You'll likely hire a concrete contractor once or twice in your life. The crews you should worry about count on that.
The pour-and-run pattern
It goes like this: a low quote, fast, over the phone or from the truck window. A crew shows up quick, pours quicker, and the finish looks great. Two summers later the cracks arrive — and the phone number doesn't answer anymore. The failure was guaranteed before the truck ever arrived, in ground nobody prepped, and by then the evidence is buried under gray.
Mistake 1: Comparing bids like they're the same job
A bid without a spec isn't a price — it's a guess you're being asked to trust. Concrete poured on compacted base with a rebar grid and concrete poured on raw clay are different products that look identical for two years. Make every bidder put thickness, base, and reinforcement in writing, then compare. The cheap bid usually stops being mysterious.
Mistake 2: Never asking what goes UNDER the slab
The one question that sorts contractors instantly: "What's your base prep, and how will I know it was done?" A good contractor answers in specifics. A pour-and-run crew changes the subject to how smooth their finishes are.
Mistake 3: Accepting "trust me" as proof
The base and steel disappear the day of the pour. You cannot check them afterward — so verification has to happen before. Ask how you'll see the prep. (Our answer: Bradley photographs the base depth and rebar and texts it to your phone before any truck backs in. Whoever you hire, get some version of that.)
Mistake 4: Nobody accountable on site
Ask who will actually be standing on your property during the pour. If the person who quoted the job won't be there, the promises walked off the job before the work started. At B&T, the owner is on every pour — that's not a slogan, it's the schedule.
Mistake 5: Skipping the walk-through
Any quote made without walking your ground is a quote made about a different property. Drainage, access, grade, soil — none of it is visible from the road.
The short version
Get the spec in writing. Ask what goes in the ground. Demand proof you can see. Know who'll be standing on the slab. Cheap concrete is only cheap until the clay moves.
