[Rob McKibbon]

Chris,
Best idea is to sub it out..... good choice.
I have placed and finished concrete many years ago.
I R a construction engineer and I call dirt, soil; and I never say "pour" concrete.... ya right?

I am now a developer/ builder and I've built over $100 Million worth of $2 - 3 Million buildings over the last 10 years. The problem with concrete is that it gets hard, then it's harder to remove than anything you'll experience, even 911 heat exchangers. (Had to put Porsche in some where?)

My estimate for your job:

Excavate, backfill and compaction $500
Find a backhoe guy with a compacter. Do not place footings on topsoil or loam, twigs or anything that can rot. Place footings only on good "undisturbed" soil. Hand excavate the last 2 inches for best results and check soil by puching with a 1/2" bar. If the bar goes in too easy, remove soil until firm. Spread footings (continuous) are the most forgiving as they "spread" the load.
Includes 6" layer of 3/4" minus gravel (road crush) compacted under slab on grade.

Forming Foundation Walls $1500
Includes pouring strip footing approx. 16" wide X 6" deep continuous with 2 continuous strips of 15M reinforcing steel (rebar). Then forming a foundation wall on top of strip footing 8" wide X 36" high (depending on frost depth for your area). Included are forms, wall-ties, and placing of concrete.
Not included is concrete and rebar

Reinforcing Steel (Rebar) $300 Supply only
Place 2 - 15M bars running continuous side by side in the strip footing. (Lap and tie the rebar together, same for walls)
Place 3 - 15M bars running continuous in the foundation wall, one near the bottom, one just below mid-way height and one just above mid-way height. This can be tied to the form ties.
Slab: Place 10M rebar at 1ft centers tied together with rebar wire.
Put "chairs" under the rebar to hold it up off the ground.

Slab Prep, Place and Finish $300 Labour only
Prep slab by placing vapour barrier over compacted gravel sub-base. Tie and chair up rebar for slab. Place and finish concrete slab on grade with hardener compound. Spray sealer.

Saw cut control joints $150
Saw cut concrete slab the day after it is poured approx. 1/2" deep 10 foot centers for controlling cracking.

Concrete Supply $1800
Strip footing, Foundation wall, Slab on grade
Used for estimating purposes: 18 cu yds (14 cu m)

Misc. Items $200
Supply of Hardener, Sealer, Vapour Barrier, Impregnated Asphalt Board (for edge of slab, to break bond with foundation), nails, band-aids.

Beer $100 Average Day // Beer $300 Hot Day

Air-fare, Accomodations and Fee $8,500
Self explainatary?

Quote valid for 15 days...... bla bla bla

The majority of the costs are for materials and you'll only save a few hundred bucks doing it yourself; there are so many things that can go wrong..... so sub it out to a pro. Unlike Porsche mechanics, construction workers are cheap - find a Portuguese guy named "Tony" for best results.

Hope this gives you an idea of what to look for in an estimate? (off the top of my head) If you have any questions feel free to PM me as we're likely to go OT on this? I'm always glad to help out where I can?