Question:
I've just bought a new home with a one car attached garage. The
problem is, I really need a two car, but don't have room inside
the property line to expand the current one.
I do have room to build one in the back yard, and have priced
DIY garage kits at 84 Lumber; $1879 will get me a 16x20 oversized
one car garage kit. Ideally, I'd need about a 4 inch slab to
build the garage on.
I would like to build the slab for this garage myself, but I'm
a total newbie with concrete work.
What's the best way to go about learning how to build a slab?
Answer:
-I've asked that same question myself, and it sounds way too
blue collar for me...
My next door neighbor told me that one way to get a slab done
cheaply is to get a cement truck driver to come to your house at
the end of his workday and dump the remaining contents of
his mixer into your pre-prepared hole. Seems they have to clean
the leftover cement out of the truck each day and it all goes down
the drain anyway, so...
-You will need a footing too with a foundation wall or the slab will
need to have an integral footing (slab on grade foundation).
To be honest, finishing concrete is rough work. Concrete is heavy and
like time, it waits for no man (or woman). It is not that you can't do
it, but you won't save enough money to make it worth your effort and
time to do it yourself. If you don't get it right the first time,
there is no second time.
If you were doing a sidewalk or really small slab, you could probably
pull it off without too much trouble. It is my opinion that anything
as large as you describe, without any experience, is too much.
Usually you can get such a slab formed, preped, placed and finished
for under $1.00/ ft2 (labor only). Your finisher might be able to get
you a break on the price of the concrete too.
