Is this a deal on quikcrete?

[Anole]

Was talking today with a buddy who wants to replace his plywood floor of his lawn mower shed, with a 10' X 10' slab.

He wandered over to the Sears version oh Home Depot, called: Orchard
Says they have 60 pound sacks of quick crete for $2.38
I think that's about what it goes for on sale, but mention it in case anyone wants some.
?I could use a few to have on hand for BUD installs.

The chain has been bought out, by Lowes.
10+ years ago, I got truck load of dimmable flourescent torcherie lamps when Lowes bought up Eagle Hardware.
And a good deal on some fixtures/demo lamps, too! :up
?.
edit: guess this is California only.
Thought they were nation wide.
http://www.cnbc.com/id/100819650
?.
?
?

 

[rv1pop]

Yep. price has gone up here $2.71 a bag. Last I bought was $1.97 a bag. BUT ouch. But 10 foot by 10 foot 6 inches deep, is almost 2 yards, I think... 50 cu.ft. or about 150 sacks, if my memory is correct = or is that 80 # sacks a third of a cu.ft.? 60's a quarter? Been too long. Best to calculate. When I was in Seattle area I rented a dump trailer filled with ready mix for a lot less, inflation now but it was less than $200 for a 50 foot long 3 foot wide sidewalk. then. (county wanted $1250).

That big a job - would not get done by bags -- at my age (of wisdom)

 

[gpflepsen]

There is a breaking point when the 60 lb bagged premix becomes more expensive than redi-mix delivered. Use the following formula to estimate your price breaking point.

Q = L/(P*54-R)

Where

Q= the quantity of concrete where redi-mix becomes less expensive than bagged concrete.
L= short load charged for delivering partial loads of redi-mix (about $100 for my area)
P= price per 60lb bag or premix concrete ($2.70 in my area)
R= cost per yard of redi-mix concrete ($100 in my area)

My numbers work out to be a bit over 2 cyds, which is about 117 bags as a breaking point. When's the last time you manually mixed 10 or more bags? Not fun at all.

That 10'x10'x4" slab would take about 1-1/4 yards, or ~ almost 70 bags. I wouldn't even think of bagged for this job.

 

[Anole]

He also considered buying cement, gravel, sand, and a mixer from Harbor Freight.
I'd think slow cure made more sense for a slab than the quick cure kind.
He only has one day a week to work on it, so curing time shouldn't be a factor.
?
But SIX inches for the floor of a shed I can't stand up in??? (he probably can)
We were thinking two inches.
I joked he should run a row or two of cement blocks around the edge of his pad, to raise the shed to a more friendly height.

I was going to figure how far apart to put expansion joints to use one bag.
Then frame it accordingly.
That way, he could mix & pour a bag at a time 'till tired. :up ?

?Obviously this is just in the thinking phase.

 

[stogie5150]

Spring 2012 I poured a 8X8 4 inches deep with a little chain wall, took me 55-80# sacks. Poured it with the Harbor Freight large mixer.

I don't recommend it unless you have young backs to carry the bags, the mixer was great, it would mix two bags at a time almost as quickly as I could carry them to the mixer.

I was one tired puppy at the end of that day. Here, they will NOT deliver less than four yards without charging extra. SO it was 500 bucks for a truck, or 400 to pour it myself, and get a mixer to keep after I was done.

 

[gpflepsen]

4" slab is plenty. Put down a welded wire mesh for reinforcement to keep it together. Cut control joints 5'x5' (tool them in or knife cut 'em in then finish trowel). If you're ambitious, cut the grade down to make the slab with a thickened edge, 6-8" thick and 12" wide.

If you do go bagged, get it done in one pour. 10 wheelbarrow trips should do it if your go redi-mix.

 

[stardust3]

I've been buying the high strength concrete from lowes. It is good stuff, you can't beat it apart once it sets up. It's less than $3 per 60 lb bag & sometimes on sale for around $2.

 

[FaT Air]

Did the same a while ago. (more than a few yrs ago) Lifted the shed off it's original wooden floor(squirrel hole infested) about 1- 1.5 feet. Leveled the ground digging a shallow trench about 4 to 5 inches for a 'footing' [not all that wide*] and put the forms around. (2-3 inch 'slab' 4 to 5 inch footing) *more to keep it from moving about than supporting the shed. 6 in wire mesh laid out with a few rocks holding it off the ground. Had the redimix truck back in and pour thru the door. (If no access, 2 guys with wheelbarrows?)
3-4 hours jacking and removing the old floor.** (shed held up with 4x4 [or was it 6x6's?] and 2x4 and 4x4 cribbing)(previous evening got it just off the ground and ready for 'the lift' by placing the 4x4 or 6x6's under it. Couple of hours.)
~1 hr for the forms and mesh.
Break for lunch, Redi mix appt. is at 1:30~2:00 pm.
An hr or so to pour. level, and finish screed. then clean up.
A few days later dropped the shed down and power nailed it down.(~2-3 hrs)
**it takes a while when only lifting/lowering it 2 to 4 inches, a corner at a time.
I left out the time it took to clear it out in preparation for the project, or putting all the 'stuff' back in it. Figure another whole day, total, with sorting stuff to 'go' and stuff to keep. Not to mention the bucket loads of acorns the squirrels had stored up.
IIRC, the 'bill' was around 250 for the redimix, and 30-40 more for the 4x4 (or 6x6's?) and some other odds and ends.


In the end, Calculcte your needed quantity, find out what the minimum is for a truck to deliver. Compare costs, go from there.