Bay Area

[calidave28]

Hi All, I got two quotes to repave my driveway. One was $11.5k and the other $9.5k. This includes aggregate concrete with paver borders, widening the approach to 20 feet and changing it to a gentler slope. Total paved area is 500 sq feet. Is this the going rate in the South Bay? I am wondering if I should shop around some more.

BTW, just doing the approach is $3.3k! I called the city of Santa Clara about the permit and they warned me it would be about $3k for the work which sounded very high to me.

Thanks,

David

[bld999]

Obtaining more bids is the best way to proceed, and at the same time ensuring that every bidder quotes the same scope.

No such thing as a "going rate" for stuff like that.

[norcalnative]

Shop around! Also if you can wait it out all contractors right now are slammed with work and are charging high prices. We have a couple of projects on the todo list and have decided to do much of it our selves to cut the cost. In one case just the demo work was nearly the same cost as the actual new work the contractor was doing. So we are doing demo in this case its about 3hrs work for two people. Your driveway project I would ask for two quotes from each contractor one for demo and hauling away the debri and one for just the new work post demo. You may find that it is FAR FAR cheaper to hire a lower skilled group of folks to do the demo and simply have the contractor come in post demo and lay in the new material.

Good luck!

[Michelle1x]

I just did the sidewalk in front of my house in San Jose (tree root damage meant the sidewalk was my responsibility) and the best quote I got was $1.8K which I took, this is to redo the *sidewalk* in front of my house- TINY!

[SamShuehRealtor]

Thickness (6" vs thinner 4" ?), rebar etc. Warranty. The poorly constructed developed superficial cracks in a matter of few months.

You should check out Yelp, Better Business etc for compliants etc. There is usually a reason for low quotes. 

If it ended with two quotes you can counter back and pick the one you feel who can do better.

[basschick]

if angie's list services your area, that could be a great way to get competitive vids from recommended people.

[armalock]

We did something similar a year ago. About the same sq ft but it also included a curving path towards the front steps. However we did not redo the approach or sidewalk so no permits were required from the city. The total was around $6,000.

It included removing and hauling about 300 sq ft of old/cracking driveway, removing a small tree and getting rid of about 200 sq ft of grass (We converted a single-car driveway to a dual-car). We used Bouton Construction http://www.yelp.com/biz/bouton-construction-los-gatos

[buyinghouse]

  That's scary! Dang! That much for pouring concrete? And I was told to pour the foundation of a home without any experience. Oh boy, this friend of mine did good then, everything came out good.

[calidave28]

Thanks everyone for your tips! I will get at least one more quote, but it sounds like I am getting a fair price. BTW one of the quotes was from Bouton.

[Fishmarty]

I don't know if it was just me getting cheap.

Last year in June-July when I brought my SFH and worked on it, I went to Home Depot almost everyday buying this and that.

And I felt building materials were obviously more expensive than 2010 when I worked on another SFH I brought then.

Ended up I had to recycle most of the fence boards.