Ronnie Leaves

Ronnie left just before 2pm.  He said he would be unavailable next week because he was going to work in Houston, but would be returning the following weekend.

I asked him for estimate to do separate concrete ramp we talked about last week.  He said he would get to that and cost of framing.

Current agreed slab costs, less engineering: $5210
Engineering cost already paid separately (includes soil sample & testing & insp) $570.81

That's one expensive 12.5x15 slab!!!  Over $30/sqft.  Of course it was engineered to support 15 tons of brick and mortar, not the usual stuff.  And I wanted that kind of over-engineering anyway, just because of expansive clay soil.

I notice I agreed to pay $330 for the wire mesh and installation that he tried to switch with rusty old mesh today.  The brand new mesh cost was $80.  It took a few minutes to install.

High estimates (original 10x12 estimate was $3280) and even higher upgrades!  I had previous 10x12 estimated at $1500.  Note that some of final cost includes $700 or so for changed position to avoid easement encroachment...that part was well worth the money.

And despite over-engineered metal rebar and mesh, it has several already known defects.  Foremost that the slab should have been at least 1 inch higher so as to be at least 6.5" above grade at the minimum height,   Standard recomendation even is to use 2x12 forms.  Ronnie just put 2x6 at the original ground level for 5.5" above grade, then added additonal 2x6 to handle slope from front to back.  To aid with curing in hot weather Ronnie could have used sealant, or built canopy, which he didn't do.  (I'm planning to give it a light watering every hour this afternoon, just finished one at 2:35.)  The slab is only roughly 5-5.5 inches thick beyond the deep beams, could have been 6 inches or more.  No base material or select fill (sandy loam) was used around the slab, instead just lightly compacted clay soil from the digging (which has been crumbling since inspection).

So top dollar price without all the top features that a perfectionist builder would actually do.  But I wasn't going to get top features at the $1500 price either (or about $2500 after upsizing and post-dating), in fact I'd barely get wire mesh and no rebar and mixed-on-site concrete.  So basically what I'm getting seems to be poor value, medium or slightly-sub-medium quality (by house standards), and way over-engineering for current task.  That's better than poor quality at poor value.  But I think I'd rather have high quality builder at good value.  Same price, but better quality.

Actual deposits I've paid (not counting engineering) total $6200.  Ronnie might well dispute that he still owes me about $1000 in deposits toward future material and labor.  (And he ought to clean up site for slab cost, right now, it's a mess with one big pile of excess concrete.)  This might be a good time to find new builder.

Anyway, it's been a huge day.  Yesterday I had a hole, today I have a foundation.