Concrete Driveway Cost

[Bird]

My little short driveway has cracks that are gradually growing, and I haven't been able to decide what to do about it. I had a contractor here today who said I could probably postpone replacing it by putting Sikaflex SL in the cracks to save money, but it would be a temporary fix. He said the only thing he could do would be to tear it out completely and rebuild it with 3/8" rebar on 18" centers each way, 4" of concrete. He's going to figure out what it would cost and send me a proposal via e-mail.

The driveway is 44' long and 16' wide. The first 32.5' x 16' (going out from the apron at the garage door) is just a rectangle while the last 11.5' out to the street flares out of 25' wide at the street. He said the city may require that flared portion to be 6" thick.

Now he seemed like a nice guy, but since I've never personally hired that kind of work done, no matter what his proposal is, I won't know whether it's a bargain or whether it's twice what's reasonable. So I'm going to at least get a second opinion and quote.

Anyone want to give me a wild guess as to what it should cost.

[Gator6x4]

I can't give you a esitmate Bird so how about some questions. Does the contractor have his own Dump Truck, TLB and other equipment to remove the existing driveway or will he rent the equipment to do this with or hire someone else? This approach will probabkly increase cost. You may consider the replacement as a two part job. Someone remove the existing driveway and then someone install a new driveway. Another good question to ask is if they have metal forms or if they use 1x4's. Usually contractors that have metal forms are cheaper and I think the driveway sides look straighter when finished.

[Western]

Bird, I had a 30x40 poured almost 2 months ago, 3/8ths re-bar on 16" centers, cross footings (12"x14") and outside footing. I found 3 concrete guys that would do it turn key for $3.50 a foot out of Decatur, You may can even do better now, they told me they where "real" slow right now with the economy.

BTW, I have worked on parking lots that other contractors have used Epoxy (flexible). Seemed easy enough and allot cheaper probably with the use your driveway will get versus a commercial business parking lot.

[Bird]

I was afraid the cost might be up around that, Dennis. Thanks for the information.

[hizoot]

Last year,around east texas,concrete work was going for near 5.00/ft. 3.50 is fairly reasonable.

[300UGUY]

Not in Texas, but I had a 40x60 slab poured here for $5500. That included all prep work, and finishing. That's 2.30 per sq ft.

[KennyG]

Unless you are really concerned about the look of it, I would try patching the cracks. If you only have cracks and not heaving of part of the slab, it could last a long time and will be perfectly functional. Even a few years would be pretty cheap compared with replacing the slab. All depends on the look you want.

[salopez]

a very good product is Roklin ready flex. its a two part polymer that will last for years. matches pretty good to concrete.

[Bird]

Unless you are really concerned about the look of it, I would try patching the cracks. If you only have cracks and not heaving of part of the slab, it could last a long time and will be perfectly functional. Even a few years would be pretty cheap compared with replacing the slab. All depends on the look you want.

I do want it to look decent, but more importantly I don't want it to crumble and come apart. With the current weather around here, you might not believe it, but there is a possiblity of rain and then a freeze this Winter. And I don't want the concrete breaking up more.

But I do want to get an estimate from All Texas Decks, Inc. for them to put a finish on it. One of my daughters and her husband did an epoxy finish on their garage floor themselves, and it just looks great. But I don't know how durable it'll be, since they don't park vehicles in the garage, and we do.

[LanceH]

I do want it to look decent, but more importantly I don't want it to crumble and come apart. With the current weather around here, you might not believe it, but there is a possiblity of rain and then a freeze this Winter. And I don't want the concrete breaking up more.

But I do want to get an estimate from All Texas Decks, Inc. for them to put a finish on it. One of my daughters and her husband did an epoxy finish on their garage floor themselves, and it just looks great. But I don't know how durable it'll be, since they don't park vehicles in the garage, and we do.

I'd get on Sika's website and talk to a rep. They ought to come out and look at it, or you could email them pictures if you are too far away. They make good products we use on rehabing water and wastewater plants. If you had a helper or two, you could easily buy it from a distributor and go at it yourself and save a boatload of money.