Concrete Contractors in Lytle Creek, CA

Lytle Creek lies in a large southeast-trending canyon in the eastern San Gabriel Mountains, about 16 miles northwest of downtown San Bernardino, and it sits completely within the San Bernardino National Forest. Concrete contractors who take on work here deal with narrow roads, sloped lots and creek water. The community is at about 3,419 feet and covers roughly 6 square miles.

Few homes, old concrete

The 2020 census counted 725 residents and 386 housing units, 317 of them occupied. With little new building, much of the concrete here has been in place a long time and was often poured with whatever was practical at the time. Problems we expect to see on a canyon lot:

• Thin, unreinforced slabs that have broken into loose pieces.
• Steps and walks that have crept downhill.
• Driveway edges hollowed out by runoff.
• Tank and shed pads that have settled unevenly.

History in the canyon

Lytle Creek was established in 1851, when members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints arrived in the valley, and the creek was named for their leader, Captain Andrew Lytle. The canyon has seen gold mining and farming, and it has been a recreation area since the early 1870s. Homes and cabins range widely in age, and so does the concrete around them.

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Building a base on canyon ground

Canyon soils are typically sand, gravel and rock carried down by water. Once loose material is removed and the rest is compacted, that mix can make a strong base. The risk is voids around boulders and pockets of soft fill that let one side of a slab drop. We dig, probe and rebuild the base before any forms go up. Drainage gets equal weight, because water in a canyon always runs downhill and finds the edge of a driveway or the foot of a stair.

A different climate from the desert

Lytle Creek has a warm-summer Mediterranean climate, with wetter winters and dry summers. Winter rain makes drainage more important here than in Hesperia. Summer heat still calls for early starts, a damp base and a proper cure so the slab does not dry out on its first afternoon.

Fire protection and noncombustible ground

Fire protection here involves the San Bernardino County Fire Department, CAL FIRE, the Mountain Area Safety Taskforce and a US Forest Service station. In a forest community, owners often want less fuel next to the house. Concrete walks, a patio in place of a wood deck and pads under propane tanks and firewood are simple ways to add it.

Getting concrete up the road

Access is the biggest planning question in the canyon. Narrow roads and tight driveways can rule out a full-size mixer, so we plan for smaller loads or a pump. We also check whether your road is county-maintained, since San Bernardino County Public Works Transportation issues encroachment permits for driveway approaches on county roads. Because the community is small and remote, we try to group work for several items on one property into a single pour day, so the trip and the truck minimum cover as much concrete as possible.

Deciding between repair and replacement

On older canyon concrete, the base decides. If a slab is mostly level with tight cracks, sealing the cracks and replacing a broken panel or two can be enough. If runoff has hollowed out the ground underneath or the slab has tilted, patching will not hold. Then we remove the old concrete, rebuild the base and pour new, reinforced concrete with drainage planned in.