Concrete Work

[dball152]

Does anyone here do concrete work or know someone that does? I need some repair work done on my driveway. A few years ago we replaced the water line to our house and had to break up a section of our driveway. The driveway needs to be cut to square it off and new concrete needs to be poured. The width of the driveway is about 13.6 feet and it will probably be about 4-5 feet wide once squared off. We are willing to hire someone, or I can work a trade of guns/ammo/etc. Just thought I would put it out on here first before we go with a contractor. It seems like a small job that someone with a little experience would be able to knock out fairly quickly. Here are pics of the driveway as it sits now. I am in Independence Oregon.

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[speeddemon94]

Incoming...

 

[deen_ad]

Our driveway is breaking up, but it's because our motorhome weighs 32,000#'s and the normal driveway isn't made to support that much weight. Got an ad under the doormat for a resurfacing place this weekend They want $2,200 to repair and resurface or replace for $6,000. And that's only about a 30' X 24" area.

 

[Benny503]

I got the side if my house concrete last summer for RV park. The guy here in Grants Pass did a very good job at it but once I paid they dissappeared, never come back to remove the siding and their metal poles. One of their metal poles poked through one of my water sprinkle line, I could not open my shed because they built the walk way right in front of it so the concrete way higher then the doors.

Remember not to pay them until all the work they do are completely done!

 

[brandon44]

pm inbound...

 

[t.huynh]

I got the side if my house concrete last summer for RV park. The guy here in Grants Pass did a very good job at it but once I paid they dissappeared, never come back to remove the siding and their metal poles. One of their metal poles poked through one of my water sprinkle line, I could not open my shed because they built the walk way right in front of it so the concrete way higher then the doors.

Remember not to pay them until all the work they do are completely done!

That does not sound like a good job at all.

Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk 4 Beta

 

[Benny503]

Well beside the stuff they messed up but the concrete looks nice

 

[3MTA3]

I got the side if my house concrete last summer for RV park. The guy here in Grants Pass did a very good job at it but once I paid they dissappeared, never come back to remove the siding and their metal poles. One of their metal poles poked through one of my water sprinkle line, I could not open my shed because they built the walk way right in front of it so the concrete way higher then the doors.

Remember not to pay them until all the work they do are completely done!

That kind of nonsense is why I had to stop using contractors for my addition. I found that I had to redo or repair just about everything, and yes, I'm talking about registered contractors. The ONLY one who met, and actually exceeded my expectations was my next door neighbor and friend who did the plumbing. These guys are experts at knowing where you and inspectors are not likely to look or notice. They do the minimum and when they are paid you are screwed.

I've had to do things like add reinforcement to the area where the new floor connects to the existing foundation (nobody is going to look there, right?), jacking up the frame to slip a waterproof barrier between the new foundation and wooden supports, fix french doors that were 1/4" off vertical, drywall along a window that was 3/8" inch narrower at the top than the bottom (didn't notice until I measured for blinds), drywall installation loosening my electrical boxes, and I could go on and on.

Honestly, if I had a contractor come in, I'd have to take time off work just make sure they do what I asked, and I hate micro managing as much as I hate to be micro managed. I'm doing it myself and getting it right from here on out. My work takes longer, but my quality is better, not to mention that the price is right.

 

[MinnesotaORnewbie]

I have done a lot of concrete in my life as a building tradesman. Large deck pours, outside areas, sidewalks, and many side jobs with other friends doing driveways. My personal opinion, now I understand you may not be able to afford it, but after looking at the pictures, I would not fill it in, but would pour the entire driveway. The job sounds big and expensive, but It would last you the rest of your life and would increase the value of your home. I am not in the position to offer to do the job myself because of the lack of tools, but you maybe able to find a few of us on this site to all help out. You would need a dumpster rental, a bobcat rental or use from someone on the site for half a day or less, a few two x fours for forms, some wire mess or rebar, a transit for setting stakes in the middle of the driveway for height, some finishing tools, and the concrete. If this is a option, Im sure you could find a few guys and offer them a reasonable wage for 2 days of work, maybe a barbeque and some beer. If this is something you might be interested, let me know and we can see if we can put something together. otherwise, anyone with some decent concrete experience, a half a day rental of a chop saw with a concrete blade, and finishing tools should be able to help you out in a day. If its only 4-5 feet wide, you will only need one experienced finisher. GOOD Luck on what ever you choose.

 

[MinnesotaORnewbie]

you could also choose to do just the bottom half of the driveway now and then at another time do the rest, or even in three parts. would be more affordable this way

 

[deen_ad]

a transit for setting stakes in the middle of the driveway for height,

Personally I'd want a level or laser level and rod for that. A transit would be for setting alignment of a road or surveying property lines.

 

[MinnesotaORnewbie]

Deen> do you realize a transit, once set, is a stationary point of reference? Once set it can be used to measure any point of height with in the vision of the transit? The only main advantage of a laser level is time. Assessing multiple points of interest at the same or different levels of height are needed for a laser level. Or, are you pouring a 40,000 square foot warehouse that specifically needs a perfect flat floor to numbers only your pubes can measure too. Unless you have ever done this before, I understand your objection. But, If you know how to use a transit unit, especially on a simple job like a driveway, you would know that you are simply making a mark in the middle of the driveway that is equal to the sides of it in order to set a mark for your middle of the pour skreet rod location. All you are marking is a equal downward gradient. Now most of us who do concrete, know, when you work for a company or have the thousands of extra dollars for tools, the use of laser level is easier and more accurate, but will achieve the same goal. how do you think the mountains and roads of America were done? They used a transit. For you to say a transit is not a tool for use of levelness is either from not ever working in this field or just from your predetermined self education. so I do appreciate the advise, but this was already known but in simple and cost concerns for a driveway, the use of a laser level is not needed, nor has ever been a significant advantage in such project.

 

[MinnesotaORnewbie]

also deen, your quoted price is probably from some hack who has done this a few times and readily makes himself available to most people who have no idea what real quality concrete is. which is relatively simple but only requires someone who has done this many times and over time has seen problems, shortcuts, quality, cost effective measurements, problems that can occur because of methods and environments, and just simple hard work which should be a tribute to every job they do....not the search for a easy buck such as jo-blow construction companies.

 

[jbett98]

Another route that would be very economical and homeowner friendly is to find a good used & cheap 7" Skillsaw at a garage sale, buy a 7" dry diamond concrete blade, cut some parallel 1 1/2" deep lines across the worst sections and break it out using a sledge hammer.
Remove the broken pieces and replace with some concrete pavers that match the color.
All of the building supply stores sell them and if you ever need to replace the water line again, just pull them up.

 

[MinnesotaORnewbie]

cheaper yes, but you will go through a lot of those blades. a lot at 1 1/2 inch or even larger. and this is not easy, the time cutting and hammering out is more than most will want to do on their own. And then you are still not guaranteed a nice clean looking completion. which normally means doing more cuts to get it perfect. Also the normal driveway is 3.5 inches, so this blade will not cut completely through which can lead to more fracturing and more time and labor. All depends what you want it to look like and the amount of time and/or money you want to spend

I also would wonder if using pavers would be cheaper than a rental chop saw with blade, and pouring it at 4-5 feet width, even with a short load charge from a concrete ready mix company

 

[dball152]

Wow, lots of ideas/thoughts I hadn't anticipated. Sounds like my wife and I need to have a discussion as whether to patch for now or just bite the bullet and get the whole thing done. I do like the idea of renting a saw and installing pavers for a "fix" until we decide to replace the driveway.

 

[MinnesotaORnewbie]

dball, if I were you, I would either save your money or do the entire or part of the job in concrete. don't waste your money for a temporary fix if you plan on fixing it later. if you just want to fill the hole, and the look is not a concern, then paver it. But expect at the most, a home-owner done look to it.

Remember, it is a investment to your household/property total value - if someone has to redo it within 10-15 years, its only a patch...or eyesore

 

[MinnesotaORnewbie]

I don't want to sound like a salesman, but as a previous homeowner, a tradesman, and I have a vision of my future ideal dream home. I know what things I would have done differently, or should have done the correct way, the first time. This may include spending more money or doing things a different way. Along with the years of experience and advancement of technologies and advancements. This is your home...do you want it to look and be priced as high as possible or do you want it to be looked as slapped together and live able,,, with whatever price someone else is willing to pay for it at a given time.

 

[jbett98]

I have a garage sale Makita worm drive saw that I paid $30.00 for. It's dedicated for a Credo solid dry diamond blade ($20.00) that has cut hundreds of feet of concrete, brick, backer board, asphalt, pavers, you name it.
You need a 1x4 board to use as a fence to keep the cut straight (shallow first cut) then a little deeper each pass.
A little more then half way thru cut would be enough to snap off the slab.
The pavers can be pulled up later and used somewhere else when the whole driveway is going to be replaced, or have one of those mix on site concrete delivery trucks show up. The concrete is not the best, but all you would need is a wood trowel to finish after using the 1x4 to screed the mix.

 

[MinnesotaORnewbie]

this is if you want it to look and be worth the "home depot" amount, or do it the right way and put it on your home sale listing as a positive value in the sale