Masonry Contractor in Milpitas, CA - Walls and Walks Built to Shed Water

Often you do, because the city's Office of Building Safety issues building permits for repairs as well as new construction, and the permit has to be issued before any work starts. The work the city lists as needing no building permit is mostly finish work like tiling, plus a few small items such as fences not over 7 feet tall. If you're not sure about your project, ask and we'll check with the city.

Measure from the bottom of the footing to the top of the wall, because the city's residential rules exempt a retaining wall that's not over 4 feet, unless it holds back an added load. That load can be a slope, a driveway or a building above the wall, and since the footing sits underground, a wall that looks shorter than 4 feet can still be over. A taller or loaded wall needs a permit, and if the design is a question for an engineer, I'll tell you that at the estimate.

Yes, the city says a property owner may obtain permits for any work done on the property. A licensed contractor acting as your authorized agent can get them too, but only for the work their license covers. On our jobs we handle the application with the city and plan our start around its review, so you don't have to.

Yes, the state licensing board says any job worth $1,000 or more in labor, materials or both has to be done by a state-licensed contractor, and a job that needs a permit or workers needs one at any price. Splitting a job into smaller pieces to stay under $1,000 is illegal, so be wary of anyone who offers. The city also issues its own business license and may ask for proof of the state license first, and its application page lists $89 for six months or $104 for a year for state-licensed contractors. We're licensed and fully insured.

Work there falls under federal and city floodplain rules, and if improvements cost 49 percent or more of the building's fair market value before work starts, the house has to meet the same flood rules as a new building. The city adds those costs up over 10 years, so several smaller jobs can count together. The city asks owners to check with its Land Development Engineering Division before building, altering, regrading or placing fill, and we plan footings and drainage around what that office tells you.

The price comes down to the size of the job, the material you pick, how much old work has to come out and whether something underneath, like a weak footing or standing water, has to be fixed first. The schedule turns mostly on whether the job needs a permit and the city's review, and on what we find once the old work is open. I put the price in writing with what we'll do and why, so you can compare it fairly.