San Lorenzo was built fast. Developer David Bohannon put up thousands of small tract homes here between 1944 and the early 1950s, turning open land into a planned suburb almost overnight. That concentrated construction era means most of the neighborhood is working with the same age of concrete, the same slab foundations, and the same original masonry. After 70-plus years, that original work is showing consistent wear throughout the community. Driveways are cracking, patio slabs are sinking, and foundation cracks that were hairline a decade ago are wider now. This is not deferred maintenance by careless owners - it is simply what happens when concrete and mortar built in the late 1940s spends decades on Bay Area clay soil.

San Lorenzo is also an unincorporated community, which means permits for structural masonry work go through Alameda County Building Inspection Services rather than a city building department. That is a different process than what applies in San Leandro or Hayward, and a contractor who does not work in unincorporated Alameda County regularly may not know the difference. Our crew pulls permits for San Lorenzo jobs through the county and coordinates county inspections on structural work.

San Lorenzo is an unincorporated community in Alameda County tucked between San Leandro and Hayward along the East Bay flatlands. The neighborhood was developed almost entirely by builder David Bohannon starting in 1944, and the planned community he created - San Lorenzo Village - remains the geographic and social heart of the area. The homes are modest, well-spaced single-story tract houses that defined postwar California suburban life, and many have been in the same family for two or three generations. The community has a population of roughly 26,000 to 28,000 people in about 3.5 square miles, which makes it relatively dense for a suburban neighborhood. You can learn more about the history of San Lorenzo on Wikipedia.

San Lorenzo Creek runs through the western edge of the community before emptying into San Francisco Bay, and properties near the creek have historically dealt with drainage and flooding concerns during heavy rain years. The rest of the neighborhood sits on flat land with clay-heavy soils that create consistent concrete and masonry maintenance needs across the housing stock. Neighboring San Leandro to the north and Hayward to the south share similar housing ages and masonry challenges, and we serve all three communities.