Thread: Concrete floor costs?

I assume you mean 300 x 250 cm ?

If you compacted the ground underneath well, you could get away with 50 mm thickness but there would be so little cost difference in cost between 50 and 75 mm that I would go with 75.

Cost wise will depend on a few factors that may have not have much to do with the size of the job. Based on your location of "Australia" it is a bit difficult to determine where you are but one way to do this is to look for a concreter that operates in your area. That way they can fit it in between bigger jobs and possibly order the concrete in conjunction with another order.

Fopr a slab that size, with very little structural need, I would be thinking about doing it myself - either by buying the raw materials, or premix bags.

If i did it myself, how much is it likely to cost, and how difficult is it?

1. Select and level the site, ensuring all vegetation cleared.
2. Box out the site with scrap timber retained with pegs outside the boxing, boxing to be level 75mm above base as you will screed (level out) the mix with a stick/bar accross the boxing.
3. Obtain materials for about 0.6cubic metres. Could be minimix (will be expensive as is a small volume with fixed truck/ mix costs), bags of premix, or 1/2 m of rock screenings, 1/4 m of sand and a couple of bags of cement. Hard to estimate costs as it depends on local sources and costs and we don't know where you are.
4. Obtain some mesh for reinforcing, again hard to estimate for the same reason.
5. Lay mesh in boxing, with small support blocks or 'chairs' to keep it about mid depth.
Depending on source of mix;
6a. Barrow mix from minimix to site and tip into boxing,
6b. Mix premix according to instructions near site and barrow and tip, or mix screenings, sand, cement near site and barrow and tip.
7. Roughly level the mix in the boxing with a squaremouth shovel, leaving it slightly high, then screed it level with the boxing. To screed, use a timber straight edge about 3m long accross the slab, resting on the long sides. With a person at each end, work the straight edge fairly vigorously like a handsaw accross the slab, keeping it on the 3m boxing. Start at one end and slowly work to the other. This will rake the concrete from the high spots and transfer it to the low spots. If there is excess when you reach the far end, shovel it off and finish screeding.
8. Allow the concrete to dry off significantly, then float (wooden trowel) or trowel (metal trowel) to finish according to required texture. A float will leave a coarse texture, while a metal trowel will leave a smooth one. The textured one offers better grip, but will be harder to clean, the smooth one will be slippery when wet but easier to shovel clean.
9. Allow to dry for a couple of days then remove the boxing. Leave another week at least befor building on the slab as it needs time to fully harden.

You might want to dig rat wall to 300mm as well. Grain brings rats, rats bring snakes. Both are quite happy living under a slab.

Originally Posted by Ball Peen

You might want to dig rat wall to 300mm as well. Grain brings rats, rats bring snakes. Both are quite happy living under a slab.

Sorry mate, but what exactly is a rat wall? :P

A rat wall is like a footing.

How much effort do you want to put into this ?
You could do like Malb suggests, or you could go to your local nursery (depending on where you are) and buy some concrete pavers (large) and level the ground, place them down for your base. They come in big sizes these days (I used some about 800x800x25) and that would make it pretty fast to construct.

Geoff

I have done this a couple of times.

The first time I made a concrete slab. The second time I levelled the ground, made a mix of about 8 parts sand to 1 part cement and made a bed from this dry mix about 50mm deep (the natural groundwater sets it off). The pavers went over the bed with the outside pavers set on edge (as a rat wall). Finished.

If I needed to do it again, I'd use pavers, out of a deep dislike of mixing concrete by hand ... but if you have a concrete mixer ...

Originally Posted by gyropilot

How much effort do you want to put into this ?
You could do like Malb suggests, or you could go to your local nursery (depending on where you are) and buy some concrete pavers (large) and level the ground, place them down for your base. They come in big sizes these days (I used some about 800x800x25) and that would make it pretty fast to construct.

Geoff

my dad said this is the best way to go, as concrete companies wont care about the little bit of land i want done, so they will charge through the roof.

Cheers!

Originally Posted by Skyscraper

my dad said this is the best way to go, as concrete companies wont care about the little bit of land i want done, so they will charge through the roof.

Cheers!

Having kept canaries, finches and poultry, and being accutely aware of the hygeine and vermin issues, I would suggest that you reconsider this decision. Too many nooks and crannies for things to hide in, and without a footing (aka rat wall) then it is only a matter of time before vermin starts tunneling.

Ten years ago I had a concrete floor put into my laundry, and was pleasantly surprised as to how low the cost was. I prepared site, plumbers installed pipes, I put in reinforcing mesh, and concreter supplied and installed concrete. He gave me two quotes

* Do the job when you want it done, or

* Do it when we have some left over concrete, at about half the other quote. Perhaps a fortnight.

Two days later I got a call "We are on the way." and they arrived 20 minutes later. They wheelbarrowed the concrete from the concrete truck, levelled it, had a cup of coffee, then smoothed it and were done. Cost was about what I could have bought the cement, sand, aggregate and hired a mixer.

Fair Wind

Graeme

Originally Posted by GraemeCook

Having kept canaries, finches and poultry, and being accutely aware of the hygeine and vermin issues, I would suggest that you reconsider this decision. Too many nooks and crannies for things to hide in, and without a footing (aka rat wall) then it is only a matter of time before vermin starts tunneling.

Ten years ago I had a concrete floor put into my laundry, and was pleasantly surprised as to how low the cost was. I prepared site, plumbers installed pipes, I put in reinforcing mesh, and concreter supplied and installed concrete. He gave me two quotes

* Do the job when you want it done, or

* Do it when we have some left over concrete, at about half the other quote. Perhaps a fortnight.

Two days later I got a call "We are on the way." and they arrived 20 minutes later. They wheelbarrowed the concrete from the concrete truck, levelled it, had a cup of coffee, then smoothed it and were done. Cost was about what I could have bought the cement, sand, aggregate and hired a mixer.

Fair Wind

Graeme

I want to put concrete, but the concreting companies i emailed ignored me completely :S Can you suggest any companies or canbuilders do it maybe? Funds arnt unlimited sadly :\

Originally Posted by Skyscraper

I want to put concrete, but the concreting companies i emailed ignored me completely :S Can you suggest any companies or canbuilders do it maybe? Funds arnt unlimited sadly :\

I would look at yellow pages or community newspapers for a concretor that does small jobs.

Originally Posted by Skyscraper

I want to put concrete, but the concreting companies i emailed ignored me completely

I would suggest that you phone them rather than emailing as quite a few Australian companies, especially large ones don't seem to know much about emails.