Five Things To Consider Before Hiring A Concrete Contractor

Aug 16

Hiring a company to do work at your house can be a frustrating experience. Especially if you have thousands of dollars committed to a project only to have it go completely wrong. When you hire someone to handle a job you want to have the peace of mind that you chose the right person for the task at hand. Here are five items to consider before hiring a concrete contractor.

Educate yourself in the basics of concrete and ask questions.
It is not important to become an expert in the science of concrete. But knowing a few of the basics will help you ask the right questions of your potential contractors.
What psi mix do they recommend for the job and why? We have seen some contractors who use 4000psi for any job. Why? More isn’t always better, sometimes it is just overkill and adds unnecessary cost. And sometimes we see jobs that probably should have ordered a stronger mix of concrete, but the finisher was looking to cut costs. Here is a quick article on some of the basics of concrete PSI.
Ask about ground preparation. How will they prepare the subgrade for the concrete? This is as important as the choice of PSI. A properly graded, drained, and compacted subgrade will make for a longer-lasting and better-finished project. If the ground underneath the concrete is not even, there will be thin spots that are more prone to crack. If the ground isn’t compacted, there is a chance the loose areas will shift over time causing the concrete to sag and break. Improper drainage can wash away the surface underneath and cause cracks.
Get referrals from people you trust.
Getting referrals is obvious. But don’t stop at a simple referral from a neighbor. Call the local ready-mix suppliers and ask who they recommend, the delivery guys see it all and can tell you who does the best work.
Do they specialize in the type of work you are looking to have done?
Lots of people say they can handle finishing concrete. We hear it all the time, “pouring concrete can’t be that hard”. Those are usually the jobs that go wrong!
I recommend choosing a crew that finishes concrete weekly and has all the correct tools to get the job done right. We have seen many “handyman” companies get in over their head, leaving the project incomplete or worse, a project that needs to be torn out and completely redone.
Whether you are doing a sidewalk, a stamped patio, a driveway, or a slick finished slab; ask the finisher about their experience with the type of job and ask to see photos of completed projects.
Make sure they have the crew and equipment to handle the size of your job.
Good finishers will bring different size crews depending on the job. If it is a small job, they may have just two or three people working on it. Larger jobs need a larger crew to keep up with the concrete. For a large slab or driveway, it is not unusual to have 6-8 people working. What you don’t want is a two-man crew trying to unload four full trucks, giving a good chance the concrete will set up before they are able to finish it.
Cheap is expensive!
When you have a few quotes in hand, ask each contractor the above four questions. Investigate the lower quote, get into the details and find out what makes it less. More often than not you will find the cheaper quote is leaving something out in order to save cost. Having three fewer crew members, not doing proper subsurface preparation, and using a cheaper mix of concrete will save you money now. But the odds are good you will pay a lot more later on to fix things. Saving a few hundred dollars upfront could end up costing you thousands of dollars later on.