Final updates here and here.

Final thoughts? I went with a contractor who came in on the lower end of the bid spectrum. The highest bid was more than double the bid I chose. They did an adequate job, but I wouldn't call it exemplary. The important part is that I now have a nice, solid driveway from the street to the alley that doesn't skew the value of the house for the area it's in.

[Update: Three trucks and 20 yards of concrete later

[Update: First Pour]

[Friday Morning Update: Main part of the drive is formed, concrete delivery starts at 10:30. Clicky for more pictures.]

I finally came to a decision about getting my driveway replaced, and oh boy, what fun. Unfortunately, this is one that I can't hope to do myself, so I had to actually hire someone to do it! *GASP* I've been taking lots of picture to chronicle the project. You can head over to my Remodeling Blog if you're curious.

I'm surprised this driveway has lasted as long as it has. There's no reinforcement in it at all. No rebar, no wire mesh, nothing. The only place it was really bad was by the front door, and I can now see why. The concrete there was only about two inches thick. It's no wonder it was falling apart. Whomever installed this one didn't really care about consistency. While it was only two inches there, other parts of the drive were 5+ inches and hard as hell. The backhoe operator was getting annoyed cause he couldn't get the thing to break into small enough chunks in some places because it was so thick.

I'm also getting part of the garage floor replaced that's taken a beating during the last few winters. Rolling into the garage with salt and slush on my car have cause the floor to essentially partially disintegrate. So they're going to cut about four feet inside the garage and replace that side of the floor.

[Update: All the old concrete has been removed, and some crushed, recycled concrete has been brought in.

Oh yeah, here's also some photos from Dad and I putting in the conduit and new electrical run for the garage.]