Browse Forums Paving & Concreting 1 Jun 27, 2010 6:57 pm We have received some quotes to get our driveway concreted. We have got quotes starting from $3000 to $5200 for plain concrete. Is there anyway we can check to make sure this concreter is certified? As I don't mind the cheaper one, he is a nice guy but I have this little voice in the back of my head saying " you get what you pay for" Its funny I wanted a good price but now I have it I wonder "why is he cheaper then everyone else?" Please help Re: How do I know if the concreter will do a good job?? 2Jun 28, 2010 8:55 am Hmmmm ... big difference ... Although, I have to say that we have never been happy with the work by the more/most exy traders. We usually went for the medium to above average ones - not happy. So we started to employ those at the lower end (or should I say lowest). Recent examples are the big job of demolition and XXXL tree felling ... couldn't be happier with both! The demol guys were probably the cheapest ones (ie. equal to quote from a small "backyard business" type of company which actually left some items "open", like asbestos removal - so the charge would be unknown) and the tree guy was the cheapest. So how much per m2 they work out, if I may ask? It's hard to judge a job with only an overall price ... for me it's always the "how did you get to this figure?". How many quotes did you get? My signature is distracting people from my wise posts ... Re: How do I know if the concreter will do a good job?? 3Jun 28, 2010 9:02 am The other part of your issue - How do I know if the concreter will do a good job? - have you studied in detail what is actually recommended and required and what to look out for? And then checked it against his plan/explanation of what and how will he do the job? There are some threads where people had issues like no expansion joins or something like that. Also, the drainage - I understand that some sites may be more in the need of very good drainage than others. I am not offering any advice, as I still have to do all of the above myself ... My signature is distracting people from my wise posts ... Re: How do I know if the concreter will do a good job?? 4Jun 28, 2010 10:12 am Make sure they are using the right spec materials for the job. For a driveway they should be using F72 minimum mesh for example. Its fairly easy to work out the materials cost for concreting so if the materials go close to your bottom quote figures with little play for labour costs, there may be some cost cutting on the materials side of things. Also have a look at driveways they have done in your area Re: How do I know if the concreter will do a good job?? 6Jun 28, 2010 10:48 am borg hey duke in vic your lucky if they use 62 let along 72. I noticed looking at some of the pics on this forum that there seems to be a higher quality of concreting in WA than VIC. On one quote a concreter mentioned he uses 62. Is this still any good? Also the every quote mentioned the concrete will be 100mm thick.... is this ok? Re: How do I know if the concreter will do a good job?? 7Jun 28, 2010 11:29 am Pretty sure its F72 for driveways here, F52 for paths etc. Re: How do I know if the concreter will do a good job?? 8Jun 28, 2010 2:26 pm Ask the local decorative concrete suppliers, or concrete batching plants, for recommendations, they usually have a general idea who does nice work and pays their bills on time. ******* trades often leave trails of unpaid depts around. And id go for nothing less than 72, for driveways or paths really. Re: How do I know if the concreter will do a good job?? 9Jun 29, 2010 5:43 pm min. sl62 for non reactive soils both driveway with standard vehicle traffic and sl62 for paths. 80mm for paths and min.100mm+ for driveway. It dosnt hurt to goto sl72. Min 50/65mm reiforcement chairs. In reactive soils sl72 for driveway and paths. all situations need dense compacted crushed rock based. For mid weight vehicle traffic sl72+. For commercial weight sl82+ and for industrial weight sl92 +. Reactive soils or cut and fill may need piers or edge beams engineered to suit. In reactive soils there may be a need for y12 deform horizontal bars on stress points ie: corners min: 25 MPa and max 90 slump from aggitator shute or max 90 odd slump from pump line. Expansion foam to all hard surfaces enclosed on more than 2 sides of new concrete and all situations for cross over abutment. I prefer saw cut control joints but hand tool joints serve the same purpose. The above can vary slightly due to site conditions or installers recs. Da Vinci Outdoor Living Architectural landscaping http://www.davincioutdoor.com Re: How do I know if the concreter will do a good job?? 10Jun 29, 2010 9:21 pm davinci Where you are coming from is where you are going to... Re: How do I know if the concreter will do a good job?? 11Jun 30, 2010 8:45 am HI davinci i totally agree with you. However i am very disappointed with most concretor around my area, as they dont put any love into it. I have never seen a concretor use chairs for driveways and paths. I am not a concretor but i did do similar to what you outlined but other than that i have never seen it before. Re: How do I know if the concreter will do a good job?? 12Jun 30, 2010 8:56 am I also noticed no chairs - on pics on this very forum - and already asked why (in another thread)! Even my far-from-being-concretor neighbour put chairs on his tiny DIY driveway ... My signature is distracting people from my wise posts ... Re: How do I know if the concreter will do a good job?? 13Jun 30, 2010 4:01 pm Chairs always however some do sink when a barrow mistakenly rolls over one full of concrete, so then you have a hook to pull up the mesh where needed. Large houses/sloping blocks/commercial jobs have ligatures to tie the mesh and steel together during formup and pouring the conc' but, in the domestic scene there is not much call as the footings are very simple. Chairs of the correct height should be used... We don't do any trafficable concrete less than 100mm, steel at minimum cover +-> 45mm (unless specified by the engineer) Where you are coming from is where you are going to... Re: How do I know if the concreter will do a good job?? 14Jun 30, 2010 4:07 pm davinci min. sl62 for non reactive soils both driveway with standard vehicle traffic and sl62 for paths. 80mm for paths and min.100mm+ for driveway. It dosnt hurt to goto sl72. Min 50/65mm reiforcement chairs. In reactive soils sl72 for driveway and paths. all situations need dense compacted crushed rock based. For mid weight vehicle traffic sl72+. For commercial weight sl82+ and for industrial weight sl92 +. Reactive soils or cut and fill may need piers or edge beams engineered to suit. In reactive soils there may be a need for y12 deform horizontal bars on stress points ie: corners min: 25 MPa and max 90 slump from aggitator shute or max 90 odd slump from pump line. Expansion foam to all hard surfaces enclosed on more than 2 sides of new concrete and all situations for cross over abutment. I prefer saw cut control joints but hand tool joints serve the same purpose. The above can vary slightly due to site conditions or installers recs. Our soil is clay, but not solid clay so you can still dig a shovel in it. We already have some crushed rock down so we don't get stuck ( well i should say 'so I don't get stuck, hubby has 4WD ) Included in ours quotes is a light excavation. Should our driveway be ok with F62? Or should I pay the extra for F72? Does anyone know how much the price will vary with this change? Re: How do I know if the concreter will do a good job?? 15Jun 30, 2010 4:15 pm Don't mean to butt in but: How big is your 4x... if it is more than a tonne I'd go for 72, and make sure the grano includes a 1-200mm x 100m edge beam. The edges are where they breakdown first.( mostly ) Where you are coming from is where you are going to... Re: How do I know if the concreter will do a good job?? 16Jun 30, 2010 6:02 pm 72 is only $10/sheet more than 62 - about $72 / sheet Re: How do I know if the concreter will do a good job?? 17Jun 30, 2010 6:07 pm Dukekamaya 72 is only $10/sheet more than 62 - about $72 / sheet add up the sqm of the concreteing you need done and divide it by 12.8 and round it up. I wouldnt even consider sl62 for a driveway. Hello needing some advice. I was about to build my Alfresco and needed a new slab and remove exisiting slab as its not standard. 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