Foundation and concrete work: how to hire well and pay fairly
A foundation does not forgive “roughly”
The price of a foundation depends heavily on what exactly you need: strip footing, raft, or piles (screw piles). There is also concrete work without a house: a yard slab, a plinth apron, a retaining wall, a screed, a pad for a garage.
The type is chosen by soil, groundwater level, load and terrain. That is why it is best to have a design or at least a soil report for the plot. If you have neither, an honest crew will tell you what needs checking first instead of naming a figure by eye.
How to find a crew through BlaBlaPrice
You describe the job once in a request: dimensions, depth, soil, whether you have a design. You can add a photo of the plot. After a quick check, crews and contractors in your area see the request and reply in chat with a price, or with what the price depends on, plus timelines and terms.
Crews can see where their offer stands and improve their terms to win the request. Only the contractor pays, and only when you choose them. Your contacts stay hidden until you share them yourself. It is easier than searching listings where everyone counts in their own way.
What to put in your request
- Type of work — strip, raft or pile foundation, a concrete slab, a plinth apron.
- Dimensions and volume — size of the house, depth and width of the strip, or cubic metres of concrete.
- Soil and plot — clay, sand, black cotton soil, high groundwater, slope, and whether a mixer truck and concrete pump can reach the site.
- Concrete and reinforcement — grade (for example M25), bar diameter, shuttering.
- Design — whether you have drawings; if not, say so.
- Materials — whether concrete and steel are yours or the contractor’s.
- Address, timing, budget — the town, when the pour should happen, a sum if you want to name one.
Example: “Vancouver. I need a strip foundation for a 10×12 m house, 1 m deep, clay soil, access for a mixer truck. M25 concrete, 12 mm steel, design ready. Concrete and steel from the contractor, pour before the end of the month. Budget up to $6,700.”
How to compare quotes
First check that every quote has the same dimensions, concrete grade and bar diameter. M20 and M25 concrete cost different amounts, so a cheaper quote may simply be weaker. Then find out what is included: excavation, a sand and gravel bed, waterproofing, shuttering, concrete delivery, pump hire.
Ask whether the concrete will be vibrated and how the crew will cure it in the first days. This affects strength as much as the grade does. For large volumes, ask whether it is poured in one go and whether there is a spare mixer truck.
Mistakes that cost a lot
- Pouring without a design or soil report “like the neighbour’s”: soils can differ even between neighbouring plots.
- Letting the crew add water to the concrete on site to make it easier to spread: it lowers the strength.
- Not agreeing payment stages and a record of hidden work (photograph the reinforcement before the pour).
- Starting the walls right away: concrete needs time to gain strength, and it is best to ask your designer how long to wait.
If you need the house too, see turnkey construction or design and planning. More about the service is on the “How it works” page.
