Concrete driveway quotes

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johno1234

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#302559 2-Dec-2022 09:10

Getting quotes to rip up, re-level then re-lay 300m2 of concrete driveway and paths. Wow, quotes ranged from $37k to $67k!

All same spec, 100mm with mesh over compacted gravel basecourse.

Anything I should look out for or beware of?

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#3004463 2-Dec-2022 09:15

Is this standard plain concrete, or is it colored / patterned / exposed aggregate / something else?

If the concrete is colored at all make sure there's a plastic barrier between the ground and concrete, otherwise something in the soil can leach in and discolor the concrete.

msukiwi

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#3004472 2-Dec-2022 09:30

Watch out for the clause of "standard conditions".

We got three quotes - Only one was to OUR specification!

We specified MPA, depth and mesh reinforcing.

One had no reinforcing and 75mm. The other was "fiber" reinforcing and 75mm!

Dingbatt

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#3004484 2-Dec-2022 09:52

We recently had an exposed aggregate driveway installed (steel reinforced 100mm). 140sqm cost $16500. But we had removed and disposed of the previous driveway ourselves (pavers) so the price obviously excluded that, and dumping costs are not cheap. The other quotes we had for the same job were $18600 and $24000.

Ours was considered a “small job” so the company fitted it in around other projects.

“We’ve arranged a society based on science and technology, in which nobody understands anything about science technology. Carl Sagan 1996

Jase2985

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#3004487 2-Dec-2022 10:06

Ours was $21000 for, removal of 160sqm of old driveway, lay 140sqm of new driveway, compacted base course, 100mm deep, steel reinforcing and a peter fell colour in it, with a broom finish. That was this time last year. Done in 2 days.

duckDecoy

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#3004565 2-Dec-2022 11:04

This may or may not apply to your drive but I will mention it.

We have a 'dip' in our drive right before the garage. Apparently they have a template thingy that they sort of walk down the compacted pre poured drive area to make sure cars can drive down it without bottoming out or scraping bumpers. It is sort of a long stick with blocks representing wheels and you move it down the drive and make sure the stick never scrapes on the ground anywhere. They didn't use it on our drive when they laid it, as we later discovered.

Only about 10% of cars can get into our garage. They either have to be jacked up 4wd or SUV style cars, or quite compact. All the rest scrape or ram their bumpers into the ground before the car makes it into the garage. Neither of our cars can make it into the garage.

Make sure they check this if you think it is relevant.

Inphinity

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#3004599 2-Dec-2022 11:29

duckDecoy:

This may or may not apply to your drive but I will mention it.

We have a 'dip' in our drive right before the garage. Apparently they have a template thingy that they sort of walk down the compacted pre poured drive area to make sure cars can drive down it without bottoming out or scraping bumpers. It is sort of a long stick with blocks representing wheels and you move it down the drive and make sure the stick never scrapes on the ground anywhere. They didn't use it on our drive when they laid it, as we later discovered.

Only about 10% of cars can get into our garage. They either have to be jacked up 4wd or SUV style cars, or quite compact. All the rest scrape or ram their bumpers into the ground before the car makes it into the garage. Neither of our cars can make it into the garage.

Make sure they check this if you think it is relevant.

Surely the driveway not being suitable for cars to use to access the garage, which is likely the intended purpose, makes it a CGA issue as being unfit for purpose - assuming a residential engagement with a driveway contractor?

johno1234

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#3004637 2-Dec-2022 12:51

timmmay:

Is this standard plain concrete, or is it colored / patterned / exposed aggregate / something else?

If the concrete is colored at all make sure there's a plastic barrier between the ground and concrete, otherwise something in the soil can leach in and discolor the concrete.

Oh, good question. It is a simple uncoloured brush finish. Exposed aggregate would be nice but adds a lot to the price.

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johno1234

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#3004641 2-Dec-2022 13:04

I also have to put the water main and chorus fibre under the driveway. At the moment the water main is a temporary one sitting on the surface to the side of the existing driveway and the fibre cable is sitting in a slot cut in the existing driveway. Given how munted the existing driveway is, I'm amazed that the cable hasn't been damaged. Does it need to be in a conduit under the new driveway? If so how do you do it - split the conduit or get the cable cut, ulled through and reconnected?

elpenguino

3421 posts

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#3004644 2-Dec-2022 13:11

Put in multiple conduits and then pay chorus to put the fibre in one of the conduits after the concrete is dry.

Most of the posters in this thread are just like chimpanzees on MDMA, full of feelings of bonhomie, joy, and optimism. Fred99 8/4/21

timmmay

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#3004645 2-Dec-2022 13:11

We have colored patterned concrete. We had a cut a huge hole across the driveway to replace a leaky water water mains a few years back, after Wellington Council detected a leak. The whole pipe was under a concrete driveway so we put a new pipe in across the driveway then under the lawn. The driveway was repaired with color concrete but it doesn't match and there's no pattern.

Be wary of putting anything under concrete that you might need access to later. If you can provide some access that might mitigate the risk.

johno1234

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#3004647 2-Dec-2022 13:17

The trouble is, we only have a narrow right of way for the driveway so it has to be the full width available, so the services have to be underneath.

I will ask our provider how much to run the fibre up a conduit and re-connect.

elpenguino

3421 posts

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#3004659 2-Dec-2022 14:02

johno1234:

The trouble is, we only have a narrow right of way for the driveway so it has to be the full width available, so the services have to be underneath.

I will ask our provider how much to run the fibre up a conduit and re-connect.

That's fair enough but what if the water main went down one side so if/when there is a fault, any repair is not smack in the middle?

Most of the posters in this thread are just like chimpanzees on MDMA, full of feelings of bonhomie, joy, and optimism. Fred99 8/4/21

nickreno

28 posts

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#3004670 2-Dec-2022 14:13

looking for the same thing in Wellington - is it worth going for 125mm instead of 100mm? The quotes I'm getting back for 125mm (for just boxing + placing, incl steel mesh and half-black) are really high, I had expected it would only be a little bit more as the labour and mesh is pretty much the same in both cases...

johno1234

2797 posts

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#3004671 2-Dec-2022 14:16

How about running a 100mm conduit under the centre of driveway and pushing the water main through it, and a separate cable conduit for the fibre? Is that overdoing it?

The driveway is 45m long so will need a lot of it.

duckDecoy

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#3004681 2-Dec-2022 14:43

johno1234:

I also have to put the water main and chorus fibre under the driveway. At the moment the water main is a temporary one sitting on the surface to the side of the existing driveway and the fibre cable is sitting in a slot cut in the existing driveway. Given how munted the existing driveway is, I'm amazed that the cable hasn't been damaged. Does it need to be in a conduit under the new driveway? If so how do you do it - split the conduit or get the cable cut, ulled through and reconnected?

We added 2x huge pipes under the drive for no purpose other than if something screws up or a water pipe breaks etc we have 2x massive pipes under the drive. One got used by the fibre people so they didn't have to cut the concrete (and there is still huge space left for other stuff) so there is another left for who knows what but maybe it will be useful.

If you do take a photo.

Take a photo

I dug a LOT of holes to find it for the fibre people because how could I possibly forget where I put them....

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