How much does concrete cost these days?

[Wingshooter]

I am going to build a pole barn soon, and I want a concrete slab. I will call around Monday and get some price quotes, but I just want to see if anyone has an idea of what I can expect to pay per sqft. I've priced everything out except the slab, and now I'm a little impatient to know how much the concrete will cost, lol. It will be in Bradley County and the size is 24'x40'. Any ballpark ideas? Thanks

[eRay]

Around McMinn County it runs about $100 per yard. In Loudon County where I am building a new house and just had to buy 40 yards, it runs $140 per yard. Quite a difference. Seems like I was told a yard would pour 84 square feet 4 inches deep. Looks like you might need about 11 yards. My guess for the concrete would be $1200 to $1500.

[Wingshooter]

Thanks Eray! That's exactly what I was needing.

 

[No_0ne]

Don't forget the concrete needed for the foundation. For a 24x40 slab, that will be another 9-10 yards.  I always used 80 sq. ft for the amount of square footage that a yard would poor on a 4" slab, which allows for small differences in elevation and some waste.  Figure about 21-22 yards to include a perimeter foundation of 1x2 ft. in addition to the slab.  I always liked pouring on fill sand and gravel as a base, along with wire for reinforcement and plastic for a vapor barrier which will also figure into the totals.  Admittedly I've been out of that line of work for many years, folks may have very different ideas about how slabs are poured these days.  These estimates do not include anything for the cost of finishing, I have no idea what that runs now.

[Dolomite_supafly]

The slab is going to cost you ~$4,500 to have set up and poured. I base that on my cost to have a pad poured for my garage within the last year. From what I gather a lot of concrete guys who work for themselves charge 2x the cost of the concrete for everything. That is they take the cost of the concrete only then charge you the same amount for labor.

3,000 psi concrete, which is what they should use, should cost somewhere around $100 a yard depending on the company.

A word of advice. If looks matter make sure to get some references or look at some reviews. If no reviews or references run away. I hired a local guy and he was not a concrete guy, he was just some guy who thinks he would be good at concrete work. I laid out the slab using string and made sure everything was perfectly square. He showed up and I showed him where I had laid out the pad. He immediately ripped up the string then asked what the dimensions where. I told him and he proceeded to absolutely screw those dimensions up. My wife asked me not to micromanage the workers like I normally do so I walked inside for about an hour. When I came back out the dimensions where all wrong. And when I mean wrong I mean by at least 10' on a pad that was supposed to be 32'x34'. I told him it was wrong and he started belly aching about how it was already done. I told him to fix the main pad and he could leave the apron at 10' wide rather than 2' wide like I wanted. When he had it laid out correctly he used string, instead of a laser, to set the grade stakes. Because the string sagged in the middle so does my slab. On top of that he angled my apron up so it collected rainwater and directed right into the saggy middle, creating an indoor pool that was at least 1" deep. I begged him for months and months to fix the apron and it was not until I told him he would be paying for someone else to fix it that he actually tried to fix it. He tried cutting grooves to let the water drain but we both knew he had to replace the slab which he eventually did but before making me wait for several months. I had threaded steel inserts put in the concrete for pedestal mounting some tools. I told them they MUST be level but in the end I had only one that was useable. Then he did not order enough concrete, probably because he let his 10 year old son calculate what was needed. When he ran out of concrete he acted like it was not his fault and wanted to leave. He hemmed and hawed a few minutes implying I needed to order more concrete. I told him he was paid for the job and the job wasn't finished. He ordered the extra concrete but by the time it got there the rest of the concrete had cured and the new stuff didn't match, both visually as well as physically. Luckily it was the apron that had to be removed otherwise I would have an apron that looked like ass.

 

[jagee]

I have no idea on cost down here (I'm from Indiana) but don't skimp on the sub-base. If the ground below settles, so will the concrete.

In my day job, I work for a construction materials testing company - so I've tested a lot of concrete. I'd suggest 4000psi instead of 3000 as listed above. Most slabs, driveways, sidewalks, etc are 4k. 3k is typical for foundations, however. If the barn is not going to be heated you will want air-entrained concrete as well. The air voids within the concrete will allow for freeze/thaw and you'll end up with a better product of the life of the slab. Concrete WILL crack, we just try and minimize how much, and direct it where.

[Wingshooter]

All good info. Thanks. I got a quote today for the materials alone at $1300. I'm still waiting to get some quotes on labor to come in.