Poured concrete porch cost (rent, how much, house)

[Strongasabear]

Wondering if anyone knows about how much it might cost to have a 21x7 front porch poured? We currently have wood, which the builder installed. They would not let us have the option of concrete due to "elevation" though we have neighbors who were granted that option with the same elevation as our home. We stained it our second year in, which did not hold up well at all despite using a good stain. We would like to decrease our maintenance and see if concrete is an option. Thanks!

[MikeJaquish]

Photograph?

[twingles]

We had a much bigger slab than that poured this past spring (more like 24x20) and it was under $3,000.

I'm not sure where you live but some towns do have laws about how much impermeable surface you can have on your property...maybe that's what your builder was thinking?

[Strongasabear]

Originally Posted by MikeJaquish

Photograph?

Mike, not sure what kind of photo specifically you're asking for...size of porch or a close up of the surface? Please specify. Thanks.

[wheelsup]

Roughly $500 in concrete retail, under 2 yards. That is not that big. Big cost will be labor in prep work. If you can prep it yourself, or do more work than just paying, you can save.

See this post
//www.city-data.com/forum/14275521-post10.html

Professionally done by a local company you are talking probably $1500, from a Craigslist ad maybe $1000.

[Strongasabear]

Thanks Wheelsup!

[MikeJaquish]

S.a.a.b,

A photo of the porch and how it meets the house would be good, as well as how high off the ground.

A few details....

The porch will need to be able to carry the weight of the concrete, and the wood framing will likely not be adaptable or adequate for that task.
So, the construction of the porch in place, and the extent to which it will need to be removed and replaced to install concrete are considerations beyond concrete.
In addition to concrete, you may be looking at the possiblity of adding footings, masonry and fill or sheet steel to support the concrete.
It could be fairly simple, or fairly complex.

It may be worthwhile to consider replacing the wood floor with Ipe, or possibly Trex or another composite, since the subframing will probably carry either one.
Ipe and composite should require much less maintenance that stained builder-grade treated wood.
Tarheel Wood Treating Co. - Ipe Decking
It isn't cheap, but it sure is pretty and you would not need to preserve it with a pigmented finish.

I don't think a change in flooring will impact your total impervious surface, since the porch roof already is an impervious surface in the calculations.

[Native_Son]

Originally Posted by wheelsup

Roughly $500 in concrete retail, under 2 yards. That is not that big. Big cost will be labor in prep work. If you can prep it yourself, or do more work than just paying, you can save.

See this post
//www.city-data.com/forum/14275521-post10.html

Professionally done by a local company you are talking probably $1500, from a Craigslist ad maybe $1000.

A professional will get a better price from the supply company. It's a volume deal.

21 X 7 is 147 ft2. Pad is at least 4", so volume is about 49 cubic feet or 1.82 cubic feet. You'll want a little "slop", so call it 2 yards.

If you don't need much grading or site prep, and you won't be using any base material like crusher run you can get a professional to do it for around $1000 (I'd expect to pay about $1150). If you need serious grading, or want to install a base material that price could easily jump to $1400-$1500 +.

I would call around, companies are competing for business and will fight hard to get yours. Make sure they "feel right" though, because a shoddily poured/finished concrete pad is ugly for decades. I wouldn't be afraid to pay an extra hundred or two to an outfit that is higher quality... after all it's your front porch.

Good luck.

[wheelsup]

Yeah retail, back a year ago on concrete, was $125/yd + $100 delivery fee. So more like $350 for a homeowner for the OP. No landscape company that I found operates their own concrete truck but they may be able to combine jobs and rent out a truck for a day. I don't know how it works to be honest. The guys on Craiglist are mostly just doing the labor, I had a quote from one guy for $400 as a flat rate + the concrete.

Personally, I was shocked at what local companies are bidding for patios. I took photos and asked for quotes, and they were pretty high up there. In my case, if you click the link I made, one landscape company wanted $1500 just for that part of the slab, a 60 sq ft one @ 4" deep, and another $300 to tie it into the other lab like I did. To rip up the entire thing and start fresh they wanted $2500. I was blown away. Especially when the concrete cost me $265 and maybe another $30 in stakes and rebar. You know they are paying the "local" labor about $10/hr (if that) under the table too. House down the street had a big patio put in, and brought in a pump truck, and the guys working it were all from down south.

[CHTransplant]

Seems like some answers here focus on just pouring a slab, and others are questioning the need for elevation (especially given the OP's reference to his builder's prior denial). Hard to cost this thing out without knowing what the design really is.