holy concrete!

[shane3fan]

Ive been attempting to get some quotes for concrete work, having a hard time even getting anyone to return my calls.

Well, I finally got a return call and almost fell out of my chair.

"Shane,

The cost for the concrete is $14,200.00. This includes a 4" gravel base 4" slab poured with 3000 psi concrete. I have also included a 12" wide by 12" deep reinforced footing around the perimeter. "

does that sound fair for a 60x32 slab ( the footings would be for a 48x32 building---12x32 is just a parking pad outside of the building )

 

[Al Bundy]

I don't know about GA, but it sounds ridiculous for upstate NY. I just had a 16' x 24' x 6" driveway quoted for $1400.

 

[ddawg16]

Well...lets break this down.....

Concrete....a little over 30 yards....@ $100/yd....$3000 (that is being optomistic)
Rebar.....$500?
Gravel....$200
Forms....$200

Right there you have at least $4000 in material....and that is being very conservative...

Labor? Do you work for free?

Something that big is going to take a week or so to grade and set up forms...
Assume $1500 in direct labor costs.....

One can assume he will use a back hoe.....ever rented one? $200/day +

Pour day....something that big....4 guys minimum....$600

So....in just direct costs.....over $7000....

It sounds like your out in the country....so it's what...a 30min drive at least? How far do the dump trucks have to go? If they spend an hour just getting to your place...cost goes up....

My estimates above are 'very' conservative....without knowing more, I can't say the estimate is that far off....without knowing more, we can't give you a better answer.

BTW....what ever you 'think' your garage is going to cost? multiply by 50%.....if you are like the rest of us....you underestimate everything....I know I did....

 

[kartracer23]

I had a quote for half that size for $17,000 so don't feel too bad.

Perhaps your best bet is to get a few estimates and look at a few of their jobs. When you're talking about things that involve a lot of manual labor you'll find widely varying prices (and quality). Unfortunately you can't just go with your first one. When I was getting my garage quoted, the first guy was at $55,000 - Second guy at $25,900 (first guy was the $17,000 concrete job).

 

[jonzer12]

Wow that is CHEAP, Ground work started yesterday. I payed 12,300 for 5" slab plus land prep 28x36. That doesn't even include the drain and extra labour for sloping the concrete.
I had one contactor quote me for 22k plus tax! I laughed as I hung up the phone.

I guess prices are all relative to location

 

[cj7365]

Ive been attempting to get some quotes for concrete work, having a hard time even getting anyone to return my calls.

Well, I finally got a return call and almost fell out of my chair.

"Shane,

The cost for the concrete is $14,200.00. This includes a 4" gravel base 4" slab poured with 3000 psi concrete. I have also included a 12" wide by 12" deep reinforced footing around the perimeter. "

does that sound fair for a 60x32 slab ( the footings would be for a 48x32 building---12x32 is just a parking pad outside of the building )

Well you better put a seat belt on, because that sounds about right

 

[GeorgiaHybrid]

I'm in Georgia (near Chattanooga) and there is NO way it should be that high. I built mine during the reconstruction spree from the tornado's that hit this area and paid more than normal for mine. All in, with footings, 4' high, 8" thick formed stem wall, 32x52 5" thick slab and a 4" thick, 45x50 apron in front (total of just over 100 yards) the cost was just under $21,000. That included the gravel, the rebar for the footings and the walls (I furnished and tied the rebar in the slab), the pump truck for the walls and all labor.

 

[cj7365]

Well...lets break this down.....

Concrete....a little over 30 yards....@ $100/yd....$3000 (that is being optomistic)
Rebar.....$500?
Gravel....$200
Forms....$200

Right there you have at least $4000 in material....and that is being very conservative...

Labor? Do you work for free?

Something that big is going to take a week or so to grade and set up forms...
Assume $1500 in direct labor costs.....

One can assume he will use a back hoe.....ever rented one? $200/day +

Pour day....something that big....4 guys minimum....$600

So....in just direct costs.....over $7000....

It sounds like your out in the country....so it's what...a 30min drive at least? How far do the dump trucks have to go? If they spend an hour just getting to your place...cost goes up....

My estimates above are 'very' conservative....without knowing more, I can't say the estimate is that far off....without knowing more, we can't give you a better answer.

BTW....what ever you 'think' your garage is going to cost? multiply by 50%.....if you are like the rest of us....you underestimate everything....I know I did....

This^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

 

[GarageEnvy]

My slab was similar at 34'x54' with similar footings. I did not have the gravel, only compacted dirt. Because they were also replacing a footing under the attached wall to the house it was about 37 yards. Total was $8,000 2 years ago this month. That also included $650 for a pump truck. Excavation, compaction and pad prep was another $1,500. I'm in central CA.

 

[Cheap5.0]

Concrete work/prices are very regional, its almost not worth trying to make sense of them on the internet.

I just had my 30x40 pad poured for $3440, that included:

12 yards of sand
4000 psi concrete w/fiber mesh
all labor

Now i know that's smaller and i didn't have a 12x12 rat wall added to it like the OP's, but per sq ft im still considerably cheaper and it was not done by a "trunk slammer". This guy came with a pile of good references, a friends recommendation and 30 years of work.

I mean the op's guy quoted $7.40/ft and i paid under $2.90/ft....maybe larger pours are more expensive per sq ft just because it requires more men in the same amount of time?

 

[Gary S]

Probably about right.

Back in 2004, I build my garage. I did all the work myself, dirtwork, forms, and pouring the concrete. Mine was a bit smaller than yours. The bill for 29 yds of concrete, forms, rebar, and Bobcat rental ran just over $3000. Now, add labor to that, and you would easily have $6000-7000. And, concrete was a little cheaper back in those days.

If you don't like that price, you can probably cut it in half by doing the work yourself.

 

[Falcon67]

$7.40 sq/ft, all labor and materials included? Decent price IMHO. Would run you $5~6.50 ish here, or so.

 

[wnstwolf]

Depending on what type of initial excavating is needed that is not too far off. 60x40' here in upstae NY cost me 10k but I had the crew on site to also do my new house foundation. The concrete is the cheap part the guys doing hte work is what get's you especially for the equipment they bring on site...

 

[shane3fan]

yeah, I know all about the varying expense in different markets---just looking for a ball park.

The ground is as close to perfectly level as you can get--it neighbors my parking pad for my driveway. They will have to excavate for sure, but it is all level.

 

[NUTTSGT]

Well...lets break this down.....

Concrete....a little over 30 yards....@ $100/yd....$3000 (that is being optomistic)
Rebar.....$500?
Gravel....$200
Forms....$200

Right there you have at least $4000 in material....and that is being very conservative...

Labor? Do you work for free?

Something that big is going to take a week or so to grade and set up forms...
Assume $1500 in direct labor costs.....

One can assume he will use a back hoe.....ever rented one? $200/day +

Pour day....something that big....4 guys minimum....$600

So....in just direct costs.....over $7000....

It sounds like your out in the country....so it's what...a 30min drive at least? How far do the dump trucks have to go? If they spend an hour just getting to your place...cost goes up....

My estimates above are 'very' conservative....without knowing more, I can't say the estimate is that far off....without knowing more, we can't give you a better answer.

BTW....what ever you 'think' your garage is going to cost? multiply by 50%.....if you are like the rest of us....you underestimate everything....I know I did....

Add in the cost of laying everything out too, unless you have a general contractor laying out the stakes. What about the building permits or any local restrictions he has to deal with ?

 

[dandan111]

I always figure if you can take the cost of materials and double it that's a pretty good deal. Just my opinion.

 

[aka Larry]

My slab is 40'x40'x4" thk with a 12"x12" perimeter footing, 6"x6" WWF, vapor barrier, etc. The total cost installed was almost $7,000.00

 

[kmacht]

Rent a bobcat and a tamper for the weekend (no need for a backhoe if only doing a 12" permieter footer), have a load of stone delivered and make the base yourself. Build the forms, set the rebar, and hire someone to do the pour and finish work. You are looking at about $1300 in materials and equipment rental, $3000 for the concrete and $1000 for labor to help pour and finish it. You will be way under what the cost you were quoted was. None of this is rocket science. If you want to just hire someone to come in and do it all then don't be surpised by the high cost. If you are willing to put in a weekend or two and do all the prep work you will save a ton of money and know that it was done right.

Keith

 

[Zeke]

This^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

You bet, and he said the backhoe was 200/ day. No way.

 

[Falcon67]

Build the forms, set the rebar, and hire someone to do the pour and finish work. You are looking at about $1300 in materials and equipment rental...

My rebar and form material for a 24x40 4" slab was over $1000. Gravel base material delivered would have been $750 (didn't use). Bobcat S150 rents $175/day here, no weekend. Day is a day. That's you pick it up too. I got the S150 because it was the only one light enough (6000 lbs) that fit on my 7000 lb rated trailer. Unless you've got a big truck and trailer, the rest is delivered - $1.50/mile IIRC. About $100 on my deal. And you can only scrape with a Bobcat and a bucket, you can't dig a 12x12 footer or beams. That's had work or small mini hoe.

It cost me about $800 more to hire it out than DIY - and one day Bobcat rental - and it was done a lot faster. I could not write the check fast enough.

 

[ra42mario]

Get as many estimates as possible with references. They will vary by a huge margin. Some contractors don't mind working everyday, some contractors want to hit a home run, work your job and not be bothered for 2 or 3 weeks with work.

One issue with all of them that I have found, is it is tough to find any of them that give two cents about the quality on your job, and as the saying goes, if you want something done right, do it yourself (at least in my area).

 

[Perryk]

My 32x36 Monolithic pad 6" thick with footing, all rebar, base materials, and pumper truck at $180/hr for 3 hrs was $5500.

About $4.50/sq ft. sans pumper

 

[brownbagg]

around here is running $2 a sq ft, then add a little for extras and price of material, concrete, gravel, rebar. so on high side $10k, you can get it done for $5000 if you wanted

 

[64dragnwagon]

I just poured a 60x30 4.5" 4,000 psi, wire mesh, vapor barrier, 12" footers for 2 post lift, 8 truckloads of fill dirt, 3" gravel, for a total cost of about 6K. I did all the prep work and no footers or forms as it was in a pole building and I paid a finisher and a helper $400 to screed and power trowell it. I also provided myself and 3 others to wheelbarrow and spread concrete.
The concrete business around here is very slow right now and he was hungry for work. I admit it was cheaper than most would work for but he did a great job and was happy to get the work plus they only worked one day since I had it ready to pour. I would get some more qoutes and if you are able to do any of the site prep do it, you will save a lot of $$

 

[craiggt37]

I just got a couple estimates for a 30x42 and 40x12 both 4" thick 4000psi parking pads. All grading,gravel,wire mesh and broom finish included. One was $8000,the other was from the same guy that poured my 30x40 polebarn floor. His was $4100. Both reputable and have been in buisness for at least 20yrs.

 

[Jason280]

Sounds extremely high, even for Athens, and I have little doubt you can't find a cheaper contractor. Plus, you can save a considerable amount simply by doing the work yourself, so that is an option.

I poured a 20x40 two years ago, and ended up spending $1400 for the concrete (14 yards of 3k PSI) and $500 to get it broomed/smoothed. Of course, I did all the form work and leveling myself, as well as running the base layer of slag. I didn't use any rebar or mesh, as I was told it wasn't needed. I am not sure if its required in your situation, so you may need to check.

Regardless, I don't see any reason why you shouldn't be able to get it done significantly cheaper than $14k.