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FOR THE RECORD 12 X 12 IS NOTHING TO BREAK OUT AND COMES WITH THE ADVANTAGE OF ALREADY HAVING A SUB BASE. Contractors make the money in laying the concrete I WOULD CHARGE A SMALL FEE LIKE $100 for the small extra labor and disposal. Seems like most contractors want to milk the customer as much as possible ...... keep getting bids you will find a contractor like me sooner or later. and btw I charge $5/sq ft for excavation, subbase, frame and finish. $6/ sq ft if it has to be wheel barrowed in. add $1/sq ft for each color you want added for the stamp.
FOR THE RECORD 12 X 12 IS NOTHING TO BREAK OUT AND COMES WITH THE ADVANTAGE OF ALREADY HAVING A SUB BASE. Contractors make the money in laying the concrete I WOULD CHARGE A SMALL FEE LIKE $100 for the small extra labor and disposal. Seems like most contractors want to milk the customer as much as possible ...... keep getting bids you will find a contractor like me sooner or later. and btw I charge $5/sq ft for excavation, subbase, frame and finish. $6/ sq ft if it has to be wheel barrowed in. add $1/sq ft for each color you want added for the stamp.
Your price is only relevant to the area you live in. Here that same job would go for around $12sf with demo and haul off at $500 extra.
Little things like 9 yards of sand run $250 or crushed stone run right at a $1500 per load. The steel alone would run about $500 and the concrete would run $180 per yard.
To say that people are ripping people off without knowing why it may cost so much is just plane idiotic.
I was in the contracting business for 20 years and here is what I found. Yuo get five estimates and throw out the lowerst and the highest and choose from the middle three. This will usually give you a good job and good price. It's not unusual to get five different opinions on the same job. These guys are not rocket scientist, they are concrete workers, enough said.
On to the job itself. Never poor over existing concrete if you can't get at least 4" thickness. Never poor upto the sill plate which is covered buy your siding. With only 2" to the siding you need to tear out the old and poor all new. Get some more estimates. I don't how far it is from the front of you house to the back but the company should be large enough to have enough laborers to run wheel barels to the finishers. The concrete business is a rough businee you can run the gamit form crooks to good guys! Get estimates until you find someone you are comfortable with and go look at some of there work that is a couple of years old.
Agree with those who said that 2" is the minimum overlay. But it will crack at the periimeter anyway. If you want to avoid cracks you have to demo the whole thing and reinfoce with steel mesh. The demo'd concrete can most likely be used as base and given that it will cost $2 a foot to demo. The put back would have been about $3 per foot for the plain concrete. Around here, they get almost $20 per square foot for stamped concrete. You can get brick, pavers, stone etc. for that money. I don't see it as cost effective but a lot of people do it. And, wheelbarrowing is just fine as long as the contractor has enough men to get the concrete in quickly. Assuming a typical lot length he will need six men with 6 wheelbarrows plus a guy at the street plus a guy in the back. So ask how the job will be manned. At least 8 guys.
I recently had mine enlarged from 10x10 to 15x30, the company i had, actually demo'd the old slab and dug a hole in my yard to bury it , then used the dirt from the hole to level up the ground where it dropped away a bit too much, my new slab is 7 inches thick with , they also poured me a 13x27 foot slab 4 inches thick for my shed, They refused to try to match up to the old slab or pour over it! the price is inconsequential as i work for a construction company and i call in favors all the time
If you are pouring concrete over old concrete it all depends on the use of the area and will walls be sitting on this new concrete and will the concrete be interior or exterior.
The thickness will determine the concrete mix used. Consult the concrete salesman on the proper mix for 2" or 4". Apply a bonding agent to the old concrete and dowel the sides of existing slabs. If you are pouring against framed walls remove the siding and add expansion joint material at that location. Interior covered slabs will/may crack but it will be minor. Wet cure the concrete by continuously soaking the new poured concrete for 24 hours with a slow running hose. As far as wheel barreling it that should be fine, if you are pouring over existing concrete the moisture in the new concrete will have no where to soak in and it will dry much slower so you will have more than enough time to work the concrete. If you are worried about cracking or strength use wire mesh or have the concrete truck add fiberglass reinforcing fibers to the mix for about $20 a yard. If you are way up north you may want to check into adding heat mess wiring to the new concrete to make it nice and warm in the winter. good luck, jake
Hi, just jumping in here on a lark. I'm a landscape architect w/ a fair amount of experience with hardscape. There is some good advice in this thread - especially about not pouring onto the siding and providing for enough coverage over a slab. If you pin the old concrete, exercise caution to prevent "locking" the slab so that it cannot expand or contract. Less is more - if you over bind the slab with rebar and there are temperature extremes, the slab will probably fracture at the weakest rebar pins.
With a 3 year old post, no doubt the work is done (how did it turn out?)
Here's a thought... if cracks are a big concern and want a new look, what about some brick or concrete unit pavers? There is a huge variety out there, they don't crack, and aren't affected by wheel barrow time. Just a thought.
If you are considering a texture then you've got bigger concerns than just the cracking. There is a bit of an art form to make most textures work out well. I would heartily endorse a neat texture and colored concrete deck, but this is not a job for the cheapest guy out there. Also, timing is really critical in applying the stamps or texture - too wet and the texture won't be discernible and too dry will not accept fine details. I'm highly critical on my clients textured concrete - it's not for your average flatwork crew.
I am an architect and I would say if you can afford it demo the existing and start from scratch this is always the best way. As far as those guys saying wheelbarrow it will take to long and you will have cracks there is a point there but it depends how many guys they have on site doing the work. You will get a better longer lasting patio if you do it all over. But I know money is an issue so you really have to decide if it is worth the extra cost.
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