Monopour Foundation Cost in 2022

[tinyrobotman]

I'm planning a 25'x40' workshop for my backyard and have been getting bids for a monopour foundation, 4" slab with mesh and 4" compacted gravel base, 18"x12" turndown footing with 2 #4 rebars. The lot is level with drive back access with no soil or drainage issues. The quotes I've been getting seem really high. Lowest was $28K which is $28/sq ft! I also got a bid on a pole barn type building that included pouring a 4" slab inside and it was $9K for the slab, which seems more reasonable. I get it will be more than just a 4" slab but doesn't seem like a $19K difference?

 

[PJorgen]

I’ll be watching this as I‘m planning something similar. What part of the country are you in?

 

[tinyrobotman]

I’ll be watching this as I‘m planning something similar. What part of the country are you in?

Portland, Oregon. Costs tend to be higher here but almost $30/sq ft seems nuts. Rough guess on materials is about 15 yards of concrete @ $160/yard for $2400 in concrete. Add in maybe $1000 for gravel and $1000 for steel and forms and they're getting $23K for labor?!

 

[mike93lx]

If you have multiple quotes that are comparable, then that's the price. Everything has gone way up

 

[Jayman17]

PNW price gouging in effect!

 

[tinyrobotman]

PNW price gouging in effect!

No kidding. I'm always shocked by how low the prices I see people post from the midwest and south. I may end up just going the pole barn route to avoid getting shafted on the foundation. Total price was $47K for a 26x40 x 12'H walls including the slab.

 

[Hubmonkey]

No kidding. I'm always shocked by how low the prices I see people post from the midwest and south.. Total price was $47K for a 26x40 x 12'H walls including the slab.

Yeah it has been a few years (2017) since my pole barn was built but it was $19,700 for a 24x36 with 12ft walls, a 12'x36' lean too and a 5" Slab inside.. things have gone way up..

 

[dcg9381]

Might want to talk about the price per yard of concrete. That's likely the biggest economic factor.

Foundation costs seem to be highly regional. A 60x40, 4-5", 24" perimeter beam, 2 additional beams - about $25k in 2019. Lots of competition for concrete around here though and the "labor" (guys actually doing the work, not the contractor) is fairly cheap.

 

[Nate0918]

As I was reading your first post I was thinking to myself "This guy is either in hell or Portland, Oregon" I laughed sitting at my desk when I found out where you were at. Labor rates around here are unethical. I was quoted almost $900 to get my chimney cleaned, which I was told would take 1/2 an hour. A 12ft extension of a water line to move a spigot on the outside of my house was going to cost me $3800. Several similar quotes for work that didn't seem attached to reality.

 

[Nate0918]

Tinyrobotman, I think your money is being siphoned off to build all those homeless camps around your place. Pass some of that my way too would ya?

 

[Max78]

Concrete was wicked expensive when I poured my slab, I was surprised. I believe I paid a little over $160 per yard for just the concrete. Now that was with water reducer, retarder, and cold water because it was a summer pour. I also used over 30 yards of concrete.

I'm obviously in a different region, but I got quotes for a turn key slab that included dirt work, mostly level and all 3 of them came back around $15k to $20k for a 30x40. This was also a year or so ago.

I did it all myself minus pour and finish (hired out around $1600 I think). All materials, AB, form boards, compactor rental, tractor rental I was in it for around $7500.

 

[p00p]

the quotes from a handful of contractors to pour similar amount was about the same. To do some prep work, it didn't add much impact to the cost. Seemed like the real labor cost was rolled into the floating of the mix & amount of laborers for a residential job.
Michigan, where you pay exotic prices & receive court ordered rework.

 

[tinyrobotman]

As I was reading your first post I was thinking to myself "This guy is either in hell or Portland, Oregon" I laughed sitting at my desk when I found out where you were at. Labor rates around here are unethical. I was quoted almost $900 to get my chimney cleaned, which I was told would take 1/2 an hour. A 12ft extension of a water line to move a spigot on the outside of my house was going to cost me $3800. Several similar quotes for work that didn't seem attached to reality.

Same difference these days, hell or Portland, Oregon. A friend had a clogged downspout drainpipe. The rooter company wanted $700 to clean it out. I went over stuffed a garden hose down it for a few minutes and it cleared. Someone needs to go to jail for the prices around here.

 

[PJorgen]

I’m seeing $200/yard for 3000 psi concrete with fiber delivered here in Northern Nevada. I’d be happy with $160/yard.

 

[tinyrobotman]

I’m seeing $200/yard for 3000 psi concrete with fiber delivered here in Northern Nevada. I’d be happy with $160/yard.

These prices I'm seeing aren't a materials cost issue. It seems to be contractor markup in Portland. My job should only have $2400-$3000 in concrete.

 

[LostCauseRanch]

Not a comparison by any means because it is just a slab in a finished pole barn and I did the prep work. But I did my 30x48 at about 6" thick for about 8800 all in.

$1000 in rebar
$600 in 1" insulation
$200 in vapor barrier
$3500 in concrete (~$130 a yard)
$3500 Labor (Just for the pour and finishing, no prep)


Like I said I did all the prep work and had it ready for them to just pour. It seemed that if I were to have the contractor do the prep, bar, insulation and what not it added another $5000ish to be turn key. I was seeing $14-16k here all in.

I also had my gravel sitting there already from prepping the site for the barn. But It would have been $600ish for that for the slab.

Glad I'm in Iowa at this point I guess.

 

[mike93lx]

I’m seeing $200/yard for 3000 psi concrete with fiber delivered here in Northern Nevada. I’d be happy with $160/yard.

I was $280 IIRC this past summer for a 17 yard pool deck in Central VA. Just the bill to the batch plant, not including labor or other materials.

 

[brownbagg]

if you did all the prep and forming, you could get it finished $1500

 

[rancherbill]

Portland, Oregon. Costs tend to be higher here but almost $30/sq ft seems nuts. Rough guess on materials is about 15 yards of concrete @ $160/yard for $2400 in concrete. Add in maybe $1000 for gravel and $1000 for steel and forms and they're getting $23K for labor?!

Wow, you think there's 4400 in materials and they could do that in a day. You have forgotten site prep which around here is getting rid of topsoil, supplying, levelling and compacting the grave, trenching and forming your perimeter. Then there's the installation of rebar and wire. Pouring and leveling and finishing the concrete. The concrete has to be sealed to retain moisture as it cures. then there's form removal and back leveling. Then you probably want expansion joints cut. This is obviously a one day job and your are right that they should not be paid for their equipment, knowledge and time.

 

[mike93lx]

Wow, you think there's 4400 in materials and they could do that in a day. You have forgotten site prep which around here is getting rid of topsoil, supplying, levelling and compacting the grave, trenching and forming your perimeter. Then there's the installation of rebar and wire. Pouring and leveling and finishing the concrete. The concrete has to be sealed to retain moisture as it cures. then there's form removal and back leveling. Then you probably want expansion joints cut. This is obviously a one day job and your are right that they should not be paid for their equipment, knowledge and time.

Finally! Someone that gets it. All contactors are scammers

 

[JoeMcGov]

Finally! Someone that gets it. All contractors are scammers

Yep.

Here in the South, in the last 4 years, commercial structural concrete (think multi story buildings) has about doubled in quoted pricing.

 

[Max78]

Portland, Oregon. Costs tend to be higher here but almost $30/sq ft seems nuts. Rough guess on materials is about 15 yards of concrete @ $160/yard for $2400 in concrete. Add in maybe $1000 for gravel and $1000 for steel and forms and they're getting $23K for labor?!

15 yards is really light for a 25x40. I would think 25 yards for a good slab. I thought it was that simple, but its not.


Here is what I paid off the top of my head.

ABC base $800
Excavator for digging footers $300 (FB deal and was $600 everywhere else)
Compactor $200
Rebar $1000
Wood forms & bracing $600
3500 psi Concrete $5200
Pour and finish labor $1600 (cheapest of 3 quotes by far)
Misc $200

Thats basically 10,000 in with only pour and finish labor. Thats with me using my skid steer and not renting one. There was no top soil removal required so add that to the overall price if required.


Now add in 3 to 5 guys labor for 2 days. Profit for the company that has to float insurance and overhead.

 

[rancherbill]

Yep.

Here in the South, in the last 4 years, commercial structural concrete (think multi story buildings) has about doubled in quoted pricing.

There's a reason, or all the contractors from other States would be flocking there for the Bonanza.

 

[jmdirk]

Geez. I thought we got hosed here in Canada for stuff like. I paid $28CAD for a 40x30, 6" pour, 24"x24" turndown just last year.

That included site prep, gravel etc.

 

[zippyslug31]

It's probably of limited (or possibly NO) use to you, but I'll chime in that I'm on the other side of the mountains from you and less than two years ago I paid $9,*** for a 30x30 mono pour with a very similar footing. I did the grading, but the concrete contractor took over after that task. Their price included one metric shitton of rebar (seriously reinforced!), gravel, flat & finish work.
I really have no idea, but I could easily imagine paying $15k+ for my project today.