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Concrete garage base James 08-11-2006
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Posted by James on August 13, 2006, 8:16 am

> Listen up everyone that is thinking of mixing there own concrete for a
> situation such as this. Or anythng over 1 yard
>
> ======IT WILL NEVER PAY TO DO IT YOURSELF. HIRE A TRUCK AND OR A
> PUMP.======
>
>> Assuming I'm just tipping the concrete straight into the ready prepared
>> area, with a bit of tamping and smoothing, I can probably mix and tip
>> about
>> 12 loads = 1 cubic metre, in 70 minutes, with possibly 20 mins more for
>> actually shovelling all the ingredients into the mixer.
> You for got things like roding the concrete to make sure it is at the
> right level and if it is not having to go back and move material from
> another area or rake it up closer. You forgot bullfloating it to get
> the rocks down after its is roded you for got running the edger along
> the forms for the first pass

Can you explain what running the edger along the forms for the first pass
is? Creating a smooth edge around the slab or do I have to separate the slab
from the form?

>....plus much much more this all takes time
> and must be done at a certian "set" time in the the process. Mixing and
> pouring and mixing and pouring will greatly interupt this process...can
> it be done yea sure but how much do you want to do it again when it
> fails in a year or so?

Fair point. I will do smaller slabs and ensure I have lots of mates around
to help.

> Look if you want to do it this way do very small
> sections at a time and place rebar dowels at the edge of the slab ready
> for the next pour. You can drill holes in the form and place the rebar
> in these holes the next day take these forms out and pour up to it and
> repeat. BTW you dont necessarialy have to do one pour a day you can do
> as many as you can just make sure to finish the process with the
> previous one first then move on to the next one.

Can I start the next slab while the one I'm butting up to is still damp
without risking cracks? Or do I have to let each one go off before I start
the next?

> Butting slabs together
> is not the problem its not tending to the already poured concrete that
> is the problem......
>
>
> if you figure just the materials you are already so close to the cost
> of redimix it is not worth the hassel...time is also money......

Mixing myself the cost will be about £300. Having readymix delivered to the
roadside will cost £370 but that does not include the time the truck has to
wait while the mix is wheelbarrowed 25 metres down the side of the house and
through the garden to the work site. 3 cubic metres is about 90 barrows full
so that will take a couple of hours, even with plenty of help.

Waiting time for the truck is £70 per hour adding another £140 minimum,
which is almost doubling the cost and is a hell of a lot of heavy shifting
to move 90 barrows full, all against the clock as the concrete is going off
during those 2 hours whilst being moved.

I have a quote of over £730 to have it pumped to that is still too expensive
given I can mix it myself for less than half the price.

Conclusion : If I mix it myself in small enough batches I can ensure a good
quality mix each time and do the whole project for significantly less money
than approaching it any other way.




>
>
>
> James wrote:
>> I want to lay a garage base at the bottom of my garden, for my
>> motorbikes.
>> It is 25 metres from the road side so delivery of pre-mixed concrete will
>> be
>> a problem, or expensive, or both.
>>
>> I can mix the concrete myself using a cheap to hire mixer but I need some
>> advice on the amount to lay in one batch, to avoid cracks.
>>
>> The slab will be 6m x 4m x .125m = 3 cubic metres.
>>
>> The mixer spec says it can mix 85 litres in 6 minutes.
>>
>> Assuming I'm just tipping the concrete straight into the ready prepared
>> area, with a bit of tamping and smoothing, I can probably mix and tip
>> about
>> 12 loads = 1 cubic metre, in 70 minutes, with possibly 20 mins more for
>> actually shovelling all the ingredients into the mixer.
>>
>> This means I can lay one third of the base in about 1.5 hours.
>>
>> So, help needed here :- What is the best way to do this?
>>
>> I'm assuming I can't just lay the whole base over a space of 1.5x3 hours
>> =
>> 4.5 hours as the concrete at one end will have started to go off before
>> I've
>> finished at the other end?
>>
>> Should I lay 2 slabs, 2 metres wide each, with a 2 metre gap between
>> them?
>> Then, I could wait a few days until they have both gone off then fill in
>> the
>> gap with another slab? Will this be prone to cracks between the 3
>> separate
>> sections?
>>
>> Any ideas anyone. All comments and advice greatfully received.....
>>
>> Cheers
>> James
>



Posted by JerryD\(upstateNY\) on August 13, 2006, 7:56 pm
James wrote:
Conclusion : If I mix it myself in small enough batches I can ensure a good
quality mix each time and do the whole project for significantly less money
than approaching it any other way.

Good luck !!
Try finding a friend who knows something about pouring concrete.
Trying to pour a garage slab when you haven't any idea of what you are
doing, is a recipe for disaster.
--
JerryD(upstateNY)



Posted by James on August 14, 2006, 3:46 am

> James wrote:
> Conclusion : If I mix it myself in small enough batches I can ensure a
> good
> quality mix each time and do the whole project for significantly less
> money
> than approaching it any other way.
>
> Good luck !!
> Try finding a friend who knows something about pouring concrete.
> Trying to pour a garage slab when you haven't any idea of what you are
> doing, is a recipe for disaster.
> --
> JerryD(upstateNY)
>

Thanks for the warning! I'm trying to avoid disaster by doing my homework
and asking the right questions in the right places :-)



Posted by James on August 14, 2006, 6:00 am

>
>>
>>> James wrote:
>>> Conclusion : If I mix it myself in small enough batches I can ensure a
>>> good
>>> quality mix each time and do the whole project for significantly less
>>> money
>>> than approaching it any other way.
>>>
>>> Good luck !!
>>> Try finding a friend who knows something about pouring concrete.
>>> Trying to pour a garage slab when you haven't any idea of what you are
>>> doing, is a recipe for disaster.
>>> --
>>> JerryD(upstateNY)
>>>
>>
>> Thanks for the warning! I'm trying to avoid disaster by doing my homework
>> and asking the right questions in the right places :-)
>
> Just spotted your thread (been on hols). Last year I laid a slab for a
> summer house and used Master Concrete. Their lorry carries cement, sand
> and water, The driver sets the mix strength and the machine mixes as it
> leaves the vehicle. They can chute it straight into the site but in my
> case this was not close enough, so they provided wheel barrows which my
> son-in-law and I trotted back and forth with tipping it onto the prepared
> site. Two neighbours did the spreading and levelling. The whole base
> (16ft x 12ft x 6ins) was laid in just under an hour and a half. The
> lorry was away after the first 30 mins the remaining hour was smoothing
> and tidying. I reckon that if I had hired a mixer and done it myself it
> would have been at least a full days hard work and would have cost more.
> They estimated the quantity for me and it has the advantage that, if over
> estimated, you don't have a load left to deal with but if under estimated,
> they have extra on board and just keep going until it is done. At the
> end you simply pay the driver for what is used.
> If you are interested, here is their web site:
> http://www.masterconcrete.co.uk/
> --
> Keith Willcocks
> (If you can't laugh at life, it ain't worth living!)
>

Hi Keith

I've found a local company with the same kind of lorry and am waiting for
them to get back to me with a quote.

I've also found a local ready mix supplier that can tip the 3 cubic metres
at the roadside, 25m from site, for £275 which is cheaper than I can buy the
materials from my builder's merchants for!

They say there is a plasticiser in the concrete allowing for 4 hours
workability, but I'm still not sure me and a couple of mates could shift so
much in 4 hours! My slab is 150% the size of yours at 16' x 18' x 6"

How far did you have to move your concrete in the barrows? My site is 25m
from the roadside. Do you think it could be done in the time?



Posted by =?UTF-8?B?UGFsaW5kcuKYu21l?= on August 14, 2006, 6:31 am
James wrote:
>
>>
>>>
>>>>James wrote:
>>>>Conclusion : If I mix it myself in small enough batches I can ensure a
>>>>good
>>>>quality mix each time and do the whole project for significantly less
>>>>money
>>>>than approaching it any other way.
>>>>
>>>>Good luck !!
>>>>Try finding a friend who knows something about pouring concrete.
>>>>Trying to pour a garage slab when you haven't any idea of what you are
>>>>doing, is a recipe for disaster.
>>>>--
>>>>JerryD(upstateNY)
>>>>
>>>
>>>Thanks for the warning! I'm trying to avoid disaster by doing my homework
>>>and asking the right questions in the right places :-)
>>
>>Just spotted your thread (been on hols). Last year I laid a slab for a
>>summer house and used Master Concrete. Their lorry carries cement, sand
>>and water, The driver sets the mix strength and the machine mixes as it
>>leaves the vehicle. They can chute it straight into the site but in my
>>case this was not close enough, so they provided wheel barrows which my
>>son-in-law and I trotted back and forth with tipping it onto the prepared
>>site. Two neighbours did the spreading and levelling. The whole base
>>(16ft x 12ft x 6ins) was laid in just under an hour and a half. The
>>lorry was away after the first 30 mins the remaining hour was smoothing
>>and tidying. I reckon that if I had hired a mixer and done it myself it
>>would have been at least a full days hard work and would have cost more.
>>They estimated the quantity for me and it has the advantage that, if over
>>estimated, you don't have a load left to deal with but if under estimated,
>>they have extra on board and just keep going until it is done. At the
>>end you simply pay the driver for what is used.
>>If you are interested, here is their web site:
>>http://www.masterconcrete.co.uk/
>>--
>>Keith Willcocks
>>(If you can't laugh at life, it ain't worth living!)
>>
>
>
> Hi Keith
>
> I've found a local company with the same kind of lorry and am waiting for
> them to get back to me with a quote.
>
> I've also found a local ready mix supplier that can tip the 3 cubic metres
> at the roadside, 25m from site, for £275 which is cheaper than I can buy the
> materials from my builder's merchants for!
>
> They say there is a plasticiser in the concrete allowing for 4 hours
> workability, but I'm still not sure me and a couple of mates could shift so
> much in 4 hours! My slab is 150% the size of yours at 16' x 18' x 6"
>
> How far did you have to move your concrete in the barrows? My site is 25m
> from the roadside. Do you think it could be done in the time?
>
>

Sounds as if you are getting nearer to a solution.

Unless the ground between is steep/uneven/difficult the wheeling is not
that much of a problem, with good, not overfilled, wheelbarrows. Keep
the weight forward so that it is taken by the wheel and not on the
handles and even a girly can manage. A good barrow, properly filled,
will balance when full, so your arms are only used for steering and
pushing, not lifting.

Preparing the route, right to the tipping points, is the vital thing. If
you can set up a raised walkway down the middle of the slab, so that you
are always tipping the barrow downwards, most of the effort disappears.
Establish a circular route, so you can tip, straighten and go on rather
than have to turn around.

Do that and, provided that you (and your mates) are fit enough to keep
/walking/ for 4+hours without a break - no problem. If any of you could
actually manage a marathon without dying, then you will have time to
spare..

But, if your back starts hurting, you are doing it wrong - too much
weight on your arms and your back not straight. Keep going and you could
do yourself a lot of harm.. Do it right and your legs, OTOH, will be
screaming by the end..YMMV..


--
Sue









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