Concrete Contractor
in Katy, TX

Is my Katy address really in the City of Katy, and who pulls my permit?

Many Katy addresses are unincorporated, so check first. Inside city limits the City of Katy permits and inspects at 901 Avenue C, and the city has zoning. Unincorporated lots go to Harris County, Fort Bend Engineering in Richmond, or Waller County, depending on the county line. The city has an online map that tells you which side you are on.

Which slab height rule applies to my Katy lot?

In the City of Katy, the finished floor has to be a foot above the base flood elevation or at the 500-year level, whichever is higher, and since 2026 that includes the AC unit. Harris County wants at least the 500-year level in the shaded floodplain, or 24 inches above it in A zones. Fort Bend sets a minimum slab elevation under its Atlas 14 rules. We build the slab to whichever rule your lot falls under.

Do I need a detention pond for my shop, warehouse or new pad?

In Fort Bend, detention is usually required and has to be sized for Atlas 14 rainfall, though your MUD may already provide it. Harris and Fort Bend both want fill in the 500-year floodplain offset one-to-one. On the Waller side, drainage permits go through the Brookshire Katy Drainage District, not the county. We check which applies before we design the pond.

Everyone calls it Katy sand. Do I still need piers or a post-tension slab?

The surface really is sandy loam, but the Katy soil series runs 25 to 45 percent clay deeper in the subsoil, with a perched water table in cool or wet months. Geologic maps put the area on the Lissie Formation, a mix of sand, silt and clay. So we get a geotech report before choosing piers, a post-tension slab, or both. We do not guess from the topsoil.

My lot is near Barker or Addicks Reservoir. What does that change?

Those reservoirs hold no permanent pool, but they fill in big storms. Canyon Gate and other upstream lots flooded in 2017 when Addicks and Barker filled for the first time in their history. We check the lot's elevation certificate and floodplain status before we design the slab or the pad, so the finished floor clears the risk.

Katy keeps sinking. Does that affect my project?

Parts of the area have dropped more than a foot in about two decades, the fastest rate in the region, from heavy groundwater pumping. It does not crack slabs on its own, but it shifts drainage grades, outfall elevations and old survey benchmarks. So we survey the current grade instead of trusting an old plat.