Browse Forums Paving & Concreting 1 Apr 30, 2008 12:31 pm After getting a few quotes for exposed agg - approx 87m2 in the region of $7500 (totally out of the question), I have decided that instead of compromise on the style, I will cut back on size and do it in smaller sections. The most important are the driveway and path to front door - which total 26m2.
I just rang Boral and they quoted $1092.30 for 3 cubic meters of Expose Seashell delivered, and according to the website - DIY concreting is not hard... My questions are: 1) Has anyone done their own concrete? 2) Where do you source the framework from? 3) Would you attempt it again or was it not worth the hassle? From what I can gather, concreters are charging the price of the concrete for the job (as in double that of doing it yourself). The area that would be done is all straight lines, so I don't see it being hard - more just a fact of getting the work done (digging out the area, boxing it up, etc). Ray. Second Time 'Round Re: DIY Concreting 2Apr 30, 2008 3:44 pm hi ray
expossed agg. takes years of concreting to learn how to do it and make it look good i have been concreting for 10 yrs and in only the last few years have i been able to call myself totally competent in it, but always still learning concretors charge what they charge because of the skill, effort to install and cost of providing the tools and equipment to do it (not bunnings type tools etc) if you want to do it yourself maybe look at getting a concretor at labour only rates not many will do this though Da Vinci Outdoor Living Architectural landscaping http://www.davincioutdoor.com Re: DIY Concreting 3Apr 30, 2008 3:53 pm This is something i've been mulling over as well.
I've heard you can do all the excavating and preperation yourself and then call in a concreter to lay the concrete and do all the stencilling or exposed aggregate. Would i be saving a huge amount doing this ? Also If i was to do this do you know if i have to provide all the metal reinforcing myself and lay it out or would the concreter do this. Thanks Simon Re: DIY Concreting 4Apr 30, 2008 4:20 pm I am not sure that I would try exposed aggregate, but regular concrete - I might give that a try. I can think of more than one trade where it was thought of as too hard for non pros to do and yet many now do it routinely.
I feel a lot braver since I have tried a few things myself and found sucess was not that far away and got a better quality result than using a tradie. Re: DIY Concreting 5May 01, 2008 11:54 am simon
what you do and dont supply or do in prep. is something yourself and the concretor will work out you can save money by doing this but not all concretors will do this Da Vinci Outdoor Living Architectural landscaping http://www.davincioutdoor.com Re: DIY Concreting 6May 22, 2008 9:31 am Hi First_Timer_Ray,
From a diyer perspective I would leave it to the professionals. I consider my self reasonably handy and pick up most diy skills ok but concreting is an art. I have layed a number of slabs solo but only in areas that are not noticable ie. garden shed slab, paths at back of house etc. No matter how hard I try I can't get it to look as good as the pro's do. I even helped a pro lay a pergola slab whilst trying to learn from him but still I would not tackle it myself. I find the price of concreting hard to swallow but I just fork out for it as a messy concreting job is impossible to fix and hard work to remove. Wazzza One day my hobby will be my job!! Re: DIY Concreting 8Jun 25, 2008 8:39 pm Im doing my own driveway but stenciled. The Agg is hard to get right as its not an easy process. If its flat its very easy to diy for a slope i would get a friend who has experience. Building NB Hampton 19e finishing at end july 08 Re: DIY Concreting 9Jul 24, 2008 3:07 pm Please do not attempt to do your own concreting.
My partner and I have a concreting business in Brisbane for 12 years and I cannot tell you the amount of times we have had people call us up begging to fix mistakes from either 1. Husbands doing a DIY job or 2. Bad Concreters My advise would be contacting some local concreters and asking for a 'labour only' rate. You supply the concrete and they supply 'labour' only. It will cost you three times as much if you have to dig it out with an excavator, dump the old concrete then pay a professional to lay it again. Even worse, if you bugger it up, you will have to look at a shocking job for the next 10 – 20 years. We are not taking a shed slab here, it’s the front of your house and it’s the most important part to get right. Hope you understand Re: DIY Concreting 11Nov 24, 2008 9:36 pm IMO if you want to save money then atleast try to prepare the site as best you can and then get some quotes. That way the mundane labour is done.
I'd be too scared to stuff up my own driveway and have the missus not letting me forget it It will be neat but you won't have much freeboard. At least they are not weep holes. Are you in a high intensity rainfall region? The regulatory slope is only required… 3 8266 We've had decent weather for last 7 weeks and now the drvieway has been cut out we had an evening of 50mm of rain including all the water from half the street, ground is… 0 4474 Just get as close as you can without hitting the posts. Once you are close to the edge of the path the chance of cracking is minimised. 7 9177 |