That is a huge area for one inexperienced man to pour and finish. Hire a finisher, he may have a helper who comes with him and let him be the lead on the project.
There are a few things you need to do before you pour & finish that area:
1. I would put down real rebar on either dobes or rebar chairs instead of the rusty 6-6-10 wire I see. That wire is going to be on the bottom of the concrete as soon as the finishing crew walks on it. If a finisher says he will hook it and pull it up as he goes, he is stretching the truth to the breaking point. I won't hire a finisher who makes that claim. If your finisher claims he will pull up the reinforcement, just smile and do it so he doesn't have to.
Do not ever underestimate the force that wet concrete will place on whatever you have under the rebar. I have seen it push dobes out from under bar, even when they were tie wired down. It happens in the blink of an eye, so fast that you might not even see it. But once it happens, the rebar, or the mesh, sinks to the bottom when it is walked on during finishing and is next to useless. Real rebar chairs are what the pros all use. It is worth looking around until you can find them.
2. Give a lot of thought to where the finished level of the concrete is going to be at those stairs, and also at the sliding glass door. Ask a building inspector what the rules are for the rise of that first step. A step has both a minimum and a maximum rise. If you add 4" of concrete to the step I see, you are going to have about 4" of rise, which may not be acceptable in your jurisdiction. A lot of places consider anything less than 6" to be a tripping hazard. If you are bootlegging this without a permit no one will check, but when it comes time to sell the house, a sharp-eyed home inspector may call this out as a problem. You do not want to have to re-work the patio at that time.
Same thing with the glass door. If it can possibly be used as a fire exit, there are rules on how big the elevation change can be from the inside floor to the patio. Also on how small the change can be. Find out what they are and be sure to comply. What is the requirement to prevent water from coming into the house?
3. What is the intended slope of the concrete patio? I should be ~ 1/4" per foot away from the house. If the retaining wall is level, I don't think there is enough slope away from the house. You may have to re-work that gravel bed.
4. The finisher may want you to have the concrete pumped in. Don't look on this as extra cost, look on it as insurance that the pour will go smoothly. A finisher and a pumper who have worked together in the past can place a lot of concrete in just the right amount in a very short time.
I don't mean to be critical, but the time to do something about potential problems is before you pour concrete, not after.
but I still save me a bunch of $$$ by doing it my self :laughing::laughing:... I want it in one pour but proly going to do 2x if not 3x :thumbsup:
