What I Pay
My ready mix concrete prices for 2018

My name is Mike Day and I own Day's Concrete Floors, Inc. Below, I'm going to share with you my ready mix concrete prices for 2018.

Here's what I pay per yard of concrete for 3000 psi, 3500 psi, and 4000 psi concrete.

  • 3000 psi concrete mix is $101.00 per yard
  • 3500 psi concrete mix is $105.00 per yard
  • 4000 psi concrete mix is $113.00 per yard
Ready mix concrete batch plantOne of the ready mix concrete companies I purchase concrete from.

Are all ready mix suppliers concrete prices the same?

The simple answer to that question is NO. 

I live in Maine, these are average concrete prices for my area. Depending on where you live, the average price of concrete per yard will vary from the prices I'm showing you here.

Here's what my ready mix suppliers charge me for 3000 psi concrete.

I purchase concrete from two different ready mix companies. Auburn Concrete charges me $108.00 per yard ($106.00 with discount) and Sargent Materials charges me $101.00 per yard for 3000 psi 3/4 aggregate concrete mix.

I use this mix for most of my residential house and garage floors. This is a standard floor mix for this area.

You can take a look at my actual invoices below.

ready mix concrete prices for 2018

I know there's a few dollars per yard difference in price between the two companies. If I were pouring big yardage jobs that would play a part in my decision on who I use that day. 

Since most of my pours are under 40 yards, I try to use the company that's closest to where I'm working that day

Here's what I get charged for 3500 psi concrete.

I use 3500 psi concrete mixes for garage slabs that are used for heavier vehicles than your standard car or pickup truck.

I also use it to pour all my floors when the weather starts getting colder. It has more cement per yard than a 3000 mix which helps it set-up faster.

Take a look at my invoices to see what I get charged for 3500 psi concrete.

If you look closely at the invoices, you'll see I get charged $105.00 per yard for 3500 psi 3/4 aggregate mix and $114.50 for 3500 psi 3/8 aggregate mix.

The smaller 3/8 aggregate mixes are always more $ per yard than the 3/4 aggregate mixes. This is true for all the psi mix designs. 

I usually only use a 3/8 aggregate mix when I'm stamping concrete. The smaller stone in the mix is a little easier to stamp than a larger stone mix.

These are my ready mix prices for 4000 psi concrete.

If you take a look at the invoices below, you'll see I pay $113.00 per yard for 4000 psi 3/4 aggregate concrete and I pay $117.00 per yard for 4000 psi 3/8 aggregate concrete.

As you can see, the price per yard of concrete goes up as the concrete's strength (psi) goes up. This is because there's more cement used to make a yard of concrete as the psi increases.

I use 4000 psi concrete for all my exterior concrete jobs and some interior floors. It's a more durable mix than the 3000/3500 mixes and holds up better to Maine's many freeze/thaw cycles in the Spring and Fall seasons.

I use the 3/4 aggregate mix for concrete sidewalks, driveways, pool decks, patios, fuel station pads, and heavy truck pads.

I only use the 3/8 aggregate mix when I do stamped concrete.


How many yards of concrete are in a truck?

There's two different kinds of ready mix concrete trucks. A front discharge truck and a rear discharge truck.

Front discharge concrete truckFront discharge concrete truck
Rear discharge concrete truckRear discharge concrete truck

The front discharge truck can hold up to 15 yards of concrete and the rear discharge truck can hold 11 yards.

The amounts will vary slightly depending on the manufacturer of the truck, but these amounts are generally the maximum capacity they can carry at one time.

In Maine, because of weight restrictions on our paved roads, the maximum amount of concrete a front or rear discharge truck can deliver to our jobs is 10.5 yards per truck.


Does it cost more for a small load of concrete?

Yes it does, but every ready mix concrete company has their own policy when charging extra for small loads.

For example, when I have a small job and order a truck with 5 yards or less from Auburn Concrete, they just charge me for what I order. No small load charge from them. That's not the norm.

When I order 5 yards or less from Sargent Materials, they charge me for the amount of yards ordered plus $40.00 per yard for each yard under 5.

So a 1 yard load from them cost me the price of that yard, plus $160.00 extra.


Are there any other "extra" charges I should be aware of?

Ready mix companies usually have a maximum amount of time "per yard" you'll have to empty the truck. 7 minutes is about the average.

If you take more than 7 minutes per yard, they may charge you an hourly rate. This could be as much as $75.00 per hr. or more.

Some other things you'll get charged extra for are:

  • Fibermesh reinforcement
  • Calcium Chloride (liquid or flake) helps the concrete harden faster
  • Winter delivery - They charge extra for using hot water in the mix 
  • Fuel surcharge - Some charge extra to help off-set the high price of fuel
  • Saturday Charge - Some charge extra per yard and some charge a flat rate

For a complete list of extra charges, check out my page on how much does concrete cost.


How do I know how much concrete or order?

The easiest way to determine how many yards of concrete you'll need is to use one of my concrete calculators.

I have calculators you can use to figure the yardage for floors, walls, slabs, cylinders, footings, and even for filling block walls.

Another way to figure concrete is to use the formula:

Length x Width x Depth / 27 = how many yards you'll need.

The above formula dimensions are in feet. 27 is how many cubic feet are in a cubic yard of concrete.

An example would be:

A 24' x 24' x 4" thick garage floor would take how many yards of concrete?

24 x 24 = 576 square feet

576 x .35 = 201.6 cubic feet (4 inches is .35 feet)

201.6 / 27 = 7.46 cubic yards to do the garage floor

You can also figure cubic meters of concrete using the above formula but instead of dividing the cubic feet by 27, multiply the cubic feet by .0283

201.6 cubic feet x .0283 = 5.7 cubic meters of concrete


How many 80lb bags of concrete does it take to make a yard?

If you've got a really small project and are thinking of buying 80lb bags of Quikrete or Sakrete and mixing them yourself, it'll take 45 of them to equal a yard of concrete.

A cubic yard of concrete weighs about 3600 pounds. 45 bags x 80 pounds also = 3600 pounds.

An 80 pound bag of Quikrete cost about $4.50 at Home Depot. So 45 bags x $4.50 = $202.50.

Ordering 1 yard of concrete from a ready mix company will probably cost more than $200.00 (you would have to call them for an estimated cost), but mixing 45 bags of concrete isn't going to be an easy task. 


How do I order ready mix concrete?

Ordering concrete from a ready mix company is really quite easy.

First, you'll have to search for the ready mix company nearest you.

You can use the search term READY MIX CONCRETE (YOUR TOWN OR CITY) enter the actual town or city you live in.

When you find a concrete company near you, call and ask for the concrete dispatcher.

The concrete dispatcher is the person who takes the orders, schedules the time of delivery and loads the trucks.

Make sure you call about a week in advance of needing it. 

What is the price to have a concrete slab installed?

I've written a whole page about concrete slab prices. Check that out to see what I charge to install many different sizes of concrete slabs.


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