Garage Job

SeaJoe

Hey guys, I just stumbled across this forum and it looks great!

Anyway, I'm building a 20x12 garage for a customer but I don't do foundation work so I'm going to source that out to a sub. However, I'm having trouble finding a reasonable foundation bid. What do you think's reasonable for an excavated and poured foundation (monolithic)? So far I have three bids, all between $3.5k and $8.5k Seems like it's maybe one day's work, maybe two considering the inspection.

jmic

What number did you use for your bid to the customer? And how did you come up with it?

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Joe

send_it_all

I personally would jump on the $3500 bid...if the guy is licensed and insured.

Midwest BuildIT

Dont know what area your in. I just quoted a 14 x 25 garage and my concrete guy told me $6000 for a trench wall on three sides and slab..

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send_it_all

Call me a genius, but I sometimes get prices from subs BEFORE I give a proposal to a customer.

reveivl

You're a genius!!

Considering the excavation, form work, concrete and finishing, I'd be wary of the guy who says he can do it for $3500.

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RobertCDF

I had a 20 X 24 monolithic slab poured for $2,880 for the last garage I did. Guy was fully legit and did a great job. First day was form up and dig the trench next day inspection (they were onto another job because the inspection was coming in the afternoon) 3rd day they poured first thing in the morning. Packed up by 1:00.

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Aman

3.5k $ are way too less for such kind of work..i feel the person is just new in this field and is making some stand in the market
Any well established will not do this for less than 5k $

go do it

i just had one placed, 16x28 mono

$3,725.23

KentWhitten

Well, I gotta ask something first and I'm surprised no one else has asked this. Are you saying it's a floating slab with thickened edges? Or a foundation excavated out so many feet deep, then the slab gets poured inside?

When you say foundation, I think poured walls. The guy I worked for, we used to have a "mono pour" of the footings and walls together in one pour. A mono slab would be the one with thickened edged if I'm not mistaken on the terminology.

Either way that price seems low. If it's a floating slab, you'd still have to get rid of the organic materials and replace it with compactable material. If the guy is bidding clearing out the material, hauling in backfill material, foundation forming, and cost of concrete, not to mention after stripping, he would finish it off nice.

If you got a bid for 3.5K I would make sure it was an apples to apples bid. Make sure you get what he's pricing onto paper. This'll hold him to it.

Great article about bid pricing in JLC and what the GC or homeowner could hold you liable for. Almost scary enough to not give out bids anymore.

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Cole

Do you have a link to the article?

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Grumpy

Pricing is always absed on locale and vary greatly from state to state and even city to city.

MarkNoV

The only people that use the word "reasonable" when asking for a price are homeowners/GC wannabees or engineers/hobby woodworkers.

"Reasonable" always means "I expect you to earn less than I do"

I smell something funny.



Mark

Grumpy

I bid a few garages a few years ago. At the time my boss and I were thinking of breaking into that market... I still am. Anyways what I found was a standard 22x22 garage was going for about $5,000 built on existing slab and add $3,500 for a new 3" slab. I could be wrong on the 3" I will have to check my notes.

Anyways garage building is SOOO competitive that we just didn't see any money in it for us unless we had volume. Lots of liability and very little pay doesn't make much sense to me.

KentWhitten

Hey Cole, here's the link to the start of what it says. You have to purchase the dang thing to read it all, but it gives you a start to the story, kinda like a teaser. It just came out, so it's pretty fresh in the mind.

http://www.jlconline.com/cgi-bin/jlc.../View/0705lega

BTW, Cole, nice avatar. Bug season here.

__________________
If you correct your mind, the rest of your life will fall into place ~Lao Tzu

Custom Cabinetry - Portland, Cape Elizabeth, Scarborough, Kennebunkport, Yarmouth, Falmouth, Cumberland, Ogunquit, Maine

Salmon Falls Cabinetry

KentWhitten

http://www.jlconline.com/cgi-local/v...177f00000105a1

This is also a scary scenario. JLC has some really eye opening legal columns in their magazine.

__________________
If you correct your mind, the rest of your life will fall into place ~Lao Tzu

Custom Cabinetry - Portland, Cape Elizabeth, Scarborough, Kennebunkport, Yarmouth, Falmouth, Cumberland, Ogunquit, Maine

Salmon Falls Cabinetry