DH thinks we can pour our own cement patio...

Get a bid for it. My husband spent many summers pouring concrete for his dad's company when he was younger. It's a lot of work and something that is pretty easy to screw up. Concrete work is not cheap and that's why so many people take it on as a do it yourself project. So many people end up with cracked or flaking concrete because they don't know what they are doing. That being said, there are a lot of people who do know how to do it and maybe they'd be willing to help you do it.

My husband and I are Do It Yourselfer's (is that a word? LOL), we are remodeling the house he grew up in. Most of your cost comes in on paying for the labor as we all know. If we were taking on this project we would do all the demolition ourselves, get 2 or 3 estimates and then have the experts do it. The reason why? First getting the slope right to keep the water away from the house is probably the most important thing. Otherwise you will create more costs down the road. Also renting the equipment to pour the concrete is not cheap and I don't think he would want to mix it by hand because it probably wouldn't have the right consistency. But we would definitely do the demo ourselves.

I think an important question to ask yourselves is: Can you afford to have it fixed if you mess up?

My DH is the best do it yourselfer and even he hires concrete work done.

My Dad poured nearly his entire driveway, the slab for his garages (yes, multiple garages), and more. I trust him to pour some for me. He knows enough contractors that he can do it himself for a fraction of the cost. However, he has told people if you have never done it before, even in small batches, you're better off hiring someone. He only does it because he gained experience long ago. When you factor in the removal of old concrete and bushes, you might just be better off hiring out part of the job.

Think about what you need to do: removal of old cement, removal of large bush, removal of landscaping rocks. How will you dispose of it? How large is that bush? How much dirt will you have to put back down to fill in the hole the bush is going to leave. Just what kind of landscaping rocks are we talking? Little pebbles (PITA!), medium sized rocks, or larger rocks? What are you going to do with it? You will need a dumpster or a trailer to put all this. There is a fee for a dumpster or rental costs for a trailer (if you don't have one or know one you can borrow) plus dumping fee. Then how are you going to break up the cement? Sledgehammer? That's back-breaking work. Jackhammer? Rental costs plus possible permits.

Then there's the actual costs of new cement. A yard of cement will not cover as much as you think. You can buy pre-mixed cement and a small pourer from some places. You will still need wood to frame it, stuff to level it, etc. Plus permits depending on your town's codes. I say research it all.

If it were us ...we would hire someone to do it...it is a big job and you want the mixture to be right as well

I have a feeling this would be one of those projects you try to do yourself and in the end, have it done professionally anyway. Just have the pros do it right the first time.

We just had a new driveway and sidewalk poured yesterday. After watching the crew for the past two days I almost feel like I should pay double what they quoted. The amount of hard, hard work they did. I don't regret hiring that out.

We did our own cement slab for our garage to be built on. It helps if your dh would have someone help him that knows what they are doing, but VERY do-able to DIY. You have to know how much rebar to put in the base, how to square it off with the frames, and grade of the slope. Ours turned out perfect. We had about a doz guys here in the AM, the cement truck delivered the mixed cement, and poured it in, and the guys leveled it out. They had to have the right tools and right boots to be in the cement.

My DH handled the concrete patio at our lake house as well a concrete ramp into the shed. He rented a mixer to the major part of the work. You definitely don't want to mix individual bags by hand for that large of a project. The mixer he rented could handle mixing multiple bags at a time. He recently came back in and made the patio larger than he did the first time around. That time, he didn't rent a mixer and it was a beating to mix all of the bags individually. I think he used 2x4's or 2x6's for the forms.

Dh and a neighbor did ours 20 years ago. But, they were both experienced cement finishers. Don't bite off more than you can chew, concrete is WAY too expensive to take a chance on messing up. Do the prep work, leave the rest to the experts. Temperature and humidity play a big part in how it is finished, you don't want it to crack after it's set.

I agree with the majority, this is most likely a job best left to the professionals. It is so easy to screw it up, the equipment you'll need to rent, the manhours of labor just prepping the area then having to level and grade the concrete. I would do a step or something by myself or with another person but just the two of you for a patio that size? You will likely be sorry you tried it.

I'd tell him "we" nothing! Get some estimates.