov before signing.
What to have ready before you send a request
- Your address, so the right permit authority can be confirmed, and whether the work touches the street-side approach.
- Rough size, a photo with a tape measure in frame, and what is there now: old slab to remove, bare slope, or a slab to repair.
- Any slope or access limits, such as a steep driveway, a gate or a narrow side yard, since those change what a contractor needs to bring.
When a contractor visits, ask who pulls any permit, what base and thickness they propose, how drainage will be handled and how old concrete will be removed. California caps a home improvement down payment at $1,000 or 10 percent of the contract, whichever is less, and gives you three business days to cancel in most cases (five if you are 65 or older). Sacramento Crest Concrete does not quote, take payment or warrant the work; those are between you and the contractor.
Main guide: concrete contractors in Sacramento.