On Mar 30, 1:11 pm, "Steve B" wrote:
"gpsman" wrote

So you want to work as a purchasing agent for the contractor and
pocket the "savings"?

I want to hire a concrete crew to lay a slab for my shop. I want to get it
for a reasonable cost.

Then get several bids.

Good luck with that. Who will warrant the work if the job is done
improperly? Should there be an issue down the road the contractor
will blame your concrete and the concrete supplier will blame your
contractor and you'll all end up with lawyers and you'll still have a
****ty slab, with a building on it.

Were you born negative, or did this come to you later in life?

I started working on construction sites when I was 7, as a (pretty
****ty) hod carrier. That's when it was first pointed out to me how
much can go wrong with a simple job, sometimes a couple years later.

Which contractor will be willing to accept such an arrangement?

There is such a building boom in my county (second fastest growing in the
United States) that it is difficult to get ANYONE to come and even bid work,
let alone do the work.

Then you're going to have your work cut out for you finding a
contractor.

good companies will be busy pouring for clients who give them the
whole job, the crappy ones with bad reputations who are "judgment
proof" and scrambling for work will be your most likely source.

My source is local networking. Friends and family I have in the area. Dan
G hit it on the head with the $3.50 sf cost, but I wanted to hear what
others had to say. I DO know enough about it to look at a slab and tell if
it's done right.

Congratulations, you're the only one on the planet with that skill.

If you want to save money, go the other way. The phrase "sweat
equity" accurately contains the word "sweat".

I do, however, shop things, and have the money to
hire the work done. BUT, I don't just call and pay whatever the guy says.

Sometimes that's the only option. I took advantage of it when I was
the best in my business in my locale. Here's my number. Like it;
fine. Don't like it; that's fine too. Find somebody else, if you
can. But don't call me back, I lost money giving you your bid.

A "slab" is a "foundation", probably not the building phase where
construction savings should be maximized.

Like I said, I'll hire good people, watch the work, get a good slab, and
won't pay a lot of extra profit.

Same things with guys pouring driveways and flatwork. You can hire a
contractor and pay what they want, or you can get a crew, buy the concrete,
put on some barbecue and ice some beer, and save a lot.

Sounds like you have enough knowledge and experience to not be jacking
me off with your original ****ing question...

Concrete ain't rocket surgery no matter what the contractors tell you.

Oops, I spoke too soon. There's a lot more to it than meets the
inexperienced eye. Check your nearest concrete road/bridge/driveway/
(newer) sidewalk-parking lot/ for confirmation of that. Any idiot can
form a good looking slab. Will it last? These days, not much longer
than it takes your check to clear.

A great many "contractors" are going to school on the money of the
ignorant. I've seen many $5-20M homes built like ****, and most new
homes in the $200-1M range could have been built better by a class of
6th graders, for a lot less money.
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- gpsman