Hit 500 yards of concrete in a single month and it kinda bothered me

I've been doing residential slabs and walkways for about 8 years now with my crew. Last month we poured 520 yards total which is a personal record for us. But honestly I'm not sure if that's even a good thing anymore because we had to rush three jobs to get there and the quality suffered on one of them. Customer on a patio in Arlington pointed out a small edge that chipped and I had to eat the cost to fix it. Has anyone else hit a big number and felt like maybe it's not worth pushing that hard?

3 comments

3 Comments

ross.jason11d ago

Eight years and your first time over 500 yards, that says something about where your head's at with quality. Was the chip on that patio due to rushing the finish or was it something in the mix design that set up too fast? I've seen crews try to hit a number and end up leaving the concrete screeded too long, then they have to fix edges after the fact. That eats into any profit you made from the extra yards. How much did that fix set you back compared to what you earned from pushing that extra job through?

the_robin11d agoMost Upvoted

Whoa man, I gotta push back a little on that. I see what you're saying about quality versus quantity, but sometimes you need that bigger day to keep the lights on and pay the crew for a slow month. The chip on the patio wasn't from rushing the finish, it was a bad batch of mix with a short set time that caught us off guard, plain and simple. Yeah, fixing that edge cost me a couple hundred in time and material, but the profit from that extra yardage still put us way ahead for the week. Not every job is perfect, but sometimes you take the win on volume to survive and learn from the hiccup.

lucas16511d ago

Did you end up changing suppliers after that bad batch? I had a similar thing happen a few years back with a load that went off way too fast, and it taught me to test every new mix design on a small pad before trusting it on a paying job. @the_robin you're right that the volume kept you ahead, but I found that keeping a closer eye on the mix before it even hits the truck saves me those repair costs later. That way I can still push for bigger days without gambling on the concrete setting up right.