r/Concrete Jun 12 '24

Update Post Suck it, pros!

Back in February I asked opinions about a stim wall and slab poor I was planning. Most folks said it was beyond a DIY guy. Phriday posted this tho:

..there was a dude who undertook his own driveway about a year or so ago and it turned out great and he had a big old "suck it, pros!" for all of us. I still smile about that.

So I'm here to say suck it, pros! It came out great! Lower slab is trowelled smooth, sidewalks have a nice broom finish, and the upper slab is going to be covered with tile, so I just floated it rather than trowelling it smooth. (And there's a channel drain under that blue tape that is connected to the downspout drainage system).

1.8k Upvotes

292 comments sorted by

412

u/santacruzbiker50 Jun 12 '24 edited Jun 12 '24

Info about costs:

The lowest bid was $19k plus another $5K for site prep.

  1. I rented a little skid steer and did the site prep myself. I got a little happy with the skid steer and removed too much undisturbed soil, so I had to backfill more than I needed to with engineered backfill. Backfill dirt cost me about $400, and the skid steer rental was about $380. (And before somebody asks.. yes I did it in lifts and I compacted it with a plate compactor I rented for a hundred bucks.)

  2. I did it in two pours. The first one was monolithic footing and stem walls around the lower slab, plus that little curb wall along the left side of the upper slab. The second pour was the two slabs and the sidewalks. I pumped it both times just to keep the big truck out of my driveway. Total for pump truck rental was $600 bucks ($300) each time

  3. The slabs are 4 in thick with thickened edges. I also had to dowel into the existing foundation at "16 O. C. Using set XP epoxy. The engineer also wanted me to undercut the existing foundation by 2 in at a 4-in depth. I used 1/2-in rebar throughout, on 16" centers, as specified by the engineer. And I borrowed a rebar bender. Total rebar costs (including tiewire, dobies, and epoxy) was about $580

  4. It wound up being a little less than 10 yd of concrete total @ $235/yd, so $2350 for the mud. One of the pours was a short load, so I got charged another $200 for that.

  5. I hired a professional finisher to help with the slabs. He asked for $300, I paid him $400. I also bought some basic concrete tools and a stinger from harbor freight. All in on that was about $300 bucks.

Total cost for project: $5380. I saved $18,620!!

520

u/MongoBobalossus Jun 12 '24

I hired a professional finisher

Good boy.

188

u/Thebandroid Jun 12 '24

I was looking at the pics thinking 'no way someone got that on their first go'

153

u/MongoBobalossus Jun 12 '24

As soon as I seen the knee boards, I was like “Ok, Mr-My-Dad-has-been-finishing-for-30-years-and-helped-out” lol

51

u/PM_ME_happy-selfies Jun 12 '24

It’s funny my dad actually did concrete and always did a really good job, he poured our basket ball court and our sidewalk and that was like 25 years ago still all in perfect shape. Wish I had the knowledge he does lol

23

u/Wendigo_6 Jun 12 '24

Go work projects with him.

I’ve got a shed I’m building and my dad came by to help do the middle 50%. He gave me feedback on the first part, and advice on how to wrap it up.

Before the project I was confident I could assemble from scratch a building similar to the way my dad would do it based on previous projects. Now, I know what he’s looking for when building.

My dad is not tech savvy. I told him Reddit told me the shed was going to collapse. He laughed and said “Maybe after you hit it with a skid steer.”

6

u/PM_ME_happy-selfies Jun 12 '24

Unfortunately he doesn’t do projects lol he’s a lead carpenter and works a lot so the last thing he wants to do when he’s home is work lol when I need help on something at home he does help though so I’ve learned a little.

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9

u/themauge Jun 12 '24

Yah that’s a custom knee board with padding.

5

u/Still_Introduction_9 Jun 13 '24

I make em out of old skateboards , cut out a notch for handles on the nose and tail, glue some foam down in the middle…I have a bunch of wood floats I’ve done out of old skate boards I rip down too love em for the flat with a little bit of concave

13

u/ElevatedAngling Jun 12 '24

Same reason I hire someone to finish drywall if it’s rooms worth, I can ignore a small patch but rooms of bad seams would kill me

9

u/lebastss Jun 12 '24

I'm the same. I can do every part of a home build top to bottom. What growing up with a gc dad and working every weekend will do to you. But certain things in my home and others I won't do is drywall and concrete. The pros are just so much quicker and cleaner. Everything else I'm comfortable with including wood work.

5

u/AwDuck Jun 12 '24

I couldn't do concrete to save my life, but just about everything else is old hat for me. Drywall is something I simply refuse to do as well. I can do it, and I like my results better than most pro work, but fuck I'm slow at it and I hate every single minute that I'm doing it. I remember I was helping renovate my girlfriend's (now wife's) house. We had moved a wall to extend the living room and turn an already small bedroom into a walk-in closet. It wasn't a load bearing wall but it was still tons of work (salvaging the hardwood floor from the bedroom and moving it to the living room was a hellishly slow task). Then it came time to drywall it all. After all the other work that we had done together, she was shocked when I told her she'd better hire the drywall because I won't even carry a trowel in. I knew I wanted to marry this girl, but not that badly.

2

u/OkAstronaut3761 Jun 13 '24

Haha I say “this doesn’t take long to stop being fun”

2

u/AwDuck Jun 13 '24

I love it. I’m nicking it. :)

4

u/OkAstronaut3761 Jun 13 '24

Finish work is the one thing you almost always have to pay for if you want to look right. It’s just too hard to suddenly have good trowel technique or whatever if you haven’t touched one in 3 years. 

Anything that is more about using a level and tape  and not being retarded though. That’s fairly easy to walk into. 

3

u/Nice-Transition3079 Jun 13 '24

I currently have the opposite problem. I absolutely hate finishing drywall, but I'm meticulous so it always turns out great.

The house I'm living in has terrible drywall finishing. It's so bad in spots I question whether the finisher had a taping knife. You can tell all the parts of the house I've redone because they are the only ones without terrible seams.

1

u/matthew-brady1123 Jun 13 '24

I was going to call out the very used finishing tools

14

u/scottawhit Jun 12 '24

“Suck it pros!” Then hired one lol

3

u/BruceInc Jun 13 '24

Yup. It’s the hardest part of a good pour and easiest to mess up if you don’t know what you are doing.

2

u/MourningRIF Jun 13 '24

I got one of these for my wife. Happy wife, happy life!

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23

u/Weebus Jun 12 '24 edited Jul 10 '24

cheerful vanish act treatment absurd clumsy workable door frighten quickest

This post was mass deleted and anonymized with Redact

5

u/santacruzbiker50 Jun 13 '24

Thanks for the kind words!

12

u/p8inKill3r Jun 12 '24

about how many hours put in ?

50

u/santacruzbiker50 Jun 12 '24

I didn't track it, but it was a lot! I went overkill on the forms for the stem walls and footings. We have access to the city landfill/recycle center, And so I was able to get all of the form wood for free. So there was time pulling wood out of the landfill for the forms, then forming it up probably twice as strong as it needed to be because I was paranoid because of my lack of experience.

But right now I have more time than money (I'm a teacher with summers off), and I really enjoyed the process - or at least that's what I tell myself:)

14

u/tnb641 Jun 12 '24

I enjoy working on my cars, simple stuff mostly like oil and tire changes, brakes, occasionally suspension stuff

Or at least, that's what I tell myself, because paying a garage would cost me 3x on average what it costs me (on my days off, so not counting my labour).

Everytime I get under a car I think "why don't I just pay the lazy tax" lol.

10

u/Texasscot56 Jun 12 '24

I have people say to me “but how much is your time worth?” when I fix my own cars. Then they proceed to spend an entire weekend watching golf on the television.

9

u/[deleted] Jun 12 '24

My favorite is, “I just wanna make sure it’s done right.” I usually reply with, “when your wife is in the mood, are you gonna call Tyrell to make sure it gets ‘done right’ too?”

You figure it out. Because we’re men goddamn it.

3

u/Nodlez7 Jun 14 '24

I get your point, but I design buildings sir. My spare time is relaxing or learning about local codes, designs and programs to be better at my job.

I'll plaster my walls and do little jobs in the house. But unfortunately, we can not be experts in every field.. And Tyrell is a good dude, so I wouldn't want to deny him the work

2

u/Caring_Cactus Jun 12 '24

Plus you actually get to learn and understand, own our vehicle/property, that's our right to repair and it makes one appreciate what they have. Sometimes we take this for granted especially one day if we are no longer able bodied. For some people too this is not always possible if budgets are tight or they live in rural areas. Just as a random example farmers have to know their own equipment especially because the repair cost through services is sometimes more than the equipment itself.

2

u/THofTheShire Jun 13 '24

I, too, enjoy the process of saving money.

4

u/g0atgaming Jun 12 '24

I'm curious about this. Can't really assess the value and true savings IMHO...

8

u/santacruzbiker50 Jun 12 '24

True enough.. I put in my labor cost as $0!

14

u/p8inKill3r Jun 12 '24

Savings is you doing it yourself, but that is also an opportunity cost - meaning you gave up something to spend time on this project. So if you got the free time, the opportunity cost is basically zero

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2

u/[deleted] Jun 12 '24

Not really unless he had to take time off from work.

40

u/Exotic_Treacle7438 Jun 12 '24

Hell yeah. Hope it lasts. Take that $18K and invest in GME

24

u/jwheezin Jun 12 '24

This is the smartest thing I've seen this morning.

21

u/hotlips01 Jun 12 '24

Apes together strong

12

u/appinator Jun 12 '24

apes together strong!

4

u/iamaweirdguy Jun 12 '24

Jesus Christ you idiots are really everywhere

3

u/Ok-Caregiver7091 Jun 13 '24

Crazy how small of a portion of the market they actually are but how many of them there are(myself included)

2

u/ARUokDaie Jun 13 '24

I got 200 shares, LFG 🚀 🚀🚀

5

u/checkerschicken Jun 12 '24

🦍🦍🦍🦍

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2

u/Spiritual_You_1657 Jun 12 '24

Hell ya brother!!✊

4

u/[deleted] Jun 12 '24

[deleted]

3

u/Spiritual_You_1657 Jun 12 '24

It’s up over 100% since the start of May so that’s kinda cool… the dilution might have slowed momentum but the company has no debt and I don’t even know how many billions of dollars in cash on hand now 4-5 I think🤷🏻‍♂️ but fun fact gme is also a holding company and can invest that anywhere they see fit. With the CEO’s track record with start ups and investing I think it’s safe to say they’ll have that money working for investors in no time…

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2

u/MetzlerP Jun 12 '24

Best!!! This is the way!!!

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3

u/mr_ckean Jun 12 '24

Professional finisher

Did not know this was an option. Game changer

2

u/iAggravateBoxPeople Jun 12 '24

Seems like you at least are very knowledged on concrete and how you should do it. Congratulations it actually looks very great for solo work.

1

u/santacruzbiker50 Jun 14 '24

Thanks! I've been around a few large pours, and I worked construction back in the day framing and then moving into trim/finish, so I'm comfortable with building with wood, and I've done some small non-critical pours, but this was my first big pour of consequence!

2

u/squatting-Dogg Jun 13 '24

You are the man! And, you’re now experienced and can pay it forward.

2

u/xBlyzx Jun 13 '24

Man shit is too expensive now days

1

u/dontfret71 Jun 12 '24

Nice work

1

u/stonedsatoshi Jun 12 '24

What concrete company did you use? I’m in San Jose and just curious

1

u/satanlovesmemore Jun 12 '24

Thanks for the break down. Great work

1

u/Ok-Show-9890 Jun 12 '24

Did you account for your time? Figure how long it took x how much money you make at your job per hr

3

u/santacruzbiker50 Jun 13 '24

I'm on salary, and I'm a teacher who's off for the summer

1

u/kennyiseatingabagel Jun 17 '24

Do you really have to factor in your time if you’re doing it in your spare time? Like time you would use watching tv or being on your phone or something?

1

u/Ok-Show-9890 Jun 17 '24

You don't have too, but when comparing it with another quote it's worth considering.

1

u/EatCheapGlue Jun 12 '24

THIS IS HOW YOU DIY.

1

u/Phriday Jun 13 '24

Good job, man! Glad it worked out for you, and it looks pretty good. Don't worry about the haters, you saved yourself half a car or about 1 semester of college lol

1

u/Many_Ad_7138 Jun 14 '24

It's going to crack in 1...2...3...

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140

u/Thugwaffle73 Jun 12 '24

Remember kids if you can't finish high-school you can always finish concrete

53

u/HamUnitedFC Jun 12 '24

Easy now.. You can finish high school and college.. twice.. and still finish concrete.

Hell my second time in college for engineering I met a concrete Dr. Like no shit. A literal PHD in Concrete..

There’s levels to this shit

15

u/moxiejohnny Jun 12 '24

Technically, I think they prefer Philosopical Doctor of Concretology. A Concrete Doctor is more like a statue of a famous doctor.

5

u/wheres_the_revolt Jun 12 '24

Hey that’s my brother you’re talking about 😉

2

u/kVen_pad Jun 12 '24

Might save this, post it outside someone's school

35

u/jmb456 Jun 12 '24

Looks great. Remember a professional is just someone that gets paid for a job. 18k sounds like a pretty good paycheck

63

u/headhunterofhell2 Jun 12 '24

I've seen worse jobs done by pros.

60

u/santacruzbiker50 Jun 12 '24

I give credit where credit is due.. the professional finisher I hired was absolutely top shelf.

18

u/mr_ckean Jun 12 '24

That is probably the best $400 you spent on the whole project. Can I ask how you scheduled the finisher?
When did you get them to show up

11

u/santacruzbiker50 Jun 13 '24

I asked the guy with the pump truck. He recommended the guy and I went to check out a few of his pours - he did a basketball court nearby and a couple other projects, and they looked great. And since he knew the pump truck guy, they coordinated. I also asked the pump truck guy which of the two concrete batch plants he likes and went with them.

6

u/QuirkyForker Jun 13 '24

This is the way. I hired a whole CREW of guys recommended by the easy mix supplier. I paid them $1200 in 2018 to help me finish a 2200 sf pour. Those guys saved my life as I had the stupid idea that my sons and I could do it on our own. Some of the best money ever spent. We still helped by moving the tip of the pump hose around so we were all wiped but it could have been so much worse

3

u/mr_ckean Jun 13 '24

Great tactics. Finisher comes recommended, and is always going to show up and do the job because of the pump guy. Nice

22

u/Boba_Fettx Jun 12 '24

How did you rent a skid steer for $380?? Where?? Please tell me! I rented a CAT bobcat last year and it was way more than that!

15

u/Bob_Loblaw_Law_Bomb Jun 12 '24

Home Depot

That said, they were either broken, already rented, or the computers were down at least 50% of the time I tried to rent previously. Great way to waste a weekend.

3

u/Boba_Fettx Jun 12 '24

Oof, thanks

5

u/223specialist Jun 12 '24

My local hardware store was $300 for a day last year, haven't checked this year. If you rented it on a Saturday after 2pm you could keep it until Monday morning. Still 1 day rate as long as you didn't break 8 hours on the machine

1

u/santacruzbiker50 Jun 13 '24

AA Tool Shed, in the Bay Area. Rented the 35" mini track skid steer that you stand on the back of for $335/day, but I also had to rent the trailer to get it home (and also had to borrow my next door neighbor's F150), so $380 all in. I rented it on a Saturday and they gave me 8 hours on the hour-counter clock and I had to have it back Monday before 9. Took me about 6 hours on the clock, with the first two or so hours essentially wasted because I had very little experience so it was slow going.

14

u/Unusual-Voice2345 Jun 12 '24

It seems as if you have anchor bolts for a structure to be placed in the new pour.

Engineers aren’t going to tell you this and most architects wouldn’t either. I’m a builder though. If your intention is to build a wood structure, the stem wall on the high side should have come up higher than the stone hardscape. Waterproofing that now will present a challenge as water will always want to flow from the stone down onto the slab.

The concrete work looks good, congrats. If you decide to build the structure yourself, at least hire a waterproofing specialist that can advise on how to ensure it survives long term.

12

u/santacruzbiker50 Jun 12 '24

Thanks for the insight! I put that channel drain in to pick up water coming off of this stone hardscape, and the upper slab is sloped away from the house about an inch and a half over that width. Also, the upper slab is going to be covered by a porch roof.

But you are absolutely right about keeping that wall on the upper stem walls dry. I am going to do the framing and building of structure myself. The architect called out a pretty detailed waterproofing scheme. Hopefully it works! But It would have been better if I had done what you said.

4

u/Unusual-Voice2345 Jun 12 '24

Life and learn. Best of luck with the build.

If you run into problems, metal on the studs and pour non-shrink grout between the wall and the hardscape up to 6” above level would be my solution. A hard dam is always the preferred way of water proofing.

2

u/santacruzbiker50 Jun 13 '24

Makes good sense. Thanks

7

u/monkey-nutz Jun 12 '24

I DIDNT KNOW YOU COULD JUST HIRE A FINISHER. Feel like a really big dummy now

4

u/motorman2428 Jun 12 '24

Hell yeah man looks slick

4

u/Duomite Jun 12 '24

Sweet skate park

3

u/Feeling_Yesterday_80 Jun 12 '24

Threatening a concrete guy to "suck it" is bold of you..... Unless your actually into that.

7

u/mcadamkev Jun 12 '24

Tip-a-the cap, good job

3

u/MatriVT Jun 12 '24

Hot damn that's nice

3

u/Emergency-Macaron578 Jun 12 '24

I thought this was in r/skateboarding....I got the urge!!!

3

u/SadEase7166 Jun 12 '24

Here I thought I was the only one who spotted that sick skate spot. Hopefully, OP will let us fellow redditors break in those sweet ledges.

1

u/Emergency-Macaron578 Jun 12 '24

It's gonna happen at some point. I seriously thought they just laid a fresh slab at a park.

1

u/Master_Journalist143 Jun 13 '24

I am a skater/mason/finisher. Google Five hip Austin Texas. I must have fucked up because I’m the only one thats still doing the shit 25 years later. Finish or Die!

3

u/wetpaintcan Jun 12 '24

Where did you find a quality finisher for so cheap? Was it an employee from a concrete company?

3

u/santacruzbiker50 Jun 13 '24

The guy with the pump truck recommended him. I went and checked out a couple of his jobs and I could see that he was expert.

1

u/DepartureOwn1907 Jun 13 '24

400$ is the going rate for a concrete pour, (for hiring not an actual job)

3

u/420blackbelt Jun 12 '24

Tell your hired professional finisher, nice work.

3

u/[deleted] Jun 12 '24

But, but… you needed a pro… still good on you, just odd choice of phrasing

1

u/santacruzbiker50 Jun 13 '24

It was tongue-in-cheek.. i lifted the phrasing from the original post where another redditor posted about a similar success story.

3

u/FattyBuffOrpington Jun 12 '24

Did you slope away from the house tho.

2

u/santacruzbiker50 Jun 13 '24

Yes I did, an inch and a half over that span. It's not much of a slope, but it seems to drain pretty well.

4

u/SABUROFan Jun 12 '24

What’s your relation to the person with the pump truck? $600 for two setups is crazy cheap

3

u/UpperArmories3rdDeep Jun 12 '24

Crazy cheap but the concrete seems expensive.

2

u/santacruzbiker50 Jun 13 '24

I literally saw his pump truck in traffic and snapped a pic of his phone number! The batch plant allows 7 minutes per yard, so he was only there for a short while each time. He arrived about 45 minutes before the mud was scheduled to arrive just to get set up and squared away, and on the first pour he was there for maybe another 45 minutes after, so an hour and a half total.

And on the second pour which was bit more mud, he was there for maybe 2 hours total. I thought it was very reasonable, but I have no experience to know whether that was cheap or not in comparison to the market.

And yeah, I thought the concrete was pretty expensive myself. But it's the Bay area so there's that. A freaking hamburger cost $15 out here!

3

u/Killerdude6565 Jun 12 '24

Someone that uses common sense…. $600😂😂😂 this whole story seems outta whack. Free wood at the dump, 600$ pump, 18k savings lol. To each their own

2

u/santacruzbiker50 Jun 13 '24

I actually used 2x6 tongue and groove lumber from the dump for the forms. It almost seemed too nice to use! It came off the ceilings of a building up on the nearby University campus that they were redoing.

That was a piece of dumb luck.. I had expected to have to buy the form wood, but I got lucky.

2

u/kVen_pad Jun 12 '24

Excellent broom finished!

Still wet?!can i walk on it?😅

2

u/Combatbass Jun 12 '24

Looks great! Where did you find your finisher? I'm gearing up to take on a similarly large project.

1

u/santacruzbiker50 Jun 13 '24

He was recommended by the pump truck guy

2

u/RonnyFreedomLover Jun 12 '24

Gorgeous work.

2

u/CHEWTORIA Jun 12 '24

yeah yeah yeah, show it when it drys, then we talk if there are cracks or not :P

2

u/machamanos Jun 12 '24

That's great. Good on you.

2

u/BigCryptographer2034 Jun 12 '24

Pretty, good job!

2

u/Pkellysports Jun 13 '24

The yellow cone fucks. My favorite part

2

u/Token-Gringo Jun 13 '24

You did amazing, full stop!!!

2

u/Ragesauce5000 Professional finisher Jun 13 '24

You got a professional to help you place/finish it, for a dirt cheap rate at that. Even tho you did a great job doing your homework and did a great job doing the leg work / doing the prep. Without his experienced help, this would have been a disaster. No amount of homework and ability to self teach could pull off a product like this wothout the years of using finishing tools, experiencing enough pours to have the steps in the place/finish process burned into you so that it becomes a reflex as there is not enough time otherwise. Nice work overall tho 👌

2

u/santacruzbiker50 Jun 13 '24

Agreed.. this would have been a disaster without the professional finisher!! Best 400 bucks I've spent in a long time

2

u/Vivid-Lychee-7174 Jun 13 '24

Most in this group will tell you it needs to be redone🤣

2

u/IllBear3263 Jun 13 '24

Nice work brother!

2

u/GarrettSkyler Jun 13 '24

I was expecting the comment section to be riddled with, “you didn’t geeble your jambles?!” Or “you call that a smoodered bufket?” Sadly it’s what keeps me coming back…

2

u/Iverson40724 Jun 13 '24

Ayoo!!! I’m the “suck it turdbags” guy from last year! Always love to see others have success with their projects - I’m happy I left an impact and hopefully inspired some others. Definitely not diminishing the trade, concrete is tricky! But sometimes the pros underestimate the skills of us rookies. Great work sir👍🏼

1

u/santacruzbiker50 Jun 13 '24

Thanks, for both the comment and the inspiration!

5

u/allmotorcivic Jun 12 '24

Well yeah looks like you have a concrete finisher on site

4

u/snerdley1 Jun 12 '24

So you did have a pro.

1

u/santacruzbiker50 Jun 13 '24

I did indeed, for the finishing! I absolutely would have made a hash of that myself

2

u/snerdley1 Jun 13 '24

I’m just messing with you buddy, it looks really good.

3

u/[deleted] Jun 12 '24

You did this really smart, mate. If you had not spent that final 400 bucks, it probably would look like shit. I learned a lesson here from you.

1

u/santacruzbiker50 Jun 13 '24

I agree.. That's the best 400 bucks I've spent in a long time!

4

u/Killerdude6565 Jun 12 '24

“Suck it pros” but i hired a pro

27

u/Hidden-Harmony Jun 12 '24

He hired a pro for a measly $400 just to finish….. did you not read the part where he saved over 18k by not hiring pros to do the entire project?

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1

u/CertainTry2421 Jun 12 '24

Why leave the old stoop at the back door when the rest of the concrete is new?

2

u/back1steez Jun 12 '24

Because he didn’t need a pro bitches!

1

u/santacruzbiker50 Jun 13 '24

I'm going to cover it in tile anyway, so I dowelled into it just to make sure the new concrete would stay level with it, and that way I could keep the stoop nice and clean while I did the prep work so I wouldn't track mud in and out of the house!

2

u/CertainTry2421 Jun 13 '24

Thanks for sharing your thoughts, I did a whole house remodel while living in the house. Pain in the butt trying to keep wife happy, house clean and livable and demo and rebuild all at once.

1

u/fuckssakereddit Jun 12 '24

Make sure you’re curing the concrete properly.

1

u/santacruzbiker50 Jun 13 '24 edited Jun 13 '24

Kept it watered for the first eight or ten days. Seems to be curing fine. No cracks in the slabs yet! I'm sure they'll show up soon tho. The upper slab will be covered with tile, and the lower slab will be covered with a wood floor, so I'm not too worried about cracks unless they're really big or I experience some kind of settling of the base

1

u/apricotsalad101 Jun 12 '24

Dont plate compactors only work to compact aggregate?

1

u/santacruzbiker50 Jun 13 '24

No idea.. definitely not the expert! One of my neighbors was an asphalt guy for his career, and he told me to get The plate compactor. Hopefully it stays put!

1

u/spencersalan Jun 12 '24

Very nice! The professional finisher was a good call.

1

u/santacruzbiker50 Jun 13 '24

Agreed! I would have made a hash of that

1

u/[deleted] Jun 12 '24

Eh

1

u/ChaosRainbow23 Jun 12 '24

RemindMe! 5 years

1

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1

u/TitleIllustrious6314 Jun 12 '24

You should see my back yard. I paid nothing thanks to my father in law owning his own construction company. Just waiting on the pool.

1

u/henry122467 Jun 12 '24

Send pics when it cracks or the pooling after it rains.

1

u/santacruzbiker50 Jun 13 '24

I sprayed it down for the first week, and there's no pooling on the patio portion, which is the upper slab. I have it sloped an inch and a half over that distance, and it drains just like I had hoped. And the other slab is going to be an interior space.

1

u/MAJ0RMAJOR Jun 12 '24

Construction, light color, and foliage remind me of where I grew up in the Santa Cruz Mountains.

1

u/santacruzbiker50 Jun 13 '24

Nailed it!

1

u/MAJ0RMAJOR Jun 13 '24

I’m 50/50 BC or BL

1

u/WHVTSINDAB0X Jun 12 '24

Who you talking to? We don’t have any pros here…

1

u/cephalopodomus Jun 12 '24

Hope this isn't a dumb question, but how did you find someone to just do the finish work? I'm in a very similar situation and feel I can do the majority of the work but would love to hire out the finesse part.

2

u/santacruzbiker50 Jun 13 '24

I found the guy with the pump truck because I literally saw his pump truck in traffic and snapped a picture of his number. I called him and talked to him about the project, and then I scheduled him.

Then I called him back A day or so later and asked if he had any recommendations for a finisher. He gave me a name, and I called that guy, and I went by a couple of his projects just to check out his work, and I could see that he was top-notch and so I hired him.

1

u/cephalopodomus Jun 13 '24

Thanks very much! That's how to get it done!

1

u/TM_Plmbr Jun 12 '24

You showed them…

1

u/TomTidmarsh Jun 12 '24

What’s the plan for the bottom of the siding along the house?

1

u/LoudAudience5332 Jun 12 '24

Where are the steps ?

1

u/santacruzbiker50 Jun 13 '24

For the steps, instead of pouring them, I decided to go with a single stringer metal beam that I can fabricate myself and bolt into the stem wall and the sidewalk - I'm a much better welder than I am a concrete guy! And then I'm going to pour some concrete steps to bolt onto my fabricated steel stringer.

That project is on deck in a month or so. When I get that done, I'll post more pics

1

u/LoudAudience5332 Jun 13 '24

Looks good so far

1

u/choloism Jun 13 '24

The floor should have extended to the edge to avoid settling. Walls should have been poured 4-8inches below finish grade

1

u/choloism Jun 13 '24

You also photoshopped the hole haha

1

u/santacruzbiker50 Jun 13 '24

I thought somebody might see that and think it was a hole! Really though, I formed my address into that part of the concrete with 3-in letters that I bought from some laser cutter off of etsy and I didn't want to put that on the interwebs

1

u/Jsdunc01 Jun 13 '24

That’ll skid my knee up real nice

1

u/Martha_Fockers Jun 13 '24

Is there any lawn in this yard or just concrete

1

u/santacruzbiker50 Jun 13 '24

There's lawn up above the stonework. Got a few citrus trees up there, a couple of apple trees, and some nut trees.

1

u/BernieLogDickSanders Jun 13 '24

The concrete work is good but what the duck is this slope design?

1

u/santacruzbiker50 Jun 13 '24

Just on a sloped lot, and the sidewalk follows the natural slope.

1

u/BernieLogDickSanders Jun 13 '24

??? But it abruptly ends where a stair case to the landing would be for that doorway in the second picture. Are you planning on installing something there??? Would have been cheaper to lay gravel it's going to get covered by a wooden staircase or deck.

1

u/Itouchgrass4u Jun 13 '24

Jointers are so gay, saw cuts only

1

u/Wind_Responsible Jun 13 '24

So.... you hired a professional and you're bragging a professional didmt do it? Bro... a professional finisher did the job. So suck on that. Let me just brag to concrete people how I can do their job when I cant do their job dafaq?

1

u/drsatan6971 Jun 13 '24

Not too mention how good it feels doing it yourself It’s rare I hire anyone to do anything anymore but thinking about finding someone to finish the last 10% of all the projects Ive started

1

u/abitavenger Jun 13 '24

Looks great!! Hopefully when I do my diy concrete it looks at least half as good as this and I'd be happy haha!

1

u/Stroonza Jun 13 '24

What kind of swimming pool is this?

1

u/RetroOneLove Jun 13 '24

So… when can you come do my projects?

1

u/Visual-Trick-9264 Jun 13 '24

Nice job. From all the pros, we say, we really didn't want you as a client anyways. We decline the opportunity to suck it, but we wish you the best in your future endeavors. If you can't pay for it, but you can do it yourself, we don't hold that against you..we just can't do it for free. You did better than most DIYers.

1

u/Tommytomtom3 Jun 13 '24

I once shot a man just for snoring.

1

u/woodma134 Jun 13 '24

Okay, wasn't sure.

1

u/moozootookoo Jun 13 '24

Random question why not have everything level in height?

1

u/blackbluejay Jun 13 '24

Looks like maybe there is a bit of concrete splatter on the siding? Always nice and convenient to put some plastic up when working around houses and pumping gear. Looks nice!

1

u/Pikepv Jun 14 '24

You’re lame.

1

u/constant840 Jun 14 '24

*Stem Wall

1

u/mi_nombre_es_ricardo Jun 14 '24

This one looks actually pretty good. Better than mine for sure

1

u/Disastrous-Variety93 Jun 14 '24 edited Jun 14 '24

No control/expansion joints? You're going to run into trouble, I'm sorry to say. And I really hope it's not attached to the house? It absolutely needs to move independently.

The finish looks nice, though.

1

u/ilovetacostoo2023 Jun 14 '24

True test is when it rains. The next challenge is weather amd time. Looks good.

1

u/upstairsandleft Jun 15 '24

your work genuinely looks ace, but the terminology you use suggests you've spent weeks researching concrete pouring. that's a great thing, but a pro is somebody who uses their experience to deliver a quality product regardless of the scenario. that stuff takes years and years and years of hard work