concrete quotes

[hoffman912]

Anyone who has seen my thread has heard me talk about my current pad

-100 year old garage, pitted pad, with tons of craters, moisture and efflourescence coming up from the bottom due to age of pad and no moisture barrier. Its seen far better days.

I had contractors come by and write up quotes recently to tear out the pad, and pour a new one

the first estimates are in:

Estimate 1:

Floor - 17 x 25 = 425 sq ft

- Remove all existing materials and haul away
- Compacted base
- Rebar tied to perimeter foundation
- 4" pour
- Columbus class "S" with fiber reinforcement
- Trowel finish on floor
- Brush finish on frost wall
- Clean and seal
- Sawcut control joints

3,000.

This guy seemed more polished and professional, had a company truck, jacket with logo etc.


Estimate 2:

one guy came by, looked at it and gave me a quote of $4,000 on the spot (not going to lie he seemed a little less professional than the others, but i know that might not mean anything at the end of the day. thats not to say he is an amateur -owns his own concrete company and everything. when i asked him about a garuntee, he said garunteed to crack as a joke.... i know it was a joke but still). He did not email me a formal write up, just came up with a number. he did wear a shirt with his companies name on it, not that that really means much


Estimate 3 (sorry for all caps, copying and pasting)

JOB DESCRIPTION: REMOVE CONCRETE FLOOR 480 SQ, FT; AND REPUR
4” OF NEW CONCRETE WITH VAPOR BARRIER AND FIBER IN
CONCRETE, STONE WILL BE ADDED AS NEEDED; INSTALL A TILE AND
STONE ALONG THE EAST WALL OF THE GARAGE TO ELIMINATE
WATER COMING IN ON THE NEW FLOOR, ALL NEW CONCRETE SHALL
HAVE A SMOOTH FINISH AND CURED AND SEALED AND SAW CUT ALL
CONTROLLING JOINTS; THE HOMEOWNER SHALL REMOVE ALL ITEMS
PRIOR TO CONTRACTOR STARTING THE PROJECT; THE OWNER
STATES THAT THE CONTRACTOR CAN USE THE REAR LOT OF HIS
PROPERTY TO POUR CONCRETE INTO GARAGE AREA PER PERMISSION
OF THE ADJOINGING PROPERTY OWNERS ALL DIRT WORK WILL BE
ADDED TO THIS QUOTE WITH ANY OTHER RESTRORATION.

$5200

this guy owns his own company, highly recommended locally.


still waiting on quotes from a few other places. so.. thats a big gap between the three. does 3000 sound way too low? does $5200 sound too high? and 4K... for someone just to pull a number out like that, is he just trying to ******** his way and get more money or is it that he is good enough to know what he is talking about despite me feeling a bit uneasy?

 

[TheModelAGuy]

If doing it myself 5.5 yards @ $150+' $250 materials, concrete disposal 20000 lbs at your land fill rate $550 out here. And if a pump is neede add $300.
Ask for references. Some guys without much overhead can save you some $$.
Small jobs are not as lucrative and contractors use them to keep the crew busy.

 

[Scott r c]

Quote 1 seems way too cheap to me. People can't look at a small job as a standard per sq. ft. price because it still ties up a crew with multiple trips to get this job done. Other than the extra materials, they could pour a slab twice that size for the same amount of work as yours.

 

[MagKarl]

Quote 3 includes fixing a drainage problem.

 

[hoffman912]

Yeah but the cost of installing a French drain on one side -does it justify that price difference? I figure it shouldn't be that hard to do myself

 

[Rudyjr]

I would suggest that you have anyone you choose put a poly vapor barrier under the slab and 6x6 welded wire mesh in it as well. You won't be sorry here in central Ohio. My garage stays drier than any of the ones around me that don't have a vapor barrier under the floor.

 

[hoffman912]

Yeah vapor barrier is mandatory. Made that clear for all, and will double check to make sure is included in the 1st quote. Also going to go back and ask for wire reinforcement

 

[Rudyjr]

Shoot me a PM and I will see if I know anything about the contractors. My family has been in the construction industry in and around Columbus a long time.

 

[hoffman912]

just responded to your PM. sorry was out and about and didnt have the exact names of the companies on me.

 

[rustyjames]

Yeah vapor barrier is mandatory. Made that clear for all, and will double check to make sure is included in the 1st quote. Also going to go back and ask for wire reinforcement

Typically, fiber is used instead of wire reinforcement.

 

[hoffman912]

so it's OK to have fiber and not wire? a lot of people have told me ask for both wire and fiber

 

[James-W]

I am certainly no authority on this, but as far as I know you only need to have one of them and not both, although you can have both if you want to. But for the sides of the building you should have rebar and I am pretty sure that is code in most places.

 

[Astro-t]

Just for a reference I have a 24x28 garage floor that is new construction. Needs grading and more stone to finish. I got three estimates #1 for 3200.00 #2 for 4275.00 #3 for 9800.00 all but the last one got written estimates. #1 4 inches of concrete and rebar #2 6inches of concrete rebar tied to walls with wire mesh. #3 I assume he didnt want the job.

 

[Astro-t]

Not big on the fiberglass.... when you sweep the floor will it be air borne?

 

[hoffman912]

All of these are 4 inches

 

[Astro-t]

4 inches sounds little thin to park on?

 

[MagKarl]

Ask what kind of fiber they are proposing. I just learned that my local concrete plant ads BASF polypropylene fiber, not fiberglass like they used to. Supposed to give much better finish.

 

[rustyjames]

so it's OK to have fiber and not wire? a lot of people have told me ask for both wire and fiber

Sure, you could do both, but it's wasting money. If it were me I'd just use the wire. If you plan on coating the floor don't use fiber, my friend did it and you can see the fiber sticking out of the epoxy. If you go with wire make sure you go with sheets, not rolls, as I t's difficult to keep consistent depth of coverage in the slab.

 

[hoffman912]

Sure, you could do both, but it's wasting money. If it were me I'd just use the wire. If you plan on coating the floor don't use fiber, my friend did it and you can see the fiber sticking out of the epoxy. If you go with wire make sure you go with sheets, not rolls, as I t's difficult to keep consistent depth of coverage in the slab.

Thanks, I was leaning toward rust bullet.

spoke with the 1st guy today ($3000 quote), he said it is a salt resistant mix, and this would be a 7 bag pour.

The 3rd quote (5200) said it would be a 6 bag pour.

 

[zporta]

#1 seems very cheap. I would be on par with the #3 bid if i were bidding the job. Rip out and replace is expensive. Typically 3x the normal sq ft price

 

[QUIKSVT]

Hi Hoffman, did you try Generations Concrete? They are out of Powell. I just signed with them for my job, new construction. 24x32 shop floor 4 1/2" thick 4500psi with mesh and fiber, a lot of sidewalks, aprons for garage and shop and patio.

 

[mnavillus]

ensure you have your vapor barrier and compare apples to apples on the estimate!

However, because it's a smaller job....and most of the larger contractors are going to look at this as "filler work" to keep there people busy between larger projects.

because of that issue you might be better off with someone with good experience and references but maybe not quite the overhead cost of a larger contractor!

good luck!

 

[hoffman912]

Thanks Quiksvt. I will give them a call this week.

Yup, no vapor barrier, no job. they know it needs to be super dry.

 

[CHEBANSE]

Make sure you look at some work they have done 3-5 years old. Also make sure you know where the get their aggregate. Different gravel from different quarries may cause the concrete to pit or turn yellow. I had to go 30 miles from home to get a whiter aggregate mix so my drive would stay looking new four years later.

Unfortunately from my experience "side job" concrete guys put more attention to detail but are crappy on warranty claims. They usually are a little cheaper for what it worth.