Soliciting a little advice here. I'm getting ready to have a 30' long x 36' wide driveway put in.

Question #1
The contractor suggested pouring in roughly 10' X 13' squares with 1" expansion boards in between and using mesh in the concrete vs. rebar. I'm not sure about the mesh. any thoughts?

Question #2
I want to pay cash for this project and a few other expenses popped up. Would it hurt anything if I only had maybe 1/2 poured now and 1/2 later? As in, instead of pouring out 30' long, only go 15' or 20' and pour another 10' at a later date. is there any drawback to this? maybe the slope will be off on the 2nd pour, etc and it won't match up as good as pouring it all at one time?

thanks in advance for any advice.

following. have similar questions, project

what kind of loads are you expecting on your driveway and how thick is the concrete going to be?

1) a normal driveway with cars and light trucks (1 ton down) the mesh should be fine but if you will have commercial type vehicles & heavier loads, I would likely opt for rebar OR mesh & rebar.

2) what type of substrate is below where the driveway is going? dirt, clay, caleche, rock, sand, etc.

PMK, thanks for the reply. It'll be for normal residential use. 4" thick. We'll cover the first 15' with a carport but that shouldn't be a lot of weight.

We have pretty decent dirt here so I'm guessing once we cut it out we'll be down to rocky clay.

Also, I was going to add a 6-8" footing around the outside just for extra support. For the little extra cost of concrete seems like good insurance.

You have the wrong contractor. Never use mesh, too thin and will flex easily and rust quicker.

You can phase pour as long as you either leave dowels sticking out or drill the existing, latest pour and epoxy dowels in to join the pours together. A monolithic pour is always better structurally and cost wise, but sometimes it can't be avoided.

I pour between 10,000 and 15,000 yards a year. Take my advice for what you paid for it

My contractor used mesh when we built in 1994 and I will be replacing the entire drive way in the next few years. Use rebar or rebar and mesh, wish I would have.

Gutit and rabbit. Thanks for the advice!

Gutit, do you ever pour a footing around the edge of a slab?

Yes, 10" wide by 24" deep. I have even poured a beam across the middle each way at times, depending on load and base conditions.

Lessons I have learned in life(hind-site being 20/20).......NEVER try cheeping out on concrete work!!!

Years ago at another home I had a driveway extension poured on the cheep....think they used mesh. I can't tell you how bad that thing went to !@#$ after several years of drought. Drove by it the other day and a man with a skid steer could clean the whole think up in about 30 minutes.....no jack hammering required.

At this home I had a large patio poured and had it done right. Even have beds put around the whole thing with in ground drip irrigation tied to the sprinkler system to try and keep the soil stable.

X1000 Tbar. I can't count the number of times I have had a customer take the lower bid than mine, only to have issues with the project. Or try and do it themselves. Then call me back to tear it out and repair it months later.

Have had two THF members use the cheaper guy only to have me come back and replace it.

Concrete is certainly one of those " cheaper is not always better" scopes of work.

http://www.wef-pe.com/downloads/ACI-330_Design_Guide_for_Concrete_Parking_Lots%5B1%5D.pdf

ACI would recommend using a tighter spacing between joints. (page 7 table 2.5) No more than 10 feet for 4" paving. They also recommend using no steel at all. (Page 8 last paragraph and continues to page 9)

If you are looking to increase strength I would increase the thickness or the PSI of the concrete and not recommend adding a grade beam.

We use ACI recommendations for our concrete design and have been for 20 years. I cans show you parking lots that have no steel tight joint spacing and high PSI mix designs that are still holding together 20 years later. I'm sure some of the contractors on here are going to disagree with the no steel.

If you have the opportunity to be there when they pour and you see them adding any water to the mix they are making the concrete weaker.

If you have a diesel pickup get something more than mesh. We drove nothing but gas pickups for years and never had a problem. Next thing you know 2 d-maxes and a cummins called that driveway home and its cracked on the edges and where you park. I would heed Gutit's advice.

What's the normal rate for forming and finishing per sqft?

About to pour a driveway to my shop that's 250ft long and 12ft wide fanning out the last 30ft to 25ft wide to match my lean2 on my shop.

Watching too... Gonna redo driveway this year...