Concrete Slabs & Foundations in Wichita Falls, TX
Shop slabs, barndominium pads, metal-building foundations, and new-construction slabs — designed for expansive North Texas clay, not against it.
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Why Wichita Falls Foundations Are Different
A slab in Wichita Falls isn't a Dallas slab and isn't a Panhandle slab either. Most of Wichita, Archer, and Clay counties sit on expansive red clay that swells with spring saturation and shrinks hard through summer drought. That movement is the single biggest threat to any foundation poured here. Get the design right — moisture-conditioned subgrade, the right reinforcement, joints where the engineering says they go — and the slab stays flat for decades. Get it wrong, and cracks show up before the building on top of it is even finished.
On structural foundations we work with the engineer of record — we don't guess loads and we don't skip the geotechnical review. If you don't have a soils report yet, we can point you to local geotechnical firms that pull borings and give you a design basis. On a house or large shop, that report is cheap insurance against remediation problems that cost many times more later.
Slabs & Foundations We Pour
- Shop slabs — 24x30 and up, reinforced pours with vapor barrier and anchor-bolt layout for the building package
- Barndominium pads — plumbing rough-in coordination, thickened edges, post-tension or conventional per the engineer
- Metal-building foundations — perimeter footings and slab designed to the manufacturer's reaction loads
- Post-tension monolithic slabs — cables tensioned after pour, pre-compressing the slab against clay expansion; the standard answer to expansive soil in new residential construction
- Slab-on-grade with grade beams — conventional rebar-reinforced slab with perimeter and interior grade beams
- Over-excavated pad + engineered fill — dig out the active clay, replace with compacted select fill, pour on a stable base
- Equipment and generator pads — see the commercial concrete page
Shop Slabs & Barndo Pads — The 287 / 79 / 82 Corridors
The strongest foundation demand in this area isn't in town — it's on the acreage. Rural properties along US-287 toward Iowa Park and Electra, SH-79 toward Lakeside City and Archer County, and US-82 toward Holliday are building shop buildings, barndominiums, and metal storage structures at a steady clip, and every one of them starts with a slab.
A shop slab looks simple and isn't. The slab carries the building's columns, so the perimeter and column points need footings or thickened sections designed to the building manufacturer's loads. Anchor bolts have to land within tight tolerance or the steel package doesn't bolt down. And on this clay, the subgrade under the whole footprint has to be moisture-conditioned and compacted, or the first wet spring twists the slab — and the building frame with it.
We pour shop pads and barndo slabs regularly outside Archer City, Holliday, and Iowa Park, and closer in around Burkburnett where Sheppard AFB keeps the housing market moving. Typical scope: engineered slab with turned-down edges, vapor barrier, plumbing rough-in coordination on barndos, and anchor-bolt templates set to the building drawings.
Post-Tension Slabs — Why They Win on Expansive Clay
Post-tension slabs pre-compress the concrete via steel cables tensioned after the pour, once the concrete reaches strength. The compression pre-load means the clay's swell-shrink tension has to overcome the pre-load before it ever stresses the concrete. On expansive soil like ours, that's the difference between a slab that shrugs off decades of moisture cycling and one that telegraphs every wet spring as a new hairline crack.
Sub-Grade Prep, Reinforcement, and Mix
No matter what foundation type: vegetation stripped, topsoil removed from the footprint, sub-grade compacted at optimum moisture — moisture-conditioning is the step that matters most on expansive clay — 10-mil poly vapor barrier with taped seams and booted plumbing penetrations, and insulation where energy code requires.
Reinforcement
- Post-tension slabs: rebar in perimeter beams, cables on chairs at design spacing.
- Conventional slabs: rebar each way, chair-supported at mid-depth.
- Grade beams: top and bottom bars with stirrups per the engineer's spec.
- Shop slabs: heavier bar and thickened sections at column points per the building's reaction loads.
Mix Specs for Wichita Falls
- Slabs: 3,500 PSI at 28 days, moderate slump, air-entrained on exposed exterior edges.
- Grade beams: 3,500 PSI, higher slump for pumpability.
- Hot-weather pours: early truck times and evaporation control through the 100-degree stretches — a foundation poured at 2 PM in August is asking for plastic shrinkage cracks.
Curing Protocols
- Wet cure covers 7 days minimum on structural pours
- Curing compound as backup where covers aren't practical
- No form removal on grade beams for 3 days minimum
- Post-tension stressing only after cylinder breaks confirm design strength
- Cold-weather pours get blankets and accelerator; hard-freeze forecasts within 48 hours mean reschedule
Permits, Pricing, and What We Won't Do
Permit requirements vary between the city and the surrounding counties — inside Wichita Falls city limits, new construction foundations go through city plan review and inspection; rural county sites have their own rules. We coordinate inspection scheduling around the pour; the general contractor or owner pulls the permit.
Pricing
Foundations and slabs vary too much by design and soil to price from a table. A 24x30 shop pad on good access is a very different job from a 2,400-square-foot post-tension house slab with plumbing rough-in. We quote after we see the engineering set and walk the site — a fixed written number with a start-date window, not an estimate that grows.
What We Won't Do
- Foundation repair on existing homes — we pour new construction. Existing slab cracks need a foundation repair specialist with piering and mudjacking capability.
- Design structural foundations without an engineer of record — we don't take structural responsibility that belongs with engineering.
- Pour on unsuitable soil without a soils report — on clay like this, the risk isn't ours to accept and it shouldn't be yours either.
Do I need an engineer for a shop slab or barndo pad?
For anything structural, yes — the slab carries the building. Metal-building packages come with reaction loads the foundation has to be designed to.
Post-tension or conventional on this clay?
Post-tension is the standard answer for houses and barndominiums on expansive clay in the Wichita Falls area. Smaller shop slabs are often conventional with thickened edges — the engineer's call.
What does moisture-conditioning the subgrade mean?
Bringing the clay to a stable moisture content and compacting it before the pour, so the ground under the slab isn't bone-dry and primed to swell the first time it rains.
How long before framing or steel erection can start?
Typically 3–5 days after pour for layout and light work, 7-plus days before heavy loading. Anchor bolts are set in the pour to the building template.
Do you do foundation repair?
No. New pours only.