The construction of a house is a costly activity and a lot of factors are taken into account before the actual construction begins. It is therefore imperative to do a detailed analysis of the cost of the materials involved for construction. The most important element in the construction is the concrete and how much does concrete cost is a question in front of an individual as he decides to construct the house.
The raw materials required for concrete are cement, crushed rock like granite or lime stone, fine sand, water and certain chemicals .Concrete is nothing but the mixture of the above components in the right proportion and adequate care needs to be taken mixing all the raw materials. Nowadays concrete is prepared in machines which are mounted on big trucks so that the concrete mix can be made during the transportation phase.
The concrete mix machines are mounted in a such a way on the trucks that whenever the concrete mix plant receives a request for a concrete to a certain construction site, the raw materials required for the concrete mix are poured in the right proportion in the machine and the concrete mix machine constantly rolls till the time it reaches the construction site. This is done to make sure that the raw materials of concrete are mixed and the mixture does not become solid.
The concrete mix plant has a laboratory where the raw materials for the concrete are taken in small proportions and mixed together. The resultant concrete is allowed to solidify and then stress is applied on the solid concrete to check the breakdown strength .The results are tabulated by doing such test on the solid concrete slabs so that it can be useful in the calculation of other civil engineering parameters in the construction activity.
How Can You Learn the Cost of Concrete?
There are lot of online tools available to check how much does the concrete cost. These are often known as a concrete calculator. This calculator asks for certain inputs such as for the construction of a slab it asks for thickness, width & length. Once these inputs are entered the concrete calculator gives the output and tells the user how many bags of cement are required and to calculate number of cubic yards. It’s a great tool which can also be used for calculation of raw materials required so that estimated cost of the construction projects can be calculated. Depending upon the estimated cost measures can be taken to reduce the cost by using the raw materials in proper proportions so that the losses can be minimised.
Professional Construction Planners
It is imperative for the construction planner to know how much raw material is required for the entire construction project so that he can order for those raw materials from the suppliers and have it available at the construction site .This helps the construction planner to create the requisite amount of concrete on a daily basis requirement as the concrete solidifies if it is not utilised within certain period adding to the cost of the project as the raw materials get utilised and their stocks go down.
The role of the construction planner is estimation, purchase of the raw material and to complete the construction project within deadline. The planner keeps a checklist of materials with him so that he can make accurate calculations of the required raw material for concrete. During the construction planning utmost attention is given towards the cost as any ignorance in the estimation may lead to the increased cost of the project. So the questions such as how much do the concrete cost per sq.ft. , how much does the asphalt cost, how much does the concrete cost per yard ,etc are being asked by the construction company to their construction planner and engineers so that the capital can be kept aside for the purchase of the raw materials required for the concrete . The construction company makes sure to have adequate stock of the raw materials as the cost of the raw materials may increase subject to market volatility and the construction firms wants to play safe with the cost of the project. The construction firms are risk averse and they make sure that the market volatility does not increase the cost of the project.
The construction firms have mechanism in place to check the raw material inventory and it is always maintained to a threshold level as the cost of the raw materials might increase owing to the rise in the fuel cost.
Concrete Cost Estimation
The concrete might cost around $100 per square yard and since the yard consists of 27 square feet the cost per square feet goes for around $ 3 to $4 depending upon construction site. Companies are always on the lookout for getting the raw materials at cheaper prices from their suppliers.
The estimated calculation is done for how much does concrete slab cost and how much does concrete countertops cost. The concrete slab cost can be reduced by making a bulk buy of the raw material from the supplier and the concrete countertop cost can be reduced by customised concrete countertop. This helps in bringing down the cost of the construction activity. The granite countertops in kitchen might cost around $4000 whereas the custom made concrete countertop may cost the individual around $1000 .This saving can be better utilised in other construction expenditures.
Therefore before taking any construction activity, planning and estimation of the total cost is imperative as it gives the complete idea about the cost involved in the project .This helps in keeping the capital aside for making necessary purchase of the raw material. The construction activity is a costly affair and surely every small aspect must be taken into consideration. The raw materials should be of a good quality or else the construction project will not be strong enough to sustain the load. It is very important to do the lab testing of the raw materials to check the strength of the concrete mix to ensure quality. A quality check should be done after the construction project is over and the project should fulfil the required the parameters before getting the final approval for use.