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Login to post Forums » Off-topic discussion » Pouring a 25x8 Slab. DIY or ?

May 17, 2010 8:56 p.m. Datsun1500 Dork

I have a back patio (concrete) that has a flower bed between it and the garage. I am going to dig up the flower bed and pour a new slab to connect to the old one (make sense?) It will be 25 by 8. I have not done concrete in 20 plus years and I am sure I remember it being easier than it was.....

Is this a do it yourself because you like doing this stuff yourself or is it easier to let someone else do it? I have no idea how much it will be in material to do it myself vs just contracting it out.

I put an ad on Craigs List and have 2 bids of $1500. That just seems cheap.
May 17, 2010 9:10 p.m. shadetree30 New Reader

Or you coulda PM'ed Margie...
May 17, 2010 9:39 p.m. mad_machine SuperDork

I think the Trick Margie learned was to use the right footings...
May 17, 2010 9:45 p.m. EastCoastMojo SuperDork

We had a 12 x 12 poured about 2 years ago for 1200. It's a big enough job that I would hire it out, and this is coming from someone who spent the last 4th of July weekend reframing and roofing half the garage with her husband.
May 17, 2010 10:00 p.m. cwh SuperDork

Find a concrete pumper, ask him his price. He will sourse the concrete mix and put it in place far better and faster than you ever could. BTDT.
May 17, 2010 10:23 p.m. Appleseed SuperDork

Pumps will cost a e 36 m3 load. Get some wheelbarrows and beer for "friends" or the neighborhood kids.
May 18, 2010 2:27 a.m. Opus Dork

OK, few questions for you.

Do you know anyone who can finish concrete? If not hire it out and do all of the prep work yourself. when you dig the pad, make sure that it slopes away from the house at 2% unless you are trying to connect 2 individual pads. Then just warp to fit but best to slope away from house or other structure.

Do you have a united rentals near your house. (if so, and you have access to a truck with class 3 hitch, see if they rent their 1 yard trailers for DIY people.) I did this for my last patio and it was far easier than a truck and pump (cheaper too)

You have 25x8 at 4 inch thickness for a total of 2.5 yards of concrete. This would be a short load (More $$$) for a standard truck. Buying a mixer and mixing yourself will take forever. IF you do not know how to finish concrete, hire it out.

I have hired a finisher to direct placement and help with finishing of my last 2 slabs and will most likely do it again for my next pour. I have done all of the prep work myself to save money.

If you do not have the ability to rent the trailer from united and do not want to pump, be aware that if the driver of the concrete truck gets impatient and feels that you are not getting the material out of his truck fast enough, they will charge you stand by time that can exceed the cost of a pump. To use wheel barrows, you will need at least 2 depending on how far away the truck is from the pour. It is always better to chute the concrete if you can.

Good luck.
May 18, 2010 8:07 a.m. kcmoken New Reader

A concrete pumper would take longer to set up than to pump that pad, and then longer to clean. And you need to prime the pump with a yard of concrete. However I really like concrete pumps .

Rent a "Georgia Buggy" to get the concrete from the truck to the pad, if you can't get the truck close enough to get it from the chute.

As to contracting that out, that is a pretty small job. $1,500 for 200 square feet is $7.50/s.f., that is a boatload for a finished slab. For a 4" nominal thickness slab, you are only looking at just over 2 yards of concrete. Pour it thicker (I like 6" nominal for driveways), and you are still only at just over 3 yards.

Alternatively, call your local day labor shop and get the hard labor from them. Lets see, you plus two other guys @ $12/hour cash for four hours, a rental georgia buggy, 3 yards of concrete, 3 yards of base limestone, doesn't seem like too hard a job.
May 18, 2010 8:57 a.m. Autolex HalfDork

there are deals all over craigslist in the FL panhandle (where I am) for concrete at $2.50 a square foot (4" thick), INSTALLED.
May 18, 2010 9:02 a.m. joey48442 SuperDork

I think I paid about 4 bucks a square foot for my garage pad.

Joey
May 18, 2010 10:49 a.m. Dr. Hess SuperDork

I'd sub that out, at least the labor of pouring and finishing, and preferably the setting of the forms and the dozer work, if needed. Concrete work sux. Use plenty of steel, and add some beams, at least around the perimeter. Uh, I ain't a civil engineer, but my slab is the only uncracked one in Arkansas and it was built to Texas Highway Department specifications.

There are concrete companies that sell you the concrete mixed and ready to pour in a little trailer. I don't know if they hold 2-3 yards, though. I think you'll need a real truck for that much, and getting it delivered by a cement truck will be a lot cheaper than sourcing a mixer and buying the ingredients. It's been a while, but I think they have a 4 yard minimum around here, and when I poured my slab in '00, it was $55/yd. Prices have gone up since then.
May 18, 2010 11:40 a.m. mad_machine SuperDork

there you go... if you know the yard only sells a 4yd minimum.. make the pad thick enough to take all of it. And I agree with Hess... rebar and other metal meshes inside the concrete will make it MUCh less likely to crack
May 18, 2010 2:10 p.m. fifty Reader

definitely reinforce it with rebar. Concrete is excellent when dealing with compressive loads, but shear, expansion etc - not so good. At least that's my wife's take and she's got the masters in Civil Engineering. Mount the rebar on "hats" so it sits a few inches above the dirt. The hats are about $.40 a piece at the store. Use 3" of gravel as a base beneath the cement - SB2 (the type of gravel they use beneath road beds) is great and pretty cheap.

Last week I poured ~2 cubic yards of concrete as a footing for a retaining wall. 20 loads in a cement mixer, around $200 in materials plus $300 for the mixer. Maybe 16 hours of shovel digging, form work. laying rebar, pouring and finishing with a handtrowel.

You could definitely DIY it, but the kicker is getting an acceptable finish - the pros have the monster paddle finishers that make a cement pad look great.

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