Calling all concrete experts

[Smrtpunk]

I'm in the process of building a garage 592 sq ft. I got my permits and everything approved from my city. The city requested a grading plan and in the plan suggested a foundation with a proper footing and walls that are just under 6' tall.

I've sent it out to some foundation contractors in my area and they are all coming in around 12000 to perform the footings, walls and the floor. This price does not include the excavation.

I went back to my engineer and asked him as to if it was possible to use a slab instead, he advised against it for the following reasons.

• 
  where I want to build the garage is too close to the neighbours yard (less than 4') and it would cause an issue with insulating the footings of the slab

• 
  You must remove all infill left over from when the house was constructed in order to get a proper footing for the slab. This means if you run into 4-5' of infill you will need remove all of it and replace it with crushed stone for the whole slab. Aparently when you do a normal footings 5' down you don't have to worry about removing the infill from the area where the floor is and at that level you should be OK.

My question is How can I get this job to be cheaper than what the current quotes are coming in at. I'm not in the business of pouring concrete forms but I'm a hard worker and can get days off work to do labour for the project.

I want to do it the right way so that I don't have problems down the road but I am only using this garage as a hobby/place to park the car and if I end up with a crack in the floor here and there then I can deal with that.

Thanks,
Ian

 

[Lx460]

You might want to add your location to your profile. Different geographical areas have different requirements.

 

[Smrtpunk]

You might want to add your location to your profile. Different geographical areas have different requirements.

Updated, thanks