Wednesday, May 14, 2008

Home Improvement...

The bottom stair of our concrete front porch has fallen off the rest of the stoop. It just experienced too many Frozen Tundra winters and gravity took over. This appears to be a symptom of a greater problem, so Runner Boy and I decided to get some estimates to fix the problem.

I had no idea that concrete is expensive.

I got 4 estimates. The 1st guy looked like grizzly, tobacco smokin' concrete dude. He took a few measurements and told me it would cost $$$$.00. (Maybe he didn't want to do the job, we speculated, so he overpriced it.)

2nd guy, showed up in his overalls...he's been pouring concrete for 50+ years and is doing the gopher work for the business that his sons now own. Yup, they would do it, too...for $$$$.00. Uh, oh.

3rd guy shows up with his long, thin braided hair and gets all geeked up about the project. He was full of ideas to improve the feng shui of the house...extend the porch, change the sidewalk...all for $$$$.00. (Or, he would just do the same footprint for a little less $$$$.00.

4th guy shows up with a binder, lots of examples of their work and a few suggestions to improve drainage around the basement. He would do it for $$$$.00.

By now we see a pattern developing...concrete is pricey.

So, we picked one of the 4...and will be paying somewhere around $$$$.00 for the porch. I think I may be in the wrong business.

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