Is it cheaper to pour your own concrete?
Is it cheaper to pour concrete yourself? Yes. In general, you can save up to 40% or more if you pour a concrete slab yourself. If you decide to mix your own concrete, you can save even more.
Ready mix concrete is usually the more expensive option, with the transportation costs and logistics involved generally costing more than the tools and labour associated with site mix concrete. However, for larger projects, ready mix concrete can become better value.
Whether you're pouring concrete countertops or a patio out back, it may be cheaper to pour concrete yourself rather than hire someone. Whether you'll save much in doing so depends largely on the amount of concrete needed and the amount of time you have to invest in your concrete project.
Working With Ready-Mix Concrete
And, if you mix it yourself, it's the cheapest way to make your slab. For most do-it-yourselfers, the best material for building a concrete slab is a ready-mix, crack-resistant concrete product. The wet mix is poured into a prepared wood form, then left to cure.
Pro cost vs.
Concrete patios can be an ideal DIY project with the right tools and skills, especially if it's a simple concrete slab. Building your own patio can save you $45 to $75 per hour or $3 to $10 per square foot in labor costs. Below is a table listing the materials needed.
Concrete is formulated at different strengths. Most of the bagged concrete mixes are rated at 4,000 pounds per square inch (psi). That strength is achieved so long as you don't add too much water to the mix. They tell you on the bag labels how much water to add to get to that strength.
How many bags of concrete are in a yard? To produce one yard of concrete, you'll need to use about 45 80-pound bags (or 90 40-pound bags). Because of the time and labor required to prepare such a large quantity, it is usually more cost- and time-effective to have ready mix concrete delivered.
Covering the concrete with a tarp or plastic sheeting can help prevent moisture from seeping into the concrete. Finally, it is important to wait the appropriate amount of time before using the concrete. For best results, cure concrete for at least 28 days and allow it to dry for 24 hours for every inch of thickness.
No, you do not need rebar for a 4-inch slab of concrete on grade. A 4-inch-thick slab cast on the ground and in permanent contact with it will float and rebar is not required. Rebar is recommended on concrete measuring 5 – 6 inches thick.
Concrete is priced at $125 per cubic yard on average, with prices ranging from $110 to $165 per cubic yard nationwide. Need concrete poured for a home improvement project? The typical cost of concrete is between $110 and $165 per cubic yard on average (excluding labor cost).
How much does a yard of concrete cover at 4 inches thick?
One Cubic Yard of Concrete: 4-inches thick – covers 81 square feet. 5-inches thick – covers 65 square feet. 6-inches thick – covers 54 square feet.
The average cost to lay down a 1,000-sq-ft concrete slab is around $3,000, which is around $3 per square foot. However, this price can increase drastically if you also need to grade your property, lay down a gravel sub-base, finish the surface of the concrete, or add on services like installing radiant heat.
Although concrete will harden soon after pouring, it's still susceptible to damage from weight during the first four weeks. Wait at least 24 hours before allowing foot traffic, including pets, on a newly poured sidewalk or slab, and don't drive a vehicle on a new driveway for at least 10 days.
Pouring Concrete Yourself: What Can Go WrongPouring your own concrete correctly requires knowledge, skill, and careful planning, along with the right materials, tools, and equipment. It is a lot more complicated than spreading gravel, laying pavers or even pouring asphalt.
For large scale projects like buildings, concrete should last up to 100 years if it's properly cared for. Concrete projects that experience more wear-and-tear like sidewalks and driveways have an expected lifespan of about half that—50 years.
The Quikrete system is a superior material to traditional concrete, because of its ability to set up so quickly. This allows for workers to get the job done more quickly and efficiently as well as allowing for some smaller jobs that would not be suitable for traditional concrete.
You can add more Portland cement to bagged concrete to make it stronger. You can also add some hydrated lime. To make the strongest concrete, the sand should be sourced from volcanic lava that has a high silica content. This is not easy to locate, and I'd not worry about it.
What are Typical Specifications for a Quality Sidewalk? Concrete for sidewalk slabs must consist of 3500 to 4000 PSI, a combination of 3/4 blend of sand, stone and cement and also 6 to 7% air included in the mix. An expansion joint should be placed no less than approximately every 25 to 30 linear feet.
Quikrete also tends to be a couple of dollars more.
Now, that's not to say that Sakrete doesn't offer their customers quite a few products either, because they do, but with Quikrete, you get more choices. Besides those differences, Sakrete and Quikrete are really alike. The choice is really up to you.
Concrete trucks weigh an average of 25,000 lbs. by themselves and up to 40,000 lbs. when carrying a full load. Their capacity is around 8 cubic yards, but can be up to 10 cubic yards if fully-loaded.
Do you have to mix quikrete?
Whether you are building a new fence, setting a mailbox or anchoring a basketball goal or play set, QUIKRETE® Fast-Setting Concrete is the ideal product for the job. With Fast-Setting Concrete there is no mixing or tools required – You simply pour the dry mix right from the bag into the hole, then add water.
Concrete that is not moist-cured at all dries too rapidly, and reaches less than half its potential design strength. It will also have a greater number of shrinkage cracks.
If the rain begins after 2-4 hours from concrete placement, the surface needs to be covered; otherwise, the concrete surface will suffer damages. If rains pound on concrete 12 hours after placement, the likeliness of any damage is negligible.
Properly curing your concrete improves strength, durability, water tightness, and resistance for many years. The first 7 days after installation you should spray the slab with water 5-10 times per day, or as often as possible. Once the concrete is poured the curing process begins immediately.
Rebar can be stronger but might be considered overkill for projects While rebar is often stronger than wire mesh, you might find that the level of strength provided by rebar is overkill for most projects. Heavy-duty wire mesh can offer the required level of durability while limiting your costs considerably.
Fortunately, whether you plan to make a patio slab or a driveway, working in small areas divided by concrete forms and using bagged concrete mix can make the job easier for a DIYer.
Curing time of concrete is typically 24-48 hours, at which point it's safe for normal foot traffic. After one week, concrete is typically cured enough to handle continued construction including heavy machinery. Concrete is recognized to have reached full strength 28 days after placement.
A typical wheelbarrow holds about 6 to 8 cubic feet of concrete, and a yard of concrete is equivalent to 27 cubic feet. So, a yard of concrete would typically require between 4 to 6 loads in a standard wheelbarrow.
What are the most common causes of concrete deterioration? Chemical attack, overloading and impact, carbonation, dry and wet cycling, and fire are major causes of concrete damages.
Does concrete take 100 years to cure? No, this is a bit of a myth with the concrete industry. While concrete does continue to harden indefinitely, pore moisture has to drop below a certain level at some point and this isn't typically 100 years.
What weakens concrete?
Concrete is one of most durable manmade materials, but even this old industry workhorse has its weaknesses. Exposure to harsh weather, reactions with common elements, and poor construction can all lead to concrete failure.
As for thickness, non-reinforced pavement four inches thick is standard for passenger car driveways. For heavier vehicles, a thickness of five inches is recommended. To eliminate standing water, the driveway should be sloped towards the street a minimum of one percent, or 1/8 inch per foot, for proper drainage.
How thick will your patio slab be? Four inches is the minimum thickness for a concrete patio. You'll want to make it six to eight inches thick if the patio will support a structure such as a gazebo or hot tub.
Standard concrete floor slab thickness in residential construction is 4 inches. Five to six inches is recommended if the concrete will receive occasional heavy loads, such as motor homes or garbage trucks. To prepare the base, cut the ground level to the proper depth to allow for the slab thickness.
How much concrete do I need for a 10x10 slab? The amount of concrete you need for a 10x10 slab depends on how thick it will be. So, for a 4-inch slab you'll need 1.24 cubic yards (56 80lb bags), but a 6-inch slab requires 1.85 yards (84 80lb bags).
You would need 80 bags of 50 kg each to construct a roof slab of 1000 sq. ft. area and slab thickness of 4 inches.
According to the American Concrete Institute, concrete gains 90% of its strength within the first 28 days of curing. However, the concrete continues to gain strength over time, with some concrete structures becoming stronger even after 50-100 years.
After One Week – After 7 days, it's OK to drive on your new concrete with normal passenger vehicles. Avoid driving near or across the edges of the driveway, though, since those areas are still weaker.
You should not pour concrete directly on the ground before preparing a proper concrete base. The minimum best practice is to thoroughly prepare the ground by leveling and compacting the subgrade. Then add a subbase of gravel for additional load support of the final slab if needed.
Working With Ready-Mix Concrete
And, if you mix it yourself, it's the cheapest way to make your slab. For most do-it-yourselfers, the best material for building a concrete slab is a ready-mix, crack-resistant concrete product. The wet mix is poured into a prepared wood form, then left to cure.
What time of year is best to pour concrete?
So, the ideal season for pouring concrete is during the cool to moderate months of the year. Depending on where you live, this could be the spring, fall, or even the winter for individuals living in very warm locations. Ideally, the temperature should remain within 50 to 60°F for most of the day.
Once the concrete has been finished (between 4-8 hours after pouring) and has set hard enough for walking on, the effects of rain should be minimal. The curing process is a chemical reaction, with ready mix concrete taking up to 28 days to fully cure.
Although the terms cement and concrete often are used interchangeably, cement is actually an ingredient of concrete. Concrete is a mixture of aggregates and paste. The aggregates are sand and gravel or crushed stone; the paste is water and portland cement.
Mixing concrete is actually as easy as 1-2-3. In the industry, there is an oft-quoted 1-2-3 formula for mixing concrete, where one part portland cement is combined with two parts sand and three parts stone.
Concrete costs $4–$8 per square foot on average. This means a 20-by-30 foot concrete slab will cost $2,400–$4,800, depending on the slab's thickness and the type of concrete needed.
A concrete mix of 1 part cement : 2 parts sand : 4 parts coarse aggregate should be used for a concrete slab. Concrete must be placed within half an hour of mixing. Place your concrete into your formwork; work the concrete into awkward places and corners using a shovel or trowel.
No, you do not need rebar for a 4-inch slab of concrete on grade. A 4-inch-thick slab cast on the ground and in permanent contact with it will float and rebar is not required. Rebar is recommended on concrete measuring 5 – 6 inches thick.
One Cubic Yard of Concrete: 4-inches thick – covers 81 square feet. 5-inches thick – covers 65 square feet.
How Thick Does Concrete Need to Be for a Slab? In general, for residential areas like walkways and patios, 4 inches of concrete is sufficient for a slab. For a deck or deck stair landing, again, around 4 inches of concrete is sufficient.
Most standard mixers allow for a maximum of two 80# bags of concrete per batch for a total of 24 bags in an hour. Mixing flat-out, the output of this mixing method is capped at about 14 sq. ft.
Does adding portland cement to quikrete make it stronger?
You can add more Portland cement to bagged concrete to make it stronger. You can also add some hydrated lime. To make the strongest concrete, the sand should be sourced from volcanic lava that has a high silica content. This is not easy to locate, and I'd not worry about it.
The average cost to lay down a 1,000-sq-ft concrete slab is around $3,000, which is around $3 per square foot. However, this price can increase drastically if you also need to grade your property, lay down a gravel sub-base, finish the surface of the concrete, or add on services like installing radiant heat.
Because material costs for polished concrete floors are six to eight times lower than that of high-quality hardwood floors, polished concrete is significantly less expensive than wood in new residential construction.
You can pour concrete using items you have in the shed or garage; it does not have to take any special tools to do minor projects. Pouring concrete takes a little muscle as the mixture is quite heavy.
As everything in the world, concrete also has a lifespan and it wears out over time. Imperfections forms when the concrete hardens or sinks into the ground. Pouring fresh concrete over the existing concrete is a common way to level out old slabs and patch damage.
You can put new concrete over old concrete, however, there are many times you will not want to, including: If there is a door or staircase that would be in the way of adding a few inches of cement. Tree roots are in the way, causing the existing concrete to lift or move.
