Just like the thread title says , I would like to start a chat on why readymix concrete has become as costly as it has . I'm not concerned too much about the labour involved in getting work done as it's not easy work and there is a lot more to know about how to handle it well and do good work than many people realise . How much margin are these guys making by batchingit up and trucking it out ? What is driving the price ? Labour costs ? Lack of competition? Raw product ? Something else ? Or maybe someone just thinks of a figure and doubles it , whatever the market will pay etc . What do you reckon ?
Aggregate - is a quarried product (non-renewal) & nowhere near where it is going to be used Cement - takes a lot of energy to prepare cement Water - doesn't grow on trees you know Fly Ash - comes from the coal fired generators (not local either) Sand - becoming harder to source and from further away Plasticisers, additives A few of our concrete companies are now foreign owned (No longer do we have the likes of Pioneer & Readymix but Holcim & others)
I have a good concrete story. I done a 150 m drive on avg 4m including curves. Most neighbours use asphalt and I got a few quotes and no warranty especialy as mine was on a hill. Quotes were $30k-40k. I said stuff it, I am going to do concrete. I knew we were going to use or concretors (through the building business) and know how much labour costs per sqm. Came down to type of concrete first half was done through holcim with an exposed aggregate and the second half was through metromix (bit more expensive as Holcims plant was closed). All up apart from my labour and my dads who is a builder actual cost including concretors steel pumps (2 different pours) was just over $40k. Prior to doing in I actually got 2 quotes for the concrete, one was $120k and the other $110k. Looks like I saved a bit of Cash. Bit of a trumpet blowing story I know. Summary is, if you have an account with the company you will get a signifciant discount on the concrete. Even betterare the concretors themselves, you need a bloody good crew. Yes I am very proud of my driveway as you can tell. Cheers Ivan
Also there is a difference between getting a quote in Noble Park v Toorak..... Note my property is not in toorak
There is always going to be big savings if you can do the work yourself. Same goes for building patios and sheds. Go into bunnings and there product costs are about 30-40 % of the sale cost. For many restaurants, if you cant contain your food costs to around 30% or below ,your going to struggle to stay in business. Many granos also have a short working life due to back issues , and move on years later to other work.
I have a very good mate who owns a Concrete business on the Central Coast of NSW. Six concrete pump trucks, over 40 employees (concreters and office staff). His company does a lot of multi-level development work, Bunnings flooring and numerous carparks and of course driveways for residential and commercial buildings. He is the wealthiest bloke I know, personally. Yes, there is money in concrete! Lots of it!
Of course there is money in concrete same as any trade...... If he is supplying large buildings thats even better. Think how much concrete is going into the big apt towers like 108.....my mate is the head foreman there and I actually paid the same rate per cube as he was paying for 108..... Re costs of concrete it is the same as all materials. Everything has went up. Cheers Ivan
How much are you paying for conc? Heard of some suppliers cutting corners with quality, are they chasing profit or is their rrp price to low?... Or are concretors just easy to rip off? wouldn't want to build a new house these days lol! Highly doubt they test any of their concrete Some of the costs: Truck Maintenance Driver Hr admin Mix designs, engineers Batch plant running costs and maintenance Quarry products Additives Testing Accreditation I think it's reasonably priced
Concrete is actually a great price when comparing how durable and long lasting the product is As @Scott No Mates said, a lot of the ingredients are actually imported these days (add Australia tax) I'd compare it to fencing, for what I Joe Blogs can buy the materials for a contractor with an account can do the whole job for a similar price
It’s definitely still one of the cheapest products around given its application. U couldn’t buy the raw materials and Mix it yourself for anywhere close to the price u buy it for, unfortunately with the construction boom in some areas securing a booking is the hardest thing There has been an increase in the last few years in the price but that’s the world we live in Look at how much we pay for a phone now, and they only last 2yrs max
