OT- Concrete Work Pricing?

I am currently considering replacement of our Concrete Driveway. The Concrete is deteriorated, and it is time to replace it. I have a bid from a contractor that comes highly recommended and does very good work. I was wondering if the price I have been quoted is as good a deal as everyone I talk to seems to think it is. I know we have a wealth of knowledge here, so I wanted to throw this out there, and see what folks think. Here are the particulars of the contract:

The Driveway area to be replaced is approx. 650 sq.ft.
*Remove exisiting concrete and dispose of it
*Set Grade
*Set Forms
*Pour Area with 6 Bag Mix with Fiber Mesh
*Pour Concrete at 4" Depth
*Install Expansion Joint at Garage
*Install Control Joints at 7'/17'/27'/37' intervals
*Finish Concrete
*Pull forms when dry.

The total for the job was quoted at $2895.00
So, what say ye Sages of Sawmill Creek? Good deal? Thanks in advance for any comments or input.

Kevin, I did my own driveway last fall, it was 12 yards of concrete. I had a few buddies over and we had a go at it. Setting the forms/grading is the most important part. I rented a bobcat and a dump truck for a day ($250 total) and had a blast ripping the old drive up. I found a guy who wanted clean fill, so he let me dump it for free. I then laid about a 2" bed of CA6 (white rock) which cost me about $80. The concrete was just under $850. Expansion joints and other misc. totaled about $100 (including mesh). However, the work is tedious, and very physical. Muscles hurt the next day that I didn't even know I had. If I had to do it again, I probably would. We got a few bids beforehand and they wanted anywhere from $2800-$3500. I saved a lot of money by doing it myself (did I mention my bro-in-law does it for a living and offered to help?) :rolleyes: Keep checking other places, and DEFINATELY see other driveways that they did. My neighbor got her driveway done by a "pro" and they are in court right now over the approach at the street. They poured it 3" below the street...not too bright! Need I mention what happens every time it rains?!? Good luck!

Kevin, Over the summer I tore up my 2 year old patio that was improperly installed. I started trying to do the job myself with the help of day labor. The jackhammer was to much work for this old man and the day labor was unreliable. Between equipment retail and day labor I spent around a $1000.00.
Then paid another $1400.00 to have the job completed. I only repaired/replaced about 300 sq. feet of it, so it sounds like you are getting a FAIR deal.
I have had a lot of bad experiences with contractors in my area so I made sure I got everything in writing and it paid off, because he tried to get away with not doing some things that he said he would do.
I insisted on packing the soil, putting plastic down, drilling and installing rebar into the remainder of the patio and the foundation of the house and then reinforcing wire tied into that.
You didn't mention the reinforcing wire and the PSI rating of the concrete. Don't let them tell you that fiber will take the place of wire. I believed that when they built my house and I don't have a concrete slap anywhere that is not cracked.
Good luck and "watch them" because you do not know what is under that concrete until years later when it starts to fail.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Kevin Gersty

The Driveway area to be replaced is approx. 650 sq.ft.
*Remove exisiting concrete and dispose of it
*Set Grade
*Set Forms
*Pour Area with 6 Bag Mix with Fiber Mesh
*Pour Concrete at 4" Depth
*Install Expansion Joint at Garage
*Install Control Joints at 7'/17'/27'/37' intervals
*Finish Concrete
*Pull forms when dry.

The total for the job was quoted at $2895.00
So, what say ye Sages of Sawmill Creek? Good deal? Thanks in advance for any comments or input.

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You're talking about 800$ worth of concrete .. 300$ worth of other material & disposal, 24 man-hours labor (2 guys 8 hours to rip/grade/form & 2 guys 4 hours to pour/finish/cleanup) ... @ 45-55$/hr min labor ... (20-25$ hour wage, plus SS, etc..) The guy ain't gettin' rich doing this. Sounds fair to me though you could do it for under 1200$ yourself if you have time/skill/help.. depends on what your time is worth and your skill level. Good driveway adds to value of your home, bad driveway detracts..

Definently check out other driveways they've done -- flatwork is most common concrete work and some real idiots do it for a living.. getting good ones can be real tuff.

I had 1760 sq. ft. of concrete poured this summer. I ripped up the old ashphalt and paid $400 to have it hauled away. I had a contractor do the concrete ( same specs as yours) and paid him $3600. Chris

I just had about 1300 sq ft poured in my driveway to the same specifications plus reinforcing wire and some extra excavating and installation of a 2-3" pea gravel base. My cost was $3,860. This was Y shaped driveway with one leg curved and a sidewalk.

I sure could use a concrete driveway. Want to come and fix me up with a good driveway? Only about 300 linear feet.!!!

I figured lasy year that I would figure out how much concrete I would need just for a small driveway from the back of my house out to the main driveway section. I would only need 37 yards of concrete. Needless to say....I still have a gravel driveway. ;)

Kevin, We had our drive and sidewalk replaced last month.the total job cost $3991.
1178 sq ft, 5" - 6 1/2 bag mix they had to put a lot of extra stone to build up the base due to unstable soil. 5" concrete, wire etc. Side walk was 4" thick, 200 sq ft. We are very happy with the out come. This was in NE Ohio
Earl