We have a 54'x105' morton building, right now there is a 15'x60' area that is concrete and is completely packed with equipment. We've been talking about doing another pour for a work area inside, right now we are planning on 24'x60'. Somewhere on this pad we are going to put a 12,000lb 4 post drive-on Rotary lift. I'm also unsure how smooth I want this concrete (like glass), think general shop area, probably no surface coatings other than a cure sealer.

I'm figuring on 5.5 to 6" thick on the pad, that equates to around 27 cubic yards of concrete. We have a few quotes coming, I have a pretty good idea what concrete is going to cost, but how much should I be looking to spend if I have someone do it.

This is kinda what the area looks like now.


Any other ideas would be appreciated.
Thanks,
Mike

 

I paid a guy $.50 a foot about 4 years ago. I'm not sure if that was a decent price back then or what. I had a 28X34, 5" thick 3500psi with fiber.

Make sure you put the real thick expansion (3/4"?) up against the outer edges and have a plan for expansions or cuts out in the field too. I rented a diamond blade and borrowed a 14" chop saw to make 2 nice, clean 1" cuts down the long declension of my garage, this way I KNOW where it is going to crack.

I don't know if this is right, didn't care at the time, but I also used 3/4" Polystyrene layed about 2' out from the foundation all the way around the inside perimeter, layed and tied a grid of 8X8 wire and put down a 20 mil massive sheet of plastic.

Please note, I was the general contractor on my own garage, so I might have (okay, WAS) a pain in the rear to each one of my contractors. All of the above may not be the way it is supposed to be done. I took several different ideas from different site work I had seen and applied it to my garage.

 

Oh.

One more thing. Sell some of those tractors and you can pour the whole thing!

 

If you are going to seal it, I would go with a broom finish. Slick finish will put you on your backside in a hurry if it gets wet or a little oil on it.

 

Since it's a Morton bldg I assume it's a pole bldg, if so whoever does your concrete work make sure he puts saw joints at every post and split any doors there may be. Also don't broom finish it as it would be harder than heck to clean as you can't really put a broom to a broom finish. My opinion is a bull float finish as it's rough enuff so you want slip yet it's still smooth enuff to clean rather easily.

 

I understand the saw joints at each post ... but what do you mean by "split any doors there may be" ??

PISTOL

 

Right now we're paying about $71 per CY for 5000 psi concrete with 35% fly ash. We pay another $0.35 per SF to have it placed and finished, but you probably can't buy it for that price.

A hard troweled finish ("smooth as glass") is nice for cleaning, but if you want something that you won't slip on when it gets wet I'd recommend a light or medium broom finish.

Nice JD's by the way. My grandfather would probably LOVE to take a few of them off your hands. He just finished restoring a "Johnny Popper" and I think he's looking for another project.

 

Yes it is a pole building, however the concrete we are going to pour is going to go from the edge of one door to the other door, pretty much centered with the building, 60 feet in and against the existing concrete.

 

I would recommend a lot of steel, that "fiber" is a crock of crap if you ask me. My last building was a 28X48, and I paid 4800 for the concrete finished. I did a slab on grade with the concrete 18" thick for 16 inches around the edges and then 4" thick everywhere else.

 

From listening to my dad(concrete work is his business) I agree that the fiber is junk and is not worth whatever it costs.

 

I'll just put it this way, in my 6 years of commercial construction we have NEVER used fiber reinforced concrete. I'm sure there's a good reason for that.

 

Did you use any fiber in that bedliner?

 

I do concrete work (owner) Here in WI. we are getting anywhere from 3-5 dollars a s.f. finished @ 4". This includes everything (subgrade ,concrete ,felt,etc.)The added cost of fiber in the concrete is a trade off if you dont use steel .(steel is expensive) You don't need both. I won,t get into the fibermesh debate, but it works or it would not still be out there.I pour about 600-1000 yds a year residential work and I pay about 100.00 a yard. that includes everything (tax fuel sur charge ,enviromental and anything else they can add to it) I start at about 80.00 a yard.Hope this helps any other questions just ask. Oh and trowel finish it,with sawed joints not tooled, you'll be much happier when its clean up time.

 

Make sure you pour some big footings full of rebar for the lift!! Nothing like having 12k lbs come crashing down!!!

Fiber is junk and I'd never do it again! EVER!

Glass smooth finish is not a good idea as you cannot stand up on a wet day!!
Broom finish is your better bet!

Rick

 

I had a professional crew pour my 30x40 4" thick with fiber and smooth finish with 2 expansion joints.

The floor is cracked all over but the smooth finish isn't slippy and is easy to broom. Just wish they had used steel mesh and a couple more expansion joints. I paid $2000 5 yrs. ago.