Commercial & Residential Concrete

Equipment & Generator Pads
in Houston, TX

Isolated concrete pads for generators, HVAC units, transformers, chillers and tanks across Greater Houston. Anchored to the machine drawings, poured by our own crews, and built for expansive clay and hurricane winds.

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Worker checking an anchor-bolt template over the rebar mat of an equipment pad at a Houston plant

23Years Pouring Concrete

640Foundations Poured

1.2MSq. Ft. of Flatwork

98%Repeat & Referral

Service Overview

Concrete Equipment Pads for Houston Machines

An equipment pad has one job: hold a heavy machine level and still. On Houston's expansive clay, a pad poured thin and without the right steel swells, shrinks, and cracks with every wet-and-dry cycle. Once it tilts, the anchor bolts loosen and the vibration climbs. The warranty on a costly machine then starts to read like fine print. A pad engineered for the machine and the soil fixes that for good. Jimenes Construction is a self-performing concrete contractor with 23 years in Houston clay. Our own crew sets the anchor-bolt template and ties the steel. We finish every pad to the machine drawings.

Every pad gets an isolation joint that separates it from the building slab, so it moves on its own and stays flat and put under load. A pad that carries a spinning or pounding machine is a different animal, so see our machine foundations page for that work. For the flatwork a pad ties into, see concrete slabs.

Houston adds two problems most pad specs skip. The clay under most of the city swells and shrinks with the weather, so a pad needs the right thickness and steel to bridge it. And hurricane season runs June 1 through November 30, so outdoor gear needs wind-uplift anchoring sized to the design wind load and the weight of the unit. On a floodplain lot we raise the pad above the flood elevation. Pads at a dock or truck well often run with our loading dock and dock apron work.

Pads at a Glance

Isolated pads poured to the machine drawings
Anchor bolts set to a steel template
Thickened, reinforced pads for Houston clay
Hurricane wind-uplift anchoring
Elevated pads on floodplain lots
Indoor housekeeping pads

Coverage

Equipment Pad Types We Pour

From a single rooftop unit to a row of tank pads, we form, anchor and pour all six in house.

HVAC & RTU Pads

Ground pads and rooftop curb pads for condensers, air handlers and packaged rooftop units, sized to the unit and anchored against wind uplift.

Generator Pads

Reinforced pads for standby and diesel generators, with the anchor template, conduit stub-ups and fuel-line sleeves set before the pour.

Transformer & Switchgear Pads

Utility-spec pads with grounding, conduit windows and cable pull sections cast to the CenterPoint or power company detail.

Chiller & Cooling Tower Pads

Thickened pads and inertia bases for chillers, cooling towers and pumps that carry real weight and some vibration.

Tank & Vessel Pads

Ringwall and full pads for storage tanks, compressors and process vessels along the Ship Channel and Grand Parkway corridors.

Indoor Housekeeping Pads

Raised curb pads inside mechanical rooms and plants that lift equipment off the floor and keep water away from the base.

Our Process

Our Equipment Pad Process

Five steps, the same on a single generator pad and on a row of tank pads. Call (832) 576-3278 to start at step one.

01
Site Walk & Cut Sheets
We read the equipment cut sheets, weights and anchor pattern, check truck access and the soil, then size the pad before we price it.
02
Engineered Estimate
A line-item quote tied to the machine loads: pad thickness, rebar, anchor-bolt spec, wind-uplift anchoring and any elevation for a floodplain lot.
03
Permit, Layout & Forms
Permit pulled with Houston or your county where the pad needs one. Pad located, forms set and braced. Finished height set above the flood elevation if required.
04
Anchor Bolts, Steel & Inspection
Anchor-bolt template set to the drawings and surveyed, rebar chaired, conduit and sleeves cast in, then the pre-pour inspection before any concrete.
05
Pour, Cure & Set-Down
One pour, vibrated and finished flat, cured to strength. The bolts line up and the machine sets down without a shim.

Timeline

How Long Does an Equipment Pad Take?

Real ranges from our own job records, from mobilization to set-down.

Project Type	Typical Size	Duration
Single HVAC or generator pad	4x4 to 8x10 ft	3 - 7 Days
Transformer or switchgear pad	6x8 to 12x20 ft	1 - 2 Weeks
Chiller, tower or tank pad	200 - 1,000 sq ft	1 - 3 Weeks
Multiple pads on one site	Varies by count	2 - 4 Weeks
Indoor housekeeping pad package	Per plant	3 - 7 Days

Engineering & Compliance

Materials, Methods & Code Compliance

Houston clay moves and the wind blows hard. We build the pad around the machine weight, the anchor pattern and the soil under it.

Soils & Site

Geotech report and PVR read before we quote
Expansive clay bridged with thickness and steel
Pad isolated from the building slab
Raised above the flood elevation where required

Mix & Materials

3,000 to 4,500 psi pad mixes
Grade 60 deformed rebar, single or double mat
Galvanized or epoxy anchor bolts set to a template
Conduit, sleeves and grounding cast in

Code & Standards

2021 IBC as adopted by Houston
Anchorage designed to ACI 318 Chapter 17
Wind-uplift anchoring for hurricane loads
Utility detail for transformer and switchgear pads

Inspection & Sign-Off

Anchor-bolt survey before the pour
Pre-pour steel and form inspection
Elevation checked on floodplain lots
Set-down verified against the machine drawings

Why Jimenes

Why Choose
Jimenes Construction

One Crew From Template to Finish

Pads fail at the hand-offs. Our own crew sets the anchor template, ties the steel and finishes the pad, so nothing gets lost between a forming sub and the electrician.

23 Years in Houston Clay

We know how this soil moves and how much pad it takes to keep a machine level through a full wet-and-dry year.

Anchors Set to the Drawings

The template gets surveyed before the truck rolls. The machine drops onto the bolts without field-drilling or a stack of shims under the frame.

Line-Item Pad Pricing

Pad, steel, anchor bolts, sleeves and any elevation each get their own line. You see what you are paying for, and change orders are signed before the work.

Credentials

Insurance, Warranty & Sign-Off

Texas does not license concrete contractors, so we send the insurance certificate and the engineer's letters with every proposal. Here is what a pad contractor in Houston can actually show you.

Permitted & Inspected City of Houston and Harris County

General Liability $2M per occurrence

Workers’ Comp Full crew coverage

Warranty 10-yr structural, 1-yr workmanship

Where We Work

Our Service Area

Headquartered in Houston and pouring equipment pads across the Greater Houston area, from inside the 610 Loop out to the Ship Channel and Grand Parkway plants. If you searched for an equipment pad contractor near me and landed here, this is the radius we cover. We can be on site the same week.

Do not see your town? Call us, we travel for the right project.Check Your Address

Good Questions

Frequently Asked Questions

Still not sure? Call and the person who will run your pour will answer your questions.

Talk to a Builder

(832) 576-3278

How thick should a concrete equipment pad be in Houston?

It depends on the machine weight and the soil. Most HVAC and generator pads run 4 to 8 inches with a single or double rebar mat. Heavier gear like chillers, transformers and tanks gets thicker and more steel. On Houston's expansive clay we add thickness and steel so the pad bridges the soil instead of cracking with it. If the machine spins or pounds, it needs a machine foundation built for those loads.

How do you keep an equipment pad from moving in a hurricane?

We anchor outdoor gear to the full design wind load, uplift included. The anchor bolts are sized and embedded to ACI 318 Chapter 17, so the unit stays put when the wind pushes up and sideways. Hurricane season here runs June 1 through November 30, so this is not a detail we skip. Rooftop units get pads and clips rated for the same load.

How much does a concrete equipment pad cost in Houston?

There is no flat rate, and two pads the same size can price very differently. The main things that move the cost are:

Pad size and thickness
Rebar and anchor-bolt spec
Conduit, sleeves and grounding cast in
Floodplain elevation and fill
Truck and crane access

We do not publish a per-pad price, because a number given before we see the cut sheets is a guess. Ask for the free written estimate instead, with every item on its own line.

Do I need a permit for an equipment pad?

Sometimes. A small indoor housekeeping pad often does not, but a generator, transformer or any pad tied to electrical or mechanical work usually pulls a permit. Inside the city it comes from the City of Houston. Outside city limits it comes from Harris County Engineering or your county office. Transformer and switchgear pads also follow the power company detail. We pull the permit and book the inspections.

Can you set the anchor bolts to my equipment drawings?

Yes. We set the anchor-bolt template to your cut sheets and anchor pattern before the pour, then survey it so the machine drops onto the bolts. That means no field-drilling and no stack of shims under the frame later. Send us the cut sheets, the weights and the anchor pattern and we will build the pad around them. The pad usually ties into a concrete slab we can pour in the same trip.

What is the difference between an equipment pad and a machine foundation?

An equipment pad supports static gear that mostly just sits there: HVAC units, generators, transformers, tanks. A machine foundation is designed for the dynamic loads and vibration of rotating or reciprocating machines, so it is often bigger, heavier and isolated from the floor. We build both. Call (832) 576-3278 and we will tell you which one your equipment needs.