Driveway Extension
I was quoted almost $3,500 to do this small concrete driveway extension and more importantly, a 6 month wait before it "might" get started. With a 4th vehicle, a 3 car garage, and limited driveway space we needed to extend the pad about 6 feet so everyone can get in and out of the garage without issue.
Having never done a concrete pad before, I figured I'd give it a shot. I rented a cement mixer, had 1,600 lbs of concrete, a bunch of gravel, and rebar delivered, and got to work.
"Holy s#*&!" is the words that come to mind. Sure, I saved $2,500 but I will probably never do this again. Or at least, I'll get the right tools and have a cement truck deliver and pour premixed concrete.
The mixing was probably the worst part. Lifting 80 lb bags of concrete into a mixer, dust going everywhere (we had on masks thankfully), and then transporting the mix with a rickety wheelbarrow was not fun. We eventually learned to cut the bags in half and lift them that way but we did a good 15-20 before we got there.
All I can say is I have great friends who joined in the torture and who I owe big time.
Digging
This wasn't too bad except for the fact we dug about 6-8 extra inches too deep on the top left corner where the yard slopes down. Bridget, Ashton and a friend, and Tim all helped me dig.
Pouring
This extension used eighty 80 lb bags of cement. It was incredibly messy and back breaking work. Surprisingly, I was not terribly sore the next couple of days.
The biggest mistake I made was not renting a float tool. I had a small handheld float and thought it would be enough but I was very wrong. The concrete has good form and at least 4" thick, so it should hold really well. But it wasn't floated well so there is some gravel showing through instead of the creamy finish pros get it to.
Overall, it serves the purpose and you don't even notice the gravel unless you're right up on it.
