Building Ripoff

I'd happily pay under $60 a square metre to get a slab poured at the moment.
Concrete alone would cost approx $3,500.00 plus preparation, pumping costs etc.
I don't know any concreters that will barrow in concrete any more.

Exactly right!!
We were recently quoted $265,000 to add two rooms and an all-round verandah. When I said we could buy a complete 2-story house for less that $180,000 complete the attitude was "that's our best price - take it or leave it".

Obviously we told them where to go and I decided to do it myself - only downside is that SWMBO never stops whinging because her verandahs aren't finished and she's vowed neither I or the cruiser will get serviced until they are! :-(

Hi Red60,

Tthat sounds like a quote our daughter and SIL got for a couple of rooms and a bit of a change inside, their quote was $300.000, their response was the
the same as yours.

Cheers
D

Red...I want to remind you that in the event that you ever finish the verandah the whinging never stops....
so just get used to fact that getting serviced is a rarity amongst us blokes these days ....they always seem to find another excuse

Yup. . . .Owner operator here too! LOL

Hey you guys in the BOOM state, I am glad we didn't have to put up interest rates just to slow you down...

RED60 story as an owner builder is very common in that the work takes ages to complete. If the work was worth half what he was quoted ie $132,000 then on quick calcs the labour would be worth half this. This would be $66,000. I do not know your earning power but at $50/hr would mean you would have to work 1320 hr to do the work. This would equate to 33 weeks (40 hrs per week). Most people do not take off time from work to be able to work full time so they do it at weekends and holidays. Allowing 4 weeks holiday out of the 33 weeks means the remaining 29 weeks work would be done at weekends. This means it will eventually take about 76 weeks. One will not want to work every week end so it is more likely to take twice as long. Even if you employ subbies to do half the work it is still likely to take 12 months. The moral of the story is to buy a new house if you cannot afford the extension (or think you are being ripped off). I think my maths is right.

Been there and done that twice.
Richard

Standard drive way and footpath concrete is 25MPA and you can get just a good a finish with 20 MPA concrete as 50 MPA concrete.
The amount of cement added must be proportional to the amount of other materials added. i.e. Sand, Aggregate and Water.
To much water can greatly affect the finish on concrete and this is where it is thought that the quantity of cement is to blame.

I would not pour a driveway or garage or shed that is less than 6" thick just so that you could use jacks etc where ever you want without risk of the floor failing.

Just my 2c worth.

Kev

Hi Kev

I was not talking about depth's ect i was talking ball park figure as an indication of geting a good idea in general of priceing.

Takeing into account axcess ect meaning if the truck can get good axcess as opposed to wheeling it the concret in a wheelbarrow.

I am sure when you say you want 32 MPA they are well aware of what there doing at the Concret Plant as that is usally the Spec's For Goverment contract's and as far as i know just because it is for a Private person say a Garage floor there going to have a set way they mix the sand gravel cement and water.

You may have seen in yout travel's the small clyinder's they take a sample of the concret and then it is tested well i think they may have it worked out by now.

Infact when they ordered myne i told them it would be tested on site so make sure it was spot on.

Regard's John

A thing to remember with the test cylinders is that they need to be cure exactly the same way as the slab that you have poured.

Concrete in the general mixes takes approx 28 days to reach it's max compressive strength.

A quicker on-site test to do is a slump test to determine the workability of the concrete. i.e. water ratio, if this is within the specified tolerances then a good finish will be able to be achieved.

Kev

Hi DuncanW, thanks for that information, I now understand why our daughters quote was so high. We were absolutely flawed when she received her quote, we were going to add a room out of the side of our house as we need more dining area because of the evergrowing family but at those prices it would be cheaper to build a new home, certaintly not worth going ahead with extensions.

Cheers

D

Duncan,

Slightly OT what is the employment oportunities like over there ATM?
I finish my Building Surveying Degree soon (4 units to go) and will be looking to relocate to gain work all going well.

I have had quite a few job offers from Local Governments in QLD but WA has a better feel to it.

Cheers Kev

Kev, there is a mass of work I've been chasing a senior BS for 2 years to no avail. Money in the West is not that greay in Local Govt. You'd be looking at 40s to low 50s for a BS and 50s to 60s for a senior. Car may be frown in with differing usage depending where.
We now have a private sector BS consultancy here in anticipation of the new Building Act.
I'm relying on using consultant BS's to handle the work flow.

Give me a call if you decide to come over.

Thanks Duncan,

I will keep that in mind.
The Local Government rate is about the same as QLD rates, I suppose that each council has their own rate which they wish to pay any way.

Cheers Kev