how much gravel and bags of cement will i need?

mengele

ok want to put in a rectangle of concrete about 10x5ft in front of a garage door. Need it to be strong enough to take the weight of car/jeep. have my own mixer and was going to mix away myself. question is how much gravel and bags of cement will I need? bags of gravel come in the tonne. I suppose 5 inchs of concrete?

mahoney_j

mengele wrote: »

meant to say gravel in the title

ok want to put in a rectangle of concrete about 10x5ft in front of a garage door. Need it to be strong enough to take the weight of car/jeep. have my own mixer and was going to mix away myself. question is how much gravel and bags of cement will I need? bags of gravel come in the tonne. I suppose 5 inchs of concrete?

Aghhh phone your local cement factory and get them to deliver it ready mixed.save your feckin back and your slab will be set up and poured in an hour or so

mengele

mahoney_j wrote: »

Aghhh phone your local cement factory and get them to deliver it ready mixed.save your feckin back and your slab will be set up and poured in an hour or so

im on holidays for the next week so have time on my hands to do it myself and like the satisfaction of doing some things myself.

Davidcardiff

theres only about .6m2 of concrete there of ready mix 30n20 is costing about €60-70 a cube id be saving myself the hassle and goin that way and getting a few other jobs done instead
just my 2cents

Miname

mengele wrote: »

im on holidays for the next week so have time on my hands to do it myself and like the satisfaction of doing some things myself.

you'll never mix it as well or consistant as you will buy ready mix. if your buying it by the small bag, dont forget to bring a jar of vaseline. otherwise you'll need a ton bag of gravel a ton bag of sand and at least 15 bags of cement. At this stage youve already spent the price of 2 cubic metres of concrete and thats before you start shovelling barrowing and running a bit of frostt mix through it.
you'll probably end up with the butts of the two bags of sand left over that youll have to drag somewhere.
just because you are off work doesnt mean you shouldnt utilise your time a bit more constructively than horsing in muck to a mixer.

f140

Davidcardiff wrote: »

theres only about .6m2 of concrete there of ready mix 30n20 is costing about €60-70 a cube id be saving myself the hassle and goin that way and getting a few other jobs done instead
just my 2cents

would it be .6 x 60-70 totalling €360-420 is it?

Miname

f140 wrote: »

would it be .6 x 60-70 totalling €360-420 is it?

point 6 of a metre will come to roughly 40. most places will charge no delivery anything over 3.5m so maybe set out a bigger area and for a little over 200 there will be a decent section done.

Davidcardiff

3.5m3 will cover and area roughly 7mx4m with 5inches of concrete which is 23ft x 13ft in old money

Nekarsulm

See Minames post above. Cheaper and better job to use Readymix. Ask for 35 Newton. Borrow a Bull Float, and if you are really jammy, borrow an engine driven vibrating screed.(looks like a strimmer )

Vandy West

If you have a half decent open trailer line it with plastic and get it yourself from your local concrete supplier. Cheapest and easiest way imo.

mengele

will go the readymix so. What is normally the minimum charge? I have it more or less set up but just to get re-bar for the bottom?

Miname

mengele wrote: »

will go the readymix so. What is normally the minimum charge? I have it more or less set up but just to get re-bar for the bottom?

No need for rebar, as i said go for the 3.5m otherwise they will stick on the delivery and you'll be looking at nearly 200 anyway. oherwise chat with a lorry driver and ask him to throw off a bit of leftover and throw him 50. most drivers will have a metre or two return at some stage during the week, unless hes supplying to only farmers as these will always have somewhere to throw an over order. dont ask the lads in the office for the leftovers though its better go straight to a driver .

mengele

Miname wrote: »

No need for rebar, as i said go for the 3.5m otherwise they will stick on the delivery and you'll be looking at nearly 200 anyway. oherwise chat with a lorry driver and ask him to throw off a bit of leftover and throw him 50. most drivers will have a metre or two return at some stage during the week, unless hes supplying to only farmers as these will always have somewhere to throw an over order. dont ask the lads in the office for the leftovers though its better go straight to a driver .

do you think I would I get away without rebar?

Miname

mengele wrote: »

do you think I would I get away without rebar?

Pack the base layer well and give it five inches of concrete. You'll have no trouble.

onyerbikepat

Use rebar. I'd love to hear the reasons why you don't need it.
You'll have to specify the slump of the readymix too. This is a measure of how wet it it, important if you want to slope it etc. Go with the minimum delivery amount too, afer all, you are paying for it.
I went through this about 2 months ago, putting down a small strip for a cattle crush. I couldnt get anyone to mix it with me in the elect mixer. Had a few willing to work the readymix, so went with that.

Miname

the only place id ever use rebar when pouring on the flat was if there was constant loading like lorries loaded to the max. Rebar is for walls, footings and the likes. i d never put it into normal yards or drives and to be honest dont know anyone that does.

Farmer Pudsey

Putting down that much concrete is not a big job. If you have access to a mixer and trailer.It is not a lot of concrete. If it is only a car or jeep that will be going over it 3-4'' deep of concrete will do. Getting ready mix will cost 200 euro for that amount. If you can get a driver to drop the end of a load well and good but the week could be gone and no concrete arrived.

If you have a trailer and have a car or van that will pull it get a ton and a half of 3/4''chip to dust or no need for sand. I mix it about 5 or 6 to one. No need for rebar or steel it not carrying artics. 10 bags of cement will do they will cost about 50 euro. Problem with ready mix is you pay about 20/ metre for what is missing out of load this will add to 100 euro very fast. If you can use up 4 metres well and good go ready mix but that much will cover a yard 32 sg metres with 5'' of concrete.

valtra2

put in the 6 mm re mesh 20 plus vat for sheet. definitely around the edges. worth it in long run

braddun

don't forget the rebar

redimix has calculator on its site

Farmer

I agree with Pudsey, not a big deal to mix but, as it's in front of your garage and obviously joining up to some other surface, I'd throw in a few bars of 10mm rebar or mesh as suggested - better than looking at a crack later on

J DEERE

No need for rebar, use wire mesh

Genghis Cant

I put in a bit lately, 5 meters, I got the fiber in it. Anyone ever have to take out concrete after fiber was in it? Is it a good job?

smokey-fitz

mengele wrote: »

ok want to put in a rectangle of concrete about 10x5ft in front of a garage door. Need it to be strong enough to take the weight of car/jeep. have my own mixer and was going to mix away myself. question is how much gravel and bags of cement will I need? bags of gravel come in the tonne. I suppose 5 inchs of concrete?

Dont listen to anyone here :P
You only need 0.59m cubed so get out the old mixer and start shoveling.
1ft=0.304m so thats 1.52m x 3.04m x 0.127m which makes 0.59m.

Lads may go back to school

Miname

smokey-fitz wrote: »

Dont listen to anyone here :P
You only need 0.59m cubed so get out the old mixer and start shoveling.
1ft=0.304m so thats 1.52m x 3.04m x 0.127m which makes 0.59m.

Lads may go back to school

Lads may go back and read the posts properly

smokey-fitz

Miname wrote: »

Lads may go back and read the posts properly

God help op if he went off and got a half bottle, loads of concrete and nowhere to put it plus being out of pocket..

Farmer Pudsey

First off it is only a car or jeep that will be on it. If OP puts in a good compact base under concrete 3'' IMO will do 3.5'' will be loads. 5'' is only needed where there is heavier vehicules or lots of traffic. Even at that all traffic on it will be slow not a lad tearing accross it at 30km/hour. In that area 3.5'' will require about 0.4M's of concrete. You would have it mixed in a few hours. It is easier to draw away a few extra bags of sand than get rid of half a metre of concrete.

I expect that if he wen looking for concrete it will cost him 75+vat that is nearly 85/metre and you will have part load charge as well. He will be lucky if it is not costing him 200+ for a small bit of concrete. Not sure if I bother with steel either if base is good and compact. However he might come across a bit of mesh but if not I not really worry.

onyerbikepat

I always hear people saying 'you don't need mesh', 'you don't need rebar' but for what it costs, it is well worth adding. Concrete is only strong in compression, it has no strength in tension. By adding the steel, you get that extra strength and resistance to bending.
It's like the old days at home doing a small job and the older generation would always be throwing in large stone to spare the cement. In their time, concrete was the dear thing and the stones were free.:D

Farmer Pudsey

onyerbikepat wrote: »

I always hear people saying 'you don't need mesh', 'you don't need rebar' but for what it costs, it is well worth adding. Concrete is only strong in compression, it has no strength in tension. By adding the steel, you get that extra strength and resistance to bending.
It's like the old days at home doing a small job and the older generation would always be throwing in large stone to spare the cement. In their time, concrete was the dear thing and the stones were free.:D

There are houses build 100 years and walls are perfect no cracks and no founadtion as such under them. Nowadays you see them putting in steel into foundation. It is all relative to use. years ago if a house wsa being build of stone a base was prepare under the walls that was allowed to settle. Biggest issue with concrete is we are putting in bases that are often 12''+ deep and not allowing time to settle or compacting properly in layers. I have often seen footpats of houses 10mm+ away from wall of house uncracked where complete path has slipped that distance.

Get your base right compact it by eveb tapping it with a sledge if a small area and put concrete down then. Put a wall down years ago trench was too deep an auld lad filled about 6'' of trench with gravel and we tapped it with a sledge in two layers. 4-6'' on concrete on top wall si stll then un cracked 20 years later.

lakill Farm

if lads love one thing on here its readymix

3 years ago I asked about a pan mixer. Blown out of the water

Well I have put in 60m3 of concrete and about the same to do in the next 6 months. Its working out under €30 m3 incl vat

uncle helps me with concrete and 3 weeks ago he helped his brother pour a floor 50 x 22ft . Readymix. took 1hour and 30 mins with readymix. said it almost bust them. I put in a 50 x 22ft floor in 3 hours and nobody bust for half the price.

Consistency in a world gone mad? how many yards in this country mixed by shovel with bad gravel and cement? and they are still about

J DEERE

lakill Farm wrote: »

if lads love one thing on here its readymix

3 years ago I asked about a pan mixer. Blown out of the water

Well I have put in 60m3 of concrete and about the same to do in the next 6 months. Its working out under €30 m3 incl vat

uncle helps me with concrete and 3 weeks ago he helped his brother pour a floor 50 x 22ft . Readymix. took 1hour and 30 mins with readymix. said it almost bust them. I put in a 50 x 22ft floor in 3 hours and nobody bust for half the price.

Consistency in a world gone mad? how many yards in this country mixed by shovel with bad gravel and cement? and they are still about

For a job like the OPs mixing yourself should be fine but ready mix is a far superior product if you can afford it

lakill Farm

J DEERE wrote: »

For a job like the OPs mixing yourself should be fine but ready mix is a far superior product if you can afford it

my mix is working out at 27/28N. at the end of the day the big cost of readymix is Robbie the readymix drivers wages, a lorry and diesel costs and profit

J DEERE

lakill Farm wrote: »

my mix is working out at 27/28N. at the end of the day the big cost of readymix is Robbie the readymix drivers wages, a lorry and diesel costs and profit

Do you buy gravel and cement in bulk? Do you have a breakdown of costs?

lakill Farm

J DEERE wrote: »

Do you buy gravel and cement in bulk? Do you have a breakdown of costs?

I buy gravel in bulk and draw it myself (4 mile)
I buy cement from hardware at trade price
and just diesel for tractor and digger then

J DEERE

lakill Farm wrote: »

I buy gravel in bulk and draw it myself (4 mile)
I buy cement from hardware at trade price
and just diesel for tractor and digger then

How much water would u use in 1m3?

Greengrass1

lakill Farm wrote: »

if lads love one thing on here its readymix

3 years ago I asked about a pan mixer. Blown out of the water

Well I have put in 60m3 of concrete and about the same to do in the next 6 months. Its working out under €30 m3 incl vat

uncle helps me with concrete and 3 weeks ago he helped his brother pour a floor 50 x 22ft . Readymix. took 1hour and 30 mins with readymix. said it almost bust them. I put in a 50 x 22ft floor in 3 hours and nobody bust for half the price.

Consistency in a world gone mad? how many yards in this country mixed by shovel with bad gravel and cement? and they are still about

Dead right lakill were all gone soft.
my father put in a slurry tank for 200 sows in the 80s himself and a tractor mixer was a big tank held 50 cows slurry when he went all cows. Was still there when we moved in 2004.
He put in all the cubicles and laid down a lot of the yard with tractor mixer too. Nothing wrong with it at all

lakill Farm

J DEERE wrote: »

How much water would u use in 1m3?

depends on how fresh/recent the washed gravel was prepared at the quarry and weather conditions

Normally 4 x standard buckets to 1m3 but as I said depends on the water in the gravel

mahoney_j

Greengrass1 wrote: »

Dead right lakill were all gone soft.
my father put in a slurry tank for 200 sows in the 80s himself and a tractor mixer was a big tank held 50 cows slurry when he went all cows. Was still there when we moved in 2004.
He put in all the cubicles and laid down a lot of the yard with tractor mixer too. Nothing wrong with it at all

Might be nothing wrong with it but it's pure feckin hardship father and neighbours around here hand mixed most of their own yards and slabs in the day. Most of them have since raveled and been taken up and the big one everyone of them is bent over and have back and knee issues.
I m just a lazy fooker job like that is a job for ready mix .ive more important things to do daily rather that be a big hard man shovelling gravel and cement and fookin my back up for life.no offence to anyone here but some lads love hardship.i know op was off work for a few days ,order some ready mix and take the wife or gf off for a night or 2 away

Greengrass1

mahoney_j wrote: »

Might be nothing wrong with it but it's pure feckin hardship father and neighbours around here hand mixed most of their own yards and slabs in the day. Most of them have since raveled and been taken up and the big one everyone of them is bent over and have back and knee issues.
I m just a lazy fooker job like that is a job for ready mix .ive more important things to do daily rather that be a big hard man shovelling gravel and cement and fookin my back up for life.no offence to anyone here but some lads love hardship.i know op was off work for a few days ,order some ready mix and take the wife or gf off for a night or 2 away

Definitely hardship but that's how farms were built and no one had the money to buy lorry loads of concrete back then.
I'm only half the man compared to the work my father and grand father did but things have such a,greater scale now no one has time to be mucking around like that if its a big job any more

J DEERE

lakill Farm wrote: »

depends on how fresh/recent the washed gravel was prepared at the quarry and weather conditions

Normally 4 x standard buckets to 1m3 but as I said depends on the water in the gravel

Big help too is being able load it with the digger. Shoveling it in is a different story

smokey-fitz

mahoney_j wrote: »

Might be nothing wrong with it but it's pure feckin hardship father and neighbours around here hand mixed most of their own yards and slabs in the day. Most of them have since raveled and been taken up and the big one everyone of them is bent over and have back and knee issues.
I m just a lazy fooker job like that is a job for ready mix .ive more important things to do daily rather that be a big hard man shovelling gravel and cement and fookin my back up for life.no offence to anyone here but some lads love hardship.i know op was off work for a few days ,order some ready mix and take the wife or gf off for a night or 2 away

You must be loaded if you order readymix and bring the missus away for a night or 2

Op only has roughly half a cube to put down, so I dont think there would be many readymix companies that would deliver such a small amount. Yea I agree with your view on hardship, but if you have the time why not, also I always find laying a bit of concrete gives good job satisfaction. No good for making profit tho :P

mahoney_j

Greengrass1 wrote: »

Definitely hardship but that's how farms were built and no one had the money to buy lorry loads of concrete back then.
I'm only half the man compared to the work my father and grand father did but things have such a,greater scale now no one has time to be mucking around like that if its a big job any more

Father often said he'd chew the handle of a shovel before he'd mix cement again .serious back problems for years because of hardship like that for years .
Not all about working day and night and throwing yourself into everything.to me an hour measuring grass or in the office is better spent than breaking me back at jobs like that.work smarter not harder!!

solwhit12

mahoney_j wrote: »

Father often said he'd chew the handle of a shovel before he'd mix cement again .serious back problems for years because of hardship like that for years .
Not all about working day and night and throwing yourself into everything.to me an hour measuring grass or in the office is better spent than breaking me back at jobs like that.work smarter not harder!!

Give me a shovel any day over bookwork and grass measuring ( don't want to start a discussion about that again) but your right about working at night enough of hours in the to get finished.

Farmer Pudsey

Some lads here were reccomending 5'' of concrete for under this bit of a drive. Lads were talking about steel and mesh. FFS it about 10-12 barrows of concrete. Often did jobs like that by myself. Hardest part will be laying it out and putting timbers around it that will have to be done anyway.

I have a bad back it down more to fertlizer and ration bags than to mixing a few bits of concrete. yes over loading a barrow might be an issue but in general not shoveling concrete if you were used to it.

Yes ready mix is in general better than home mixing however it is all relative for bits of yards and floors home mixing is grand. It is for things like tanks ans slabs you need it right. Present standards for agri work are over the top. It down to lads skimping previously or contractors that wanted the concrete to be water so it would flow around shutters.


Seen tanks build 30 years ago with 25N concrete and they are still perfect. Have seen yards that were had mixed 30+ years ago and they are grand as well however some are sh!te as lads who did them did not put much concrete in. If you mixed it any good at 4 or 5/1 alot are still there and working OK.

onyerbikepat

Farmer Pudsey wrote: »

.... Present standards for agri work are over the top.....

Are they over the top? How many times have you heard stories of slatted tanks failing, walls falling, roofs coming down in storms. You have to have standards. Farmers can't be expected to be experts in every field. Leave that to the structrual engineers. A job done right will last twice as long as a shoddy job, and will cost a lot less in the long run.

Corkfarmer

I often mixed a bit by hand for jobs like the op's and for jobs like that I'd say mix away. The point I see about readymix is if you mix your own, for 25N concrete you need 12 bags of concrete which is about €60 and you can buy 35N readymix for €75+vat around here. So effectively the readymix is cheaper if you need more the minimum delivery.

Corkfarmer

onyerbikepat wrote: »

Are they over the top? How many times have you heard stories of slatted tanks failing, walls falling, roofs coming down in storms. You have to have standards. Farmers can't be expected to be experts in every field. Leave that to the structrual engineers. A job done right will last twice as long as a shoddy job, and will cost a lot less in the long run.

As a structural engineer and part-rime farmer I would nearly agree that the specs are a bit over the top, however they are put in place to cater for a multitude of different situations and conditions. We have all seen water added to mixes and god knows what else done so they have to cater for that aswel.

Farmer Pudsey

onyerbikepat wrote: »

Are they over the top? How many times have you heard stories of slatted tanks failing, walls falling, roofs coming down in storms. You have to have standards. Farmers can't be expected to be experts in every field. Leave that to the structrual engineers. A job done right will last twice as long as a shoddy job, and will cost a lot less in the long run.

Shoddy jobs are generally shoddy jobs. I have seen tanks that were build with blocks that are perfect still as well as ones that were build with 25N conc. Specs at present are over the top for what is needed in general. Stuff that collapses in general have not followed even minimum standards.

No farmers are not structural engineers however standards now far exceed standards twenty years ago not to mind 30-40 years ago. Yet loads of sheds and tanks build to those standards are functioning well. In general issue that arise with these sheds are single slats and structural steel rust. In general gang slats manufactured at present no matter the provider will last 50+ years IMO, if there was anything that I would advise above present standards it would be to galvanize the structural steel in the shed. It adds little to the overall cost.

freedominacup

Corkfarmer wrote: »

As a structural engineer and part-rime farmer I would nearly agree that the specs are a bit over the top, however they are put in place to cater for a multitude of different situations and conditions. We have all seen water added to mixes and god knows what else done so they have to cater for that aswel.

I don't think I ever saw a mix on site that didn't have water added, certainly outside of big civils sites.

keep going

No offence lads id have done while we're talking about it:-).big fan of readymix here and used to line up jobs when I ever was getting a load but last year I bought a big diesel miver that mixes . 2 plus of metre.great yoke because I found that when you doing a number of jobs the day the ready mix is there some of them aren't done 100% and it often turns into a hard day whereas when theres a little job to be done start me mixer and pull the loader up to it and job done in no time.biggest issue with mixing yourself is not enough time givento mixing, if yougive it time its as good as any ready mix.mixed a 80 by 40 slab for a cousin once in 3 days-I think it was 4 loads of gravel with a teagle tractor mixer, that definitely didnt get enough time!

J DEERE

keep going wrote: »

No offence lads id have done while we're talking about it:-).big fan of readymix here and used to line up jobs when I ever was getting a load but last year I bought a big diesel miver that mixes . 2 plus of metre.great yoke because I found that when you doing a number of jobs the day the ready mix is there some of them aren't done 100% and it often turns into a hard day whereas when theres a little job to be done start me mixer and pull the loader up to it and job done in no time.biggest issue with mixing yourself is not enough time givento mixing, if yougive it time its as good as any ready mix.mixed a 80 by 40 slab for a cousin once in 3 days-I think it was 4 loads of gravel with a teagle tractor mixer, that definitely didnt get enough time!

Poured cubicles and lane two with diesel mixer before. 60 shovels gravel and three bags cement used fill it. That was roughly 4 to 1. Surprising how much ya can do in a day with it providing you prepare properly

Greengrass1

J DEERE wrote: »

Poured cubicles and lane two with diesel mixer before. 60 shovels gravel and three bags cement used fill it. That was roughly 4 to 1. Surprising how much ya can do in a day with it providing you prepare properly

How much would a good mixer set you back?
I've loads if concrete work to do here but finding the money is the problem.
The river here is full of gravel have used it to make concrete before. Brilliant stuff, turns pink and is I'm possible to break and the way it is it's quite easy to leave a nice grippy finish on it