Concrete foundations, flatwork and stamped surfaces across Chicago's North Shore since 1909.

One job, read in place

What a foundation job actually looks like from the trench.

Hover or tab through the marks. This is a Johanson crew working a house foundation from the dug side, which is where most of the trade happens and almost none of the photographs get taken.

1. Foundation wallThe wall faceA house foundation dug out and worked by hand from the trench side. Foundations are the oldest thing on the service list and the first thing Carl Johanson Sr. poured in 1909.
2. Braced formsBoards and stakesTimber staked off along the run of the wall. Forming is most of the work on a job like this, and it is the part nobody sees once the ground goes back.
3. ExcavationOpen to the footingExcavation is its own line on the commercial list. Nothing gets poured or patched below grade until there is room to stand and work.
4. Old coursingBrick above the lineThe masonry above the foundation line is somebody else's century-old work. We stop where the concrete stops, which is the whole point of a company that does one trade.
5. Our own shirtA Johanson crewThe red shirt is ours. Every photograph on this site is a job this company did, not stock photography bought by the pack.