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Concrete driveway job.

1969CoronetR/T

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I was hoping someone on this site could help me with a quote on removing an old concrete driveway and replacing it with fresh concrete at my vacation house in Erie, PA. Would 4" thick 4,000 PSI with 1/2" rebar be sufficient for a driveway that the heaviest vehicle driven over it would be my wife's Suburban (not quite a tank, but...)? Also, would freezing temperatures adversely effect the curing process if done in the next few weeks?

Here is the quote for a standard finish, although I may get an exposed aggregate finish that would push the cost up $2,000.00:

Replace driveway from driveway gate to street
I. Widen driveway by 16”
II. Demo and haul away existing driveway
III. Approximately 697 square feet of concrete i. Add up to 4” of gravel sub base material. 4,000 psi concrete.
III. Wire mesh reinforcement iv. 1/2” diameter rebar for additional reinforcement as needed v. Four inch concrete thickness
VI. Swirl finish
VII. Cure and seal applied to surface
VIII. All expansion and contraction joints
Price for item: $4,250.00
 
Looks great to me
I poured a 20' X 60" pad 2 years ago
Very similar to your specs
To me, that is cheap
Of course, mine was 2 years ago, cement may have come down in price
PS: my buds and I did mine
And, I still had some cracking
 
How long do you want it to last? Thicker and bigger re-bar is always better and concrete is wet when poured so don't let it freeze before it can set up. Been down that road. Also, a good base under it helps it to not settle over time but when the earth moves, it doesn't matter what's on top unless you have a super structure :D
 
Second line III (He listed 2)
III. Add up to 4” of gravel sub base material. 4,000 psi concrete.
Looks good to me as long as its compacted properly
 
Erie gets a ton of snow so I will wait until spring for him to do the driveway. Funny thing is that my uncles own a concrete construction company (in Pittsburgh) and I cannot ask them for their opinion as they would drive two hours north and do the driveway for free just because I do their books at no charge. They did my driveway at my primary residence (in Pittsburgh) with an exposed aggregate finish at no cost. My wife called me at work and told me that my uncles were unloading their machinery and tearing up my old asphalt driveway and laying down cement. I came home to a freshly laid driveway and I know it must have cost them at least $5,000.00 or more for labor and material cost. Four union guys are not cheap. Four years later, the driveway looks like new with no cracks and I would ask them to do it if they would take money to at least cover the cost and salaries.
 
There are two kinds of concrete: the kind that is cracked and the kind that is going to crack. All concrete cracks however the right reinforcement can reduce cracking and also help hold the concrete together after a crack occurs.

Even though I'm not a concrete guru, I've been working with the mess since the mid 60's. If you have ground that likes to move, it doesn't matter what you use as a sub base or what your PSI or 'sack' is (old term), it's going to crack. Are there trees near by? Soft ground? The list goes on but the better you build it, the longer it'll last...IE $$$. I did my shop and the driveway over 30 years ago and well....the shop is doing better than the house is but the slab under the house is 10 years older....and it all has settled and cracked. Hell, there were hair line cracks (no biggie) in the shop within a few years and it was done with a lot better than what the standard was at the time.

Reading material..... https://catalanoconcrete.com/Concrete_2.html
 
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Sounds cheap to me. It would probably cost me at least 50% more to do the same thing out here because of the building boom in our area. Most of the good contractors in my area are so busy that they won't bid small jobs. I would definitely wait until it's done freezing to pour the slab. I'm not a big fan of using a lot of calcium admix to speed curing in cold weather, but that's just me.
 
Sounds cheap to me. It would probably cost me at least 50% more to do the same thing out here because of the building boom in our area. Most of the good contractors in my area are so busy that they won't bid small jobs. I would definitely wait until it's done freezing to pour the slab. I'm not a big fan of using a lot of calcium admix to speed curing in cold weather, but that's just me.
Same crap going on here and has been for years. Haven't priced it in several years and for good reason....too freakin high!
 
I don't see expansion joints in that quote. That will also help to reduce cracking.
 
The borough made me replace my apron and two sidewalk pads. (They were redoing the street with blacktop)
I got several quotes and the cheapest was $2,000
The guy gave me a break because he was doing my neighbor's at the same time. The concrete is what's expensive for some reason.
 
I would be careful doing it now if the ground is frozen. This spring everything might start moving around and settling. It hasn't been that cold but you never know.
 
I had a 20x4 walkway and a 16x16 patio done in exposed ag, nothing to remove, I dug it, packed it, leveled it, framed it, laid the stone and the mesh. He bought the concrete, poured it, cut it, and pressure washed it to expose the stone, 6" to 8" thick.

And total cost was $3500 not including my own labor which I would value at $12K since it was so hot when I did it and my back hoe has no air conditioning.

That was this past summer. I had a company come out and give me a price and they wanted $8K to do it start to finish, lol...

But in my experience do yourself a favor and go 6" thick, it costs more in material but it is much better and longer lasting. and also exposed ag is great, swirl to me looks so commercial, and stamped is even worse, especially after cut. also I wanted my joints cut by hand, they don't come as perfect, its old school and with the exposed ag it makes it look so much better...

I can take pics of mine, also, I don't like it sealed, just acid wash it to bring out the stones color.

Hopefully mine lasts a long time, I don't want to do it over, I know a few things that help, 1 is going thick, 2 is having someone that knows what they are doing do it, and 3 is letting it dry slow, we did ours at end of summer (the guy doing it was hurt on another job so we walked on stones a couple months), and I still ran the hose on it 4 times a day, and let the sprinkler run during the full sun hours...


going 6" is an additional 4.5 yards of cement, at 4" you need 8.5 yards and at 6" you need 13 yards... So if you are paying $100 a yard its another 450, so that's 10% of the jobs cost and it should almost double the life of your driveway...
good luck..
 
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Did they suggest using Fiber Mesh in the concrete? I think it would be best to wait til warm weather.
 
6 inch minimum if using 1/2" rebar or mesh spaced 3" up and thats at one layer. No room for 2 layers of 1/2" rebar in 6" concrete. Use 6x6-10/10 mesh if anything. Cut contaction joints at 15 feet o.c. with a longitudinal joint on anything over 12 feet wide. Make sure to use a concrete cure to keep it from drying out to fast and apply a sealer after 30 days.

4" concrete is great for sidwalk and foot traffic but not driveways.
Also the 4" base needs to be compacted and not just dumped loose and leveled.
 
Sounds cheap to me too.

I was quoted almost 10K for a 26x30 4" slab.
 
Erie gets a ton of snow so I will wait until spring for him to do the driveway. Funny thing is that my uncles own a concrete construction company (in Pittsburgh) and I cannot ask them for their opinion as they would drive two hours north and do the driveway for free just because I do their books at no charge. They did my driveway at my primary residence (in Pittsburgh) with an exposed aggregate finish at no cost. My wife called me at work and told me that my uncles were unloading their machinery and tearing up my old asphalt driveway and laying down cement. I came home to a freshly laid driveway and I know it must have cost them at least $5,000.00 or more for labor and material cost. Four union guys are not cheap. Four years later, the driveway looks like new with no cracks and I would ask them to do it if they would take money to at least cover the cost and salaries.
great! never had an uncle like that !
 
I was hoping someone on this site could help me with a quote on removing an old concrete driveway and replacing it with fresh concrete at my vacation house in Erie, PA. Would 4" thick 4,000 PSI with 1/2" rebar be sufficient for a driveway that the heaviest vehicle driven over it would be my wife's Suburban (not quite a tank, but...)? Also, would freezing temperatures adversely effect the curing process if done in the next few weeks?

Here is the quote for a standard finish, although I may get an exposed aggregate finish that would push the cost up $2,000.00:

Replace driveway from driveway gate to street
I. Widen driveway by 16”
II. Demo and haul away existing driveway
III. Approximately 697 square feet of concrete i. Add up to 4” of gravel sub base material. 4,000 psi concrete.
III. Wire mesh reinforcement iv. 1/2” diameter rebar for additional reinforcement as needed v. Four inch concrete thickness
VI. Swirl finish
VII. Cure and seal applied to surface
VIII. All expansion and contraction joints
Price for item: $4,250.00

To bad you're that far away. Yeah that's going to be a good strong driveway.
 
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