# Slab question - Opinion on cost



## 20Two (May 14, 2005)

My friend is having a pool built with a concrete slab (cool-deck). A portion of the cool deck may (at a later time) have a bar/bbq built on top of it. To accomodate this, the pool contractor has recommended that a thicker slab be poured in this area, to hold the additional weight. This sounds reasonable so far, but I'm questioning the additional cost he is trying to charge my friend.

The plan calls for the cool deck to be a 4 inch slab w/ 6" x 6" - 10/10 W.W.M. & 8" x 8" FTG. w/ 1- #5 rebar. The thicker slab is to be 8 inch slab w/ 6" x 6" - 10/10 W.W.M. & 8" x 8" FTG. w/ 1- #5 rebar.

It seems (to me) that the only difference is the thickeness of the slab (no additional steel, etc), but the contractor is asking for an additional $8 per square foot for this area (which is about 120 sq feet). I understand that the additional concrete costs something, and the ground (loose Florida sand) will have to be dug a few inches deeper, but the cost seems high to me....

Is my friend being taking advantage of? Any opinions will be appreciated.


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## 6stringmason (May 20, 2005)

No idea for pricing in Florida, but some of my buddies to flatwork. I had told them some customers want me to come back when I finish bricking or putting stone on their home, and pour a slab and put pavers on it. I asked what they normally charge and they said a good rule of thumb is take the cost of materials and multiply it times 2. That should be roughly the cost of entire job. Now of course that doesnt work in all situations but adding 8$ a sq for what your talking about does seem a bit high.


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## Tommy C (Jul 11, 2005)

Nope, it is not high at all, and actually, right on the mark.
Seeing that a standard slab is 4 inches thick, and u need another 4" to make that part of the slab 8 inches....$8 more per sq. foot is right on basically. Actually, that is my benchmark price for concrete (w/out removal).


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## PipeGuy (Oct 8, 2004)

20Two said:


> It seems (to me) that the only difference is the thickeness of the slab (no additional steel, etc), but the contractor is asking for an additional $8 per square foot for this area (which is about 120 sq feet)...the cost seems high to me.... Is my friend being taking advantage of? Any opinions will be appreciated.


First-in the abscence of well compacted ground beneath it, making the concrete thicker really isn't doing much for you. If it was me, I'd also want additional reinforcement (a tied rebar mat or two layers of WWF) in the thicker area and maybe even a construction joint around it to prevent transfer of the BarBQ load to the thinner portion of the deck.

As far as the price goes, if you were talking about concrete that required extensive forming and reinforcement I'd say the price was a good one. However, seeing as how you're only talking about nominally increasing the thickness of a relatively small portion of a much larger area (no extra ground prep, forming, finishing) the price is about twice what I'd want to pay. That being said, a "fair" price will have more to do with what it's worth to have a proper foundation for the BarBQ than what it cost the contractor.


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## 20Two (May 14, 2005)

Thanks for the replies. The contractor has said that despite what the plan says, he intends to add another layer of wire mesh and more steel to the additional 4 inches of concrete. That said, it now sounds reasonable even to this skeptic


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## Teetorbilt (Feb 12, 2004)

My bro-in-law, a GC, had footers installed underneath high load areas such as where the bar and BBQ were going in. Best to go to overkill now than correct future problems from saving a few bucks.


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## ConcreteGuy (Jun 10, 2005)

right on.


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