Getting Ready To Pour Concrete

The concrete slab course will teach you all you need to know about forming the concrete slab and getting it ready for the pour.

Getting ready to pour concrete.

It s time to have a truck come to deliver and pour your concrete. You ll need several strong helpers because you need to work fast. The ground should be dug to a depth of 3 to 5 inches with a trench dug on either side. If the mixed concrete looks like the mix in step 9 it s ready to pour.

Pour the concrete into the mold. If the ground is mostly clay an additional 2 inches of depth is needed to hold gravel which will aid in drainage. How to build a concrete wall prep work. The wall we built was a weekend long project and an exhausting one at that.

Otherwise load it into wheelbarrows and tilt them into the form until the high point is reached. Materials tools and site. Properly preparing the subsurface helps to limit the potential for cracks in the finished concrete slab. Preparation is the most important aspect of pouring a concrete slab.

Start by placing concrete in the concrete forms farthest from the truck. Get ready to pour. It took a day to rip out the old collapsing retaining wall to dig farther into the hill to provide room for the backfill gravel and to help unload materials. Good concrete slabs in garages will hold up to all of the weight they need to bear through hot and cold weather and for many long years with little if any evidence.

We go over all the necessary steps for your concrete slab to come out perfect. Slabs that develop cracks are probably the biggest headache and the folks who pour such slabs are prone to say things like concrete is always going to crack don t believe it. The best time to pour concrete is when temperatures are expected to remain above 50 degrees for five to seven days but plans can go awry with the arrival of. After all it s quicker and the runny concrete is easier to pour.

I have a 6 step process i use when i form my slabs. While doing this enlist some helpers to spread out the concrete with shovels rakes and come alongs which is a special concrete rake. Concrete is porous so you need to erect a concrete slab where drainage is not an issue. Reschedule delivery if it is hot windy or rainy.

In this video we show you how to pour your basic 16 x 12 concrete slab. It s tempting to just squirt water into the dry concrete mix with a hose and mix up a soupy batch of concrete. Otherwise mix in additional dry mix or water until you get the right consistency. It will walk you through pouring the concrete slab.

Making a concrete surface level is best accomplished if the subsurface is properly prepared beforehand. You can sometimes get a truck to pour concrete straight into your form. You made it to the final step of this complex process.