concrete work

[miking]

I own a silverado and my wife has a civic. 

[miking]

Well, we got the house for $7000 off the asking price. The current owner said it had been that way for as long as she could remember and she'd been there 32 years and so wasn't real receptive towards the new floor idea. Nevertheless, we got the house for a real good price and a new floor is in the works for next year hopefully.

[Al_Smith]

Just a word of advice .Spend the extra bucks and rod the floor or at least put some wire it .If you use rod or wire get it in the pour not on the ground like some people do .It won't do you any good there .

You'll forget about the exta money in a couple of years but you'll always think of how you should done when it cracks out as bad as it is now from a cheap job .

My shop floor is 7.5" thick,heavy highway  with 3/4 " rod every 12 inchs .My garage floor which I didn't pour is 4 inchs over top grit and it probabley is as bad as the crete in the subject .Oh it has wire allright ,right on the bottom of the pour  . :

The price last Sept locally was $125 for 4000 with 3 yd minimum .

[miking]

Sounds like good advice

[SPIKER]

been about a month now since I had concrete work done inside my pole barn and pads around/in front of it.   cost was 78/yard and 2500 for instal crew of 5 or so Amish gents.   took 60 yards which actually had 3 or 4 yards more than needed.  which was poured in front for a larger apron area.  

like others said breaking out the old stuff & getting rid of it will be worst part...

mine is 6 bag w fiber at those prices.


mark

[ljmathias]

I usually overkill on reinforcement- it's so much easier to put in with the pour than after...   ;D  So I order 3000 lb concrete with fiber poured over rebar placed about 2' on center going both ways (grid) on top of which I lay re-mesh that is tied to the rebar.  Rebar is supported about 2" off the bottom with small chunks of broken up cement blocks.  Turns out one of the main culprits pushing the rebar/remesh to the bottom is the concrete finisher (who oversees the pour in my neck of the woods).  They walk all over it before and during the pour so if it's not well supported, it just sinks to the bottom and does you no good at all; in fact, it opens up the bottom face for cracks and moisture penetration.  Price here March, 2011 was $90 a yard; finishing crew was almost the same price as the concrete.

Yeah, busting up the old stuff will cost almost as much as putting in the new, unless it's as bad concrete as you indicate, in which case it may just fall apart.  With remesh and/or rebar in it- a real PITA to get apart and moved out: jack hammers and concrete saws or steel saws and lots of dust everywhere plus lots of blood, sweat and tears (sounds like a rock group, hey?).

Lj

[Al_Smith]

 It's going to crack no matter if you have rod or not which is why control joints are important .It's just the nature of concrete .

Concrete has great compressibilty strength but not much shear which is where the rod or wire comes into place .

[SwampDonkey]

It's bad. The main crack looks like something you might see lava flowing out from. It’s a detached garage measuring 20x20 according to the listing and demo is necessary first for sure. I was thinking before that 5-6 grand total cost might be in order for negotiation purposes.

Mike we had a floor poured twice in the house here and the local "experts" don't know squat about cement works. And they send people out that know a whole lot less. And I'll admit I don't know much about it neither. But if there is no rebar and fibre and good footing in cold climate then it won't last 20 years and the cracks will open up.

[Al_Smith]

If a person is physically fit it wouldn't rake long to demolish the floor of a 24 by 24 garage .About a good day with a 90 pound hammer should get it broken up .Of course then you have to remove the broken ,a few hours with a skid loader and a dump trunk .

[miking]

That's exactly what I was thinking. I doubt I will be doing anything with it until next spring, but  it's possible that one of my first duties could be jack-hammering it out myself. I don't have a skidder but I do have two one ton trucks to use and one of them has a dump bed. I feel pretty confident I could get it demo-ed with a couple other guys helping  and then hiring out the rest.

[Al_Smith]

 :D ----not a 90 pound sledge hammer,a jack hammer . :D Well I suppose if a guy was really gung ho you could beat it apart with a sledge .Lotta work there doing it that way for sure .

Now an easier  way is to rent a big air hammer deal that goes on a skid loader if you can find one .You could get the skid loader with the hammer and a scoop and with that little dump truck do it all in a day .

[Mooseherder]

The bricks with holes in them hold rebar off the ground nicely if you have some available.

[barbender]

Nicely prepped slab, mooseherder. I haul Red-mix for that division of our company off and on, I always like to see a neat prep job, especially with a diy'er, you know they'll have their ducks in a row for the pour. Miking, if the concrete is in as bad of shape as you describe, you shouldn't need a jackhammer, just rent a skid steer if you can fit it in the garage. We demo concrete with skidsteers all the time, I've never used a jackhammer yet. You may find you'll need to saw the floor edges if your walls sit on the floor (so you don't lift your whole garage up) : Just be careful and take your time. Doctorb, I doubt the expression "The whole 9 yards"  came from mixer trucks, I don't think 9 yard mixers appeared until the late 60s to early 70s, when trucks big enough to haul them appeared. Our 9  yard trucks have tandem drive axles with a single tag axle and a bridge axle that drops down from the rear of the truck.