Rough Concrete Pricing?

[Nova]

I have found myself in a bit of a situation here where I am really having trouble finding somebody to do a pad for my garage. I've talked to 3 different contractors, 2 said straight up that there is no way they would be able to get it done any time soon. The third was supposed to come back with a quote and some sort of timeline for me 3 days ago, still haven't heard from him. Concrete place I deal with did some calling around and said none of their regulars have time either. Around here the majority of the cement work is done by the construction companies, and right now with all the new construction going on most of them won't even think about doing cement work. I was losing hope that I would get this project started before I am done my holidays. Today my mom was finally able to track down a guy she dealt with in the past that has just moved back to town. I had a chance to talk to him tonight, seems to be very knowledgable, talked about some of the work he has done around town (I've seen some of it and it looks really good).

Anyways, he is the same story as most other places, pretty much booked up. But he said he is willing to do a favour based on the business my mom has brought him in the past and get it done right away even if he has to work on the weekend. Normally he charges $7 per square foot (including cement, rebar, forming, tamping, gravel, finishing, ect). He said he would do my 26x34' garage pad, small driveway coming up to it and 8x8' pad for a hot tub for $5000 (so pretty much $5 a square foot). This would be start to finish, between 4-5" thick with rebar and 12" footers.

Can anyone tell me if $5 per square foot (canadian dollars) is fair? To me it seems a tad high.......I really wish I would have gotten another quote to compare with at least. FWIW, redi-mix is worth somewhere between $140-150 a yard around here. I am going to do some research tomorrow early, and in the meantime I figured I would ask here just to see what you guys had to say. I would really like to get this done in the next week, but at the same time I don't want to overpay outside of reason either. Logic says if he is busy charging $7 a foot then this probably isn't unreasonable.

 

[BooUrns!]

Sounds like you're getting a deal to me. My conc guy charges 2/sq.ft for sub-base prep and placement plus finishing. Add on cost of reinforcement, forming materials, cost of conc, ground prep, etc.

I pay more than $7/sf just to install basement slabs. Be happy.

 

[Junkman]

When everyone is busy, and no one is willing to even quote new jobs, you are lucky to even get it done at the prevailing price. You are the type of person that contractors hate, because people like you are always more worried that they are paying too much for the job, and not caring about the contractors ability to do the job on time in budget. When I built my home, I paid more for the services of the concrete crew just to get them there on time.

 

[tdkkart]

Just for reference, I paid $93/yd US for 4000psi mix 2 weeks ago. Labor prices vary, mine was done on the "friends and neighbors" plan at only about $3/sqft. Prices of $5/sqft are pretty common around here.

 

[AndrewnTX]

I'm not sure how closely it relates to your question, being mine are driveway and patio pad vs your garage pad.... at the same time, I am curious what considerations may affect the pricing of garage pad vs driveway?

I had two jobs done in the last 3 yrs which both were 4-5" deep, rebar, all labor and materials complete and paid about $6-7 US dollars per sq foot; one job was a 600 sf patio add and the other was a 320 sf driveway widen and addition. I know I paid on the high end but we scored on a built in outdoor kitchen w/ the patio guy which made it worthwhile.

The most recent driveway job started to get frustrating because it was prepped on one Friday, actually early April; but since he was doing it in his spare Fridays as a fill in job, it only just got poured May 1!! Seemed every available day that came up had bad weather. Well it is done and I'm glad!

 

[Nova]

You are the type of person that contractors hate, because people like you are always more worried that they are paying too much for the job, and not caring about the contractors ability to do the job on time in budget.

I have to assume it is better to research pricing prior to hiring a contractor rather than get him on site and start complaining that his quote is too high. I know there are a lot of people who would say ok to whatever price is thrown at them and then later go around town telling people that "such and such" a company overcharged them when they found somebody who could give them a better deal after the fact.

Having a few more quotes would have been nice, but unfortunately I am going to have to resort to looking at past work people have had done and see what it cost them. I am not expecting the cheapest possible pricing. I am willing to pay the high side of whatever going rate is if the work is in demand. I just don't want to overpay based on my situation. As much as I would like it done I am not willing to pay an inflated price. I have gone the last 10 years needing a garage to work in and not having one, I could survive another couple months if need be. That said based on what I have read here it does sound like this quote is in the ballpark and I will more than likely go ahead with the deal.

 

[ddawg16]

At $5/sq ft, I'm assuming you mean Canadian $.....even in US, that is a good deal. Especially if he does good work.

My 20'x25' took 20 yards of concrete....at $100/yd, and the cost of pumping....and all the labor involved....I would have been happy at $5.

Take into consideration that he can do it now.....go for it.....the price is certainly within a reasonable range....and do you want to take the risk of 'maybe' getting a better price...after how many weeks? You have to factor in what your timeline is worth......

 

[Junkman]

There are guys on this site that work in facilities that have lower prices per hour for the same work as some other facility in the general area. Many times, the prices charged are based on more than "what the traffic will bare". There is the basic material costs, and some contractors have better sources for materials at better prices. Then comes the labor costs. Some contractors have lower labor costs as a result of a better workers compensation claim record. The list can go on for many more lines, but I hope that you are getting the idea. The guy that pays less, can charge less. Many a person starts out doing work out of their garage, and can make money doing so. Then when they get a facility, insurance, water, sewer, electric bills, the profits are not enough to sustain the business. One important thing to ask all contractors is if they carry insurance. If they say yes, then ask for a copy of the insurance policy, to make sure that you are protected if any of the workers gets hurt. No insurance, means that he can do the job for a lot less, but you are the one taking the chances. Today, there is so much more to be considered, that sometimes it isn't practical to act as your own general contractor, unless you have some experience under your belt. If you think that saving a $1000 on the job with someone without insurance is worth the risk, think about how much an injured worker will cost you for the rest of his life.

 

[Nova]

Well I called the guy back today and gave him the go ahead, he said he is ******* Monday/Tuesday but will be here Wednesday and get going on it. As it turns out he lives right across the street from me and just a few houses down. Hopefully he has no issue letting me help as much as possible so I can get some experience so I know what I am doing in the future.

After some further investigation $5 per square foot is a good deal as many of you mentioned. Prior to deciding to go ahead with my tear down and rebuild I looked over the expense list for my grandma's 20x26' with 16x6' approach that was built in fall. The prices were all broken down as the redi-mix and concrete work were billed separately by the companies. As it turns out I mistook the cost to clear the lot ($700) for the cost of the concrete work, which was actually $1400. Total cement cost was around $1800 (and I initially missed a $340 bill that was the redi mix for the approach). That means it was basically $5.2/ sq ft total. With the inaccurate numbers I had from my first look at the bill summary it worked out closer to $3.5/sq ft.