Concrete Contractor Makes A Big Mistake Ordering Concrete
This isn't going to be the first time that you hear a
story like this, and it definitely isn't going to be the last. Concrete
contractors make mistakes just like everyone else, the only difference
between these mistakes and other mistakes, is that they can cost the
contractor a small fortune.
Here's a true story and it actually happened to the person writing the
story. I was working on a job that required a lot of concrete, during a
construction building boom and I couldn't get concrete from anyone. I
finally called one of the ready mixed companies who delivered concrete
to jobs like mine and asked them if there was any chance that I could
get any concrete, at any time.
The dispatch operator said that he could give me concrete on a specific
day at three o'clock in the afternoon. This isn't ever a great time to
pour concrete, and most concrete professionals know the risks involved
in pouring concrete this late in the afternoon.
I ordered 26 yards of concrete and when the first truck came, it had 10
yards of concrete in it. It looked like I had covered more than half of
the job with my first truck and was thinking that maybe I ordered too
much concrete. The second truck came and it had 9 yards of concrete in
it and by the time it was done, I didn't think that I was going to have
enough concrete.
By the time the third truck came, it was almost 5 o'clock and by the
time this truck was finished pouring its concrete, it looked like I was
about two yards of concrete short. These are the kind of things that
happen, if you work in the construction business, as long as I have.
I couldn't get any more concrete from the concrete company, because they
were closed. I had to go down to the local home improvement center and
get 120 bags of concrete to mix on-the-job with me and two other
workers. We finished the job at 11 o'clock in the evening.
I don't really know if I missed figured the concrete or if the concrete
company actually shorted me on my concrete, but I do know this, I
learned a valuable lesson that day. If you really want to save yourself
a lot of frustration, it's always going to be better to order more
concrete than you think you will need.