Noemi Berry Doudna wrote:
> We need to put a small (4'x6'?) slab into our small dirt-floor
> basement (12'x12'), on which to place a boiler, indirect water
All of the other advice you received looks good. A few more pointers if you
have never worked concrete before: (I am not a professional, but have done
several moderate sized home jobs).
1. Concrete work is HARD work. The bags weigh 60 lbs or 90 lbs each. Once
water is mixed in the mix weighs even more. After an hour or two of picking up
these bags and dumping them in a mixing container, then dumping / shoveling /
screeding the mix you will be tired. Hard on the back. Good thing to have your
son help.
2. Make sure that the mix does not have too much water (a common mistake for
beginners). Most first time users end up with a runny mix. Following the
instructions. Make sure that the water/mix is completely mixed (another common
mistake). Mixing concreet by hand is harder work than it looks.
3. Depending on the finish that you desire you could add some cement to the
concrete mix. This makes it easier to get a smooth finish.
4. Make the forms strong enough that they do not come apart as you pour or move
the concrete around. You will probably find yourself using a shovel or a 2x4
screed to muscle/push the concrete into place. As you push/screed the concrete
into place (screeding involves pushing down on the concrete with the 2x4) this
will drive the larger pieces of aggregate down and this forces the "fines" (sand
and cement) to the surface.
5. Don't forget that you will need to let the cement sit for a while (depending
primarily on temperature) before the final finishing (floating). Floating also
requires more force than you might think.
6. You might also want to round the edges of the slab at this time, otherwise
you will probably end up with a sharp and weak edge when the form is removed.
There is a rounding tool made for this but you can improvise with a regular
float.
7. Oh yeah, concrete is alkaline (sp?) and will etch the outer layer of you
skin. You don't need to be paranoid about it, but if you handle it much you
will have very rough hands.
8. I will second (third?) the recommendation of rebar.
-Roger
/// unsubscribe/change address requests to majordomo@autox.team.net or try
/// http://www.team.net/mailman/listinfo
/// Archives at http://www.team.net/cgi-bin/wilma/shop-talk
|