Concrete Contractors in Phelan, CA

Phelan is a 60-square-mile unincorporated community in the Mojave Desert, 18 miles west of Victorville, below the San Gabriel Mountains. The land around it is flat, open desert scattered with Joshua trees and thick brush. The community was named for Senator James D. Phelan and his brother, J. T. Phelan, and its history goes back to the Mormon Trail. For concrete contractors, Phelan means long hauls, big lots and a water district with rules that change how a job is cleaned up.

Cleanup under district water rules

Water here comes from the Phelan Piñon Hills Community Services District, which currently lists itself at Stage 1 of its Water Conservation Plan. Under Stage 1, nobody may wash a driveway, parking lot or other paved area unless the washing removes a fire or contamination hazard or serves public health and safety. Water use that floods or runs off into gutters, streets or a neighbor's lot is also banned. On many concrete jobs elsewhere, tools, chutes and a freshly broomed apron get hosed off at the end of the day. In Phelan we do it differently:

• Chutes and tools are scraped and rinsed into a lined washout area, never onto the ground or into the road.
• Concrete dust and slurry are swept or scooped and hauled away.
• Curing water is applied sparingly, or we use a curing compound instead.

Cold nights at 3,993 feet

Phelan's elevation is 3,993 feet, about 1,000 feet above Victorville's City Hall. Higher desert ground generally runs colder on winter nights, so exterior slabs here should be built for freezing: an air-entrained mix, a water content kept where the mix design wants it, a full cure and a sealer on colored or stamped work. In a slab's first winter, sand gives traction without the scaling that deicing salt can cause.

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The jobs Phelan owners bring us

Most requests here are practical. A concrete apron where the dirt drive meets the road, so gravel stops washing onto the pavement. A garage or carport slab. A steel shop floor with thickened edges. A pad for a water tank, propane tank, generator or solar inverter. A covered patio off the back of the house that blocks the afternoon sun and the wind. And repairs on older slabs poured thin, without steel, on loose sand.

County roads, county permits

Phelan is unincorporated, so public roads are under San Bernardino County. The county's Public Works Transportation department issues encroachment permits for work in the County Maintained Road System right-of-way, and it lists driveway approaches as an example. If your apron meets a county-maintained road, we look into that permit before setting forms.

Fire country

In August 2016 the Blue Cut Fire prompted mandatory evacuation orders for most of Phelan, and ten buildings at the Thanksgiving Korean Church retreat in Phelan were destroyed. On brushy lots, concrete is a simple way to add noncombustible space near the house: a walk around the foundation in place of mulch, a slab under the woodpile, a parking pad that keeps hot exhaust off dry brush.

Getting a mixer to the site

Distance and dirt roads affect every Phelan pour. We confirm the route a loaded truck can take, look for soft sand along it, and decide at the estimate whether a pump is needed. That planning is what keeps a mixer from bogging down halfway to the forms.

Owners improving land over time

QuickFacts shows owners in 81.9% of Phelan homes, and 88.4% of residents had not moved in the past year. Many owners add one project at a time. We lay out each slab so the next one, whether a cover, a walk or a shop, lines up with it.