Finding a concrete guy

[TRC51]

Hello Everyone,

This may sound like a dumb question, but what's the best way to source a GOOD concrete guy to pour my foundation? I am calling through the phone book and I just don't get that "warm and fuzzy" feeling. I get more of the... "I got what you need" feeling. I realize references are key once you find somebody, but what's the best way to get somone reputable? Go to a job site and just ask around? Been thinking about calling the concrete supplier and asking for suggestions. Also, do concrete guys typically excavate? I would like someone to do both. Kind of scared of craigslist too.

Thanks for the suggestions.

 

[rieferman]

I used Angie's List with varying results... Still felt the need to get 5 bids for the expensive stuff like the floor, but at least I knew that they'd done good work elsewhere in the area.

I try to schedule the bids so that the people I like the least on the phone come first. I learn from them, get some lingo and cost basis down.. then I'm better prepared to partner with the guys that were better on the phone.

I usually end up picking the guy with the middle cost that I got along with the best after all this

edit: sorry, that ended up sounding like a lesson on how to pick a contractor, didn't mean to come off that way, I'm sure you don't need that lesson... But on that note we recently had a pretty good conversation about that too: http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=39516&highlight=angie's+list

 

[brownbagg]

call a concrete testing lab, talk to a technician, has him for a good concrete finisher, they see them everyday. I know I do

 

[dipper]

I called a few contractors from the local pennysaver and yellow pages and talked to them about digging a foundation, laying block and pouring the floor. A few I talked too were okay, one guy flat out turned me right off when he started cursing the town I lived in and such about the zoning and building department.

I then called a guy who actually lives about 5 minutes from me, and owned his own business. He was the only employee and his b-i-l helped him some too. Needless to say, he got the job and I was very impressed. He was pretty much always on time and responded to my phone calls/questions etc. etc.

I guess just keep asking around,and going to look at finished jobs or jobs in progress is good too.

Where are you located? That might help us too.

 

[rlme36]

I called the local concrete supplier and asked for a list of the top contractors that they do business with, wasn't fool proof. But I did find a couple of guys that were great and that don't advertise up here in CT, because they have plenty of business even now.

 

[krehmkej]

Having dealt with both excavators and concrete finishers, my experience was that they are both specialists. Often two will work together, but don't expect one guy to do both the earthwork and build forms and pour.

 

[Vinko]

You might go to a local shop/warehouse that deals with a lot of weight on a loading dock. If they had someone pour concrete and it has held up, then it might be a good recommendation.

We had a guy pour ours 20 years ago, and we have full shipping containers on our dock, and not one crack.

We went back to him again last year. He has a good reputation, but he's expensive.

I'm no expert, but I almost doubled up on the amount of steel rebar used. Made it every 6".

 

[michael Mccoy]

Look up ServiceMagic on the internet, they follow up even after the job is finished, I don't believe they recommend guys who do lousy work, wished I had known about them before I had a retaining wall built.They give you several local people to choose from.

 

[Racer_X]

You might also try calling your local building inspector and asking him/her who they like.

 

[Art From De Leon]

You might also try calling your local building inspector and asking him/her who they like.

They would recommend whomever gives them the biggest kickback.

 

[lilredex]

You might watch for guys working on jobs around you. When I was looking for someone to pour a driveway, I talked to a couple of crews that were renewing city sidewalks in my area. They came by and looked, but ended up using a father/son team that were re-doing a guy's garage floor (that I saw while walking the dog) and came highly recommended.

Word of mouth always best in my experience. Although, have had good luck too, calling ads in local papers/ yellow pages for stuff I don't want to do like sanding H/W floors and sweeping the chimney a couple of times, when I felt lazy. There is always a risk, the guy with the best line is not always the best.

 

[luvair]

Check with some folks who built in your area and determine their feedback. Also study specifically what type of concrete you need, the depth, rebar, how it will conform to your building, etc. Also who are the main contractors in your area and ask them who they sub too. Good luck.

 

[Vinko]

I talked to a couple of crews that were renewing city sidewalks in my area.

I'm sometimes amazed by how damn nice some of the poured concrete from over 50-70 years ago looks on a city sidewalk.

 

[ddawg16]

Another reason why it is helpful to put your apx location in your profile.......

For all we know you might be looking for a concrete guy in BF Turkey....

 

[TRC51]

Thanks for all the suggestions. That is great! I am going to start with some internet searching (cause I am stuck at work right now), but I may just start watching for some people around town. I am finding that a lot of masons I see rolling around in trucks with their numbers on the side of them are not listed in the phone book. I know a friend of a friend of friend who's uncle's, wife's roomate from college knows a guy who frames houses for a living. Maybe he can put me on to someone.

BTW, I am located in Albany, NY... not Turkey. :lol

 

[Ezzie]

TRC51 - just an OT question. Is the girl in your avatar Elisha Cuthbert (Kim Bauer in the TV series 24)?? If so, she is a Canadian born actress from Calgary that moved to LA in her teens to start her acting career. Very attractive gal!!

 

[lilredex]

I'm sometimes amazed by how damn nice some of the poured concrete from over 50-70 years ago looks on a city sidewalk.

All the sidewalks around here are dated with the contractor's name and it is kind of neat to look at them. Not many are still dated 1958 which is the year most of the houses in my area were built. Salt and undermining by tree roots are the main reason they get replaced. The city (Borough of Etobicoke) got out of the sidewalk business in the early eighties.........cheaper to contract out. This is evident by looking at those date impressions.

One other note, you sometimes see white crosses painted on the sidewalks that highlight municipal markers. These show up in ariel photos they have on record. If you buy a house and sneak a garage or pool in there (with out a permit) they can throw these dated photos at you if you claim it was already there.

 

[rburke65]

Would not want to give out any info on where ya live......Make everyone ask or guess!

 

[TRC51]

Would not want to give out any info on where ya live......Make everyone ask or guess!

Hmmm.... Then I say I live in Canfield, OH.

 

[TRC51]

TRC51 - just an OT question. Is the girl in your avatar Elisha Cuthbert (Kim Bauer in the TV series 24)?? If so, she is a Canadian born actress from Calgary that moved to LA in her teens to start her acting career. Very attractive gal!!

Yes it is EC. If I were more web savy, I would start the CKA.com site (Cuthbert Kicks...). She was great in the movie "The Girl Next Door". My av is my favorite pick of her.

 

[jumbo61]

BTW, I am located in Albany, NY... not Turkey. :lol

WOW! Two of us from Albany,NY. I would be interested in who you find. My project is, hopefully, starting next spring. Tell us something about your project.

 

[TRC51]

WOW! Two of us from Albany,NY. I would be interested in who you find. My project is, hopefully, starting next spring. Tell us something about your project.

Very cool. Be glad to tell you about it. Posted up my final proposal for added suggestions not long ago:

http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=40148

I have been planning this for a while. Would you believe my first idea when this project started was to simply put a 12 x 24 shed in my yard? Would have been a lot easier and cheaper, but as everyone says around here, you can't go big enough. I had at least 10 different size increases until I finally settled on the 24 x 30 (cause the wife told me that was it). Curtis lumber is getting pissed at me for all the quotes I have called them for on different sizes.

 

[TRC51]

Bringing this back from the dead...

I got my permit! So I started calling all over creating for quotes on this project. I decided to call one of the concrete suppliers in my area for references. This was about a month or two ago when I was getting pretty serious. I called them and the cheapest guy of the three was D & D Masonry. Really good guy. Site unseen, but he said to me plain in simple... "all I am going to do is show up with my forms and build/ pour your foundation, you have to excavate, backfill and everything else. Tough work, but manual labor that I can do.

So, now that I have my permit, I kicked it into high gear to locate someone who would do the excavating and everything (makes it easier because they know what they need to excavate). I made tons of calls to masons and contractors in the phone book and only two called back. Both quoted me $10K+ for the job with excavating. D&D was half that (but again, no excavating). Both contractors that were more than $10K said that the cost to excavate was $2500 or less. So I decided to call a different local concrete supplier to get more references if possible. Guess what.... they also recommended D&D Masonry! I couldn't believe it.

So that said, I now have only one concern; Do I trust the references and go with the guy who is more than half the price of the other two? I have no problem doing the excavating, prep and back fill, but I am a little worried about the quality of the job if he is half the price.

Anyone have any thoughts/suggestions?

 

[sammerdog]

Man, it seems like there's a pretty good sized "grey area".... all I'm gonna do is show up, form, pour....

GOOD - the guy is going to be your low bidder.
BAD - sure does sound like a wham-bam-thank-you ma'am deal.

Unless you know what you're getting into with excavation and site prep you could be opening up a can of worms. Compacting your soil? Gravel? Tamping down the gravel? Using a vapor barrier? When all the concrete starts to break up in a couple years, is he going to fault the site prep? If so, you ain't got a leg to stand on.

For strong concrete - ask the supplier if he can go light on adding fly ash if you throw him an extra couple of bucks.

 

[DRED]

I just had concrete done for my 24x24 foot garage in NYC. I think you can also get recommendations from framers,thats actually where I got mine, because they usually have to deal with the quality of the work done by the conconcrete workers. They usually know how level etc. it is.

I was thinking about the excavation part of my job at the time. You could also just hire out a excavator for the day, maybe for a few hundred dollars.

 

[TRC51]

I just had concrete done for my 24x24 foot garage in NYC. I think you can also get recommendations from framers,thats actually where I got mine, because they usually have to deal with the quality of the work done by the conconcrete workers. They usually know how level etc. it is.

I was thinking about the excavation part of my job at the time. You could also just hire out a excavator for the day, maybe for a few hundred dollars.

Good suggestions. I did a little more clarification with the cheapest guy quoting. He really is doing nothing more than showing up, putting up his forms and pouring concrete. The other guys are quoting, excavating, grading, tamping, stone under the slab, etc. I guess I have some work ahead of me if I am going to use the cheapest guy (which unfortunately I may have to, but I am not afraid of a little work.

Renting an excavator was my next move, but I found a guy that has one and will do the dig for me for about $500. I meet with him on Monday to make sure we are on the same page. The one thing I worry about is spending money on all the separate items, only to find out that they are the same price or more than the guy who will do everything.

 

[rieferman]

The one thing I worry about is spending money on all the separate items, only to find out that they are the same price or more than the guy who will do everything.

That's a good point. In my case, I had a guy I know and like do the whole job for me. He subbed out the concrete finishing, but he was the one I dealt with/paid/the buck stopped with him. So it was easy for me to manage one point of contact, and one scheduler etc. And if anything went wrong, I had one place to go. I probably paid an extra few hundred bucks, but I found it worth it for peace of mind.