Trades and field services
Every concrete dispute starts with something the proposal did not say.
Hairline cracking is normal, control joints go where the engineer says, and the customer will still ring you in March. The proposals that avoid that call are the ones that explained the mix, the joint layout and the curing expectations before the truck arrived. The Proposal Maker drafts those sections from the flatwork you have already poured, in the wording you have already settled on.
Where this fits
You already run Buildertrend, Procore or spreadsheet takeoffs. This is not that.
The gap
Concrete contractors mostly price from a takeoff and a spreadsheet, or from the general contractor's bid package. Those give you a number. Neither produces the document that manages expectations about cracking, curing and finish variation, and that document is the difference between a callback and a claim.
What this does not do
This does not perform takeoffs, calculate yardage, schedule pours, or manage a project. It writes the proposal or scope letter, using the quantities and price you have already worked out.
Scope
What a concrete contractor's proposal actually has to itemise
- Excavation and sub-base: depth, material, compaction, and disposal of spoil
- Formwork, and the finished elevation relative to existing grade and drainage fall
- Reinforcement: rebar size and spacing, or mesh, and the chairs or supports holding it at depth
- Concrete mix design: compressive strength, slump, aggregate, air entrainment, and any fibre or admixture
- Slab thickness and square footage by area, separated where driveway, walkway and patio differ
- Control and expansion joint layout, including saw-cut timing and depth
- Finish: broom, trowel, exposed aggregate, stamped pattern and colour, and sealer if included
- Curing method and the traffic restrictions that follow, for foot and for vehicle
Pricing
How concrete contractors price the work
Per square foot by area
Priced per square foot with each area listed separately, since a stamped patio and a plain driveway do not carry the same rate.
Per cubic yard placed
Used on structural and commercial work, with the yardage and the mix specification shown so a change in either is visible.
Fixed price with an excavation allowance
One number covering the visible scope, with an allowance for undercut or unsuitable soil and a unit price beyond it.
Unit prices for extras
Stated rates for additional thickness, extra rebar, hauling off unexpected material, and pump truck if access requires one.
The document
What comes out the other end
- 01Site conditions and access, including whether a pump truck or wheelbarrow placement is assumed
- 02Scope of work by area, with dimensions and square footage
- 03Mix specification and reinforcement schedule
- 04Joint layout, with a note that joints control where cracking occurs rather than preventing it
- 05Curing, cure time before foot and vehicle traffic, and what the customer must not do in the first week
- 06Expectations on finish variation, colour variation on stamped and coloured work, and efflorescence
- 07Exclusions: engineering, permits, utility location, landscaping restoration, drainage design, existing slab removal
- 08Payment schedule, typically deposit on scheduling and balance on completion
Compliance
The details that belong on the document, not in a follow-up email
- Contractor licence number, and bonding details where the jurisdiction or the client requires them
- Underground utility locate identified as a required step, with who calls it in and the lead time it adds
- Mix and placement referenced to ACI practice where the client is commercial or a general contractor will be reviewing it
- Permit responsibility for driveway approaches and right-of-way work, which frequently sits with the municipality rather than the homeowner
- Soil bearing and any geotechnical assumption stated as an assumption, since verifying it is not in your scope unless it is priced
- Certificate of insurance and workers' compensation for commercial and general-contractor clients
General guidance, not legal advice. Requirements vary by state and jurisdiction — confirm yours with counsel or your licensing board.
Straight answers
The three things you are probably thinking
“I quote off a square foot rate in my head. Why do I need this?”
The rate is not the problem. The problem is the March phone call about a crack. This writes the joint, curing and finish-variation language that settles that call before it happens.
“My customers do not read long documents.”
Homeowners do not, until there is a dispute — then they read every line. The document is as much for that conversation as for the sale.
“I work mostly as a sub for general contractors.”
Then your proposal is a scope letter, and precision matters more, not less. It drafts from the scope letters you already send to those GCs.
FAQ
Concrete proposals: common questions
Can it calculate cubic yards for me?
No. Quantities come from your takeoff. It writes the specification and the scope around them.
Does it handle scope letters to general contractors as well as homeowner proposals?
Yes, and they read differently. Upload examples of both and it matches the new job to whichever is closer.
Will it include my standard cracking and curing language?
That is exactly what it picks up during setup. Most concrete contractors have wording they have refined over years, and it reuses yours rather than substituting generic text.
Can I show stamped pattern and colour options?
Yes. Options can be presented side by side with their own pricing, and photos you upload can be carried into the document.
What if a job needs an engineer's design?
Engineering stays excluded unless you price it in. The proposal states that assumption explicitly so the customer knows what they are still responsible for arranging.
Related
Other trades we have written this up for
See what it writes from your last concrete proposal.
Upload three or four you were happy to send. The next one drafts in the same voice.