Concrete surfacing (for a driveway) contractor recommendation needed? (Mart: homes, inspection)

[cinnamonspice]

Hello kind people,

We are looking to surface our driveway and a small area to park our drive way with concrete/cement, I an not sure what is the exact difference between the two

We have a long driveway (maybe 400 ft) that we want to put concrete on, and even want to put concrete in an area near the home where cars will park.

Our preference is a small or medium business, so that the contractor gets more of the earnings for their hard work.

Spanish speaking is a plus, as our relative who is overseeing the project is more comfortable speaking Spanish.

Any recommendations please? We want a reliable, fairly priced contractor who can do the job, of course while adhering to the necessary safety standards.

Thank you!!
Cinnamon

[PedroMartinez]

Four things:

1. Tell the contractor you want a concrete report.
2. Ask what the rebar spacing will be.
3. Ask what the thickness will be.
3. Make sure they arrange for the inspection for where it ties into the road (assuming you're in an area that requires it)

[Houstonian12]

Cinnamon,

I know a company named Hill Premier Homes that does concrete work. Here is the contact number 832-930-7273

[txdemo]

Originally Posted by PedroMartinez

Four things:

1. Tell the contractor you want a concrete report.
2. Ask what the rebar spacing will be.
3. Ask what the thickness will be.
3. Make sure they arrange for the inspection for where it ties into the road (assuming you're in an area that requires it)

Just wondering. What is a concrete report? What should the rebar spacing be? What thickness should it be?

[rigas]

Originally Posted by cinnamonspice

Hello kind people,

We are looking to surface our driveway and a small area to park our drive way with concrete/cement, I an not sure what is the exact difference between the two

We have a long driveway (maybe 400 ft) that we want to put concrete on, and even want to put concrete in an area near the home where cars will park.

Our preference is a small or medium business, so that the contractor gets more of the earnings for their hard work.

Spanish speaking is a plus, as our relative who is overseeing the project is more comfortable speaking Spanish.

Any recommendations please? We want a reliable, fairly priced contractor who can do the job, of course while adhering to the necessary safety standards.

Thank you!!
Cinnamon

[Mod cut]

what area of town are you in? city of houston? (or other city?) county?

side note it is concrete, not cement. cement is only one part of the mix that creates concrete.

Originally Posted by PedroMartinez

Four things:

1. Tell the contractor you want a concrete report.
2. Ask what the rebar spacing will be.
3. Ask what the thickness will be.
3. Make sure they arrange for the inspection for where it ties into the road (assuming you're in an area that requires it)

Originally Posted by txdemo

Just wondering. What is a concrete report? What should the rebar spacing be? What thickness should it be?

im also wondering what a "concrete report" is. are we asking for mix designs? an inspection report?
if its mix designs, then the home owner has no need for that info other then knowing the specified psi/strength of the mix. theyre not going to under stand how many sacks of fly ash, cement, tons of sand, rock etc means in the mix.
if its an inspection report, outside of any municipality or county inspection, there is no inspection report ie engineer reports on a driveway. the city or county dont give one either, simply a pass/fail tag.

generally a driveway is 4" thick other than the inturn off the street being 6-10" (depending on city/county requirements) and rebar spacing can be anywhere from, no rebar to every 6" but the norm is either 12" or 16". usually #3 or #4 rebar. #3 on 16" is laughably called "texas 16's" in other parts of the country, as 8"-12" is more common up north.

[PedroMartinez]

Originally Posted by txdemo

Just wondering. What is a concrete report? What should the rebar spacing be? What thickness should it be?

What you'll look at in the concrete report is the psi.

I always go with 12" spacing.

The thickness will depend upon your usage.

Originally Posted by rigas

[Mod cut]

what area of town are you in? city of houston? (or other city?) county?

side note it is concrete, not cement. cement is only one part of the mix that creates concrete.







im also wondering what a "concrete report" is. are we asking for mix designs? an inspection report?
if its mix designs, then the home owner has no need for that info other then knowing the specified psi/strength of the mix. theyre not going to under stand how many sacks of fly ash, cement, tons of sand, rock etc means in the mix.
if its an inspection report, outside of any municipality or county inspection, there is no inspection report ie engineer reports on a driveway. the city or county dont give one either, simply a pass/fail tag.

generally a driveway is 4" thick other than the inturn off the street being 6-10" (depending on city/county requirements) and rebar spacing can be anywhere from, no rebar to every 6" but the norm is either 12" or 16". usually #3 or #4 rebar. #3 on 16" is laughably called "texas 16's" in other parts of the country, as 8"-12" is more common up north.

I've had concrete work done on four different occasions. Each time I have asked for a concrete report, the contractor has provided a concrete mix design report for me that had the psi.

Personally, if a contractor told me I didn't need it, they wouldn't get my business.

[rigas]

Originally Posted by PedroMartinez

What you'll look at in the concrete report is the psi.

I always go with 12" spacing.

The thickness will depend upon your usage.



I've had concrete work done on four different occasions. Each time I have asked for a concrete report, the contractor has provided a concrete mix design report for me that had the psi.

Personally, if a contractor told me I didn't need it, they wouldn't get my business.

they gave you an actual mix design?
or they gave you a ticket saying your concrete is 3000 psi (or 2500, or 3500 as those are the 3 most common usages in residential concrete)

there is a BIG difference in getting a mix design and getting a ticket showing who strength your concrete is.

[PedroMartinez]

Originally Posted by rigas

they gave you an actual mix design?
or they gave you a ticket saying your concrete is 3000 psi (or 2500, or 3500 as those are the 3 most common usages in residential concrete)

there is a BIG difference in getting a mix design and getting a ticket showing who strength your concrete is.

I don't have them anymore, but they showed a whole bunch of things including the PSI.

The bottom line is that if you at least want to know the psi, and if there is a failure after a few years, having that report can only help the customer.

[rigas]

Originally Posted by PedroMartinez

I don't have them anymore, but they showed a whole bunch of things including the PSI.

The bottom line is that if you at least want to know the psi, and if there is a failure after a few years, having that report can only help the customer.

knowing the concrete strength is fine, wouldnt hold that info back as it isnt a secret.
getting a mix design that you have no idea what it says, what it means, or how they got to the numbers they got to, is irrelevant and worthless information.

in this case, its a driveway. nobody is going to warranty it "for a few years" anyway.
this is an example of a concrete "report" or mix design.

Grade Designation = M-50
Type of cement = O.P.C-43 grade
Brand of cement = Vikram ( Grasim )
Admixture = Sika [Sikament 170 ( H ) ]
Fine Aggregate = Zone-II

Sp. Gravity
Cement = 3.15
Fine Aggregate = 2.61
Coarse Aggregate (20mm) = 2.65
Coarse Aggregate (10mm) = 2.66

Minimum Cement (As per contract) =400 kg / m3
Maximum water cement ratio (As per contract) = 0.45

another example

To produce a 3000 psi cubic yard of concrete (27 cubic feet) the concrete mixture ratio is:

1. 517 pounds of cement

2. 1560 pounds of sand

3. 1600 pounds of stone

4. 32 - 34 gallons of water

This mixing ratio will give you a concrete mix that is strong, durable, and good for most concrete projects. A cubic yard of concrete will fill an area 8 feet wide by 10 feet long by 4 inches thick, or 80 square feet @ 4 inches thick.

At 6 inches thick a cubic yard of concrete will fill an area 52 square feet and at 5 inches thick, it will fill an area that's 65 square feet.

this one is more likely to be something offered up, yet both designs are relatively the same, the first offering admixtures, the later being just the very basic, simplest version of a concrete design.
this version is also very rarely what you are actually getting as it doesnt account for things like air entranement, or water reducers which are both almost a guarantee to be used, especially in houston.

so please understand why i take offence at saying never use a contractor that will not give you this information. its useless to the common customer, and while no contractor will have issue with giving strength numbers ie 3000 psi, no contractor is giving mix designs out.
if there is an issue with a foundation/driveway that shows concrete defect from material, the designs will be made available IF it is needed. in 20+ years ive never once seen a case of them being a necessity. the ready mix supplier will guarantee strength, if there is a question of strength, they will come out and schmidt hammer test, possibly core test if the hammer shows low test numbers.

[cinnamonspice]

WoW THANK YOU for all these replies and help


we are going to look into this and decide on how best to proceed


thank you kind people


Cinnamon