Buying ready-mix in Dublin in small quantity?

Hecklar

Hey,

I'm doing a bit of work at home with laying some new footings for a ground level suspended floor and I need a little under 1 cubic yard of concrete. I've been weighing up the option of just mixing myself or going with ready-mix though.

Just looking for recommendations of suppliers who'll deliver small quantities like this and what it costs on average? There's a thread on here about the same thing but it's years old and didn't wanna bump it.

Any tips appreciated, Cheers.

Calahonda52

the lads who come and mix on site are back in business after the recession
google Mini Mix Concrete

Hecklar

Thanks for that, I'll look them up.
I was kinda hoping to get maybe a bag of it dropped at the house rather than mixing onsite, as I'll be working it on my own and could be a while at it. I've never ordered concrete before so that might sound ridiculous, but can they deliver it in those large tonne bags, like sand/gravel etc?

Mantis Toboggan

If you have a car trailer the cheapest option would be to collect 2 ton of batched Agg and 8 bags of cement. Grab yourself a shovel

Metric Tensor

Concrete is wet and it flows - if you are ordering it ready-mixed it will come in the back of a ready mix lorry (inside a spinning drum) and will be discharged out a chute or onto a conveyor. (Or a pump too but you won't be using one of them). Usually the lorries have 6-8 cubic metres of concrete in them - and they'll empty it out pretty fast!

You can get a special dry-mix from some manufacturers but it behaves differently to what most people would know as concrete and it's usually used for levelling up or for bulking up hidden areas.

What do need the concrete for? If it's "non-structural" many garden centres sell a "pre-prepared" just add water concrete by the bag. It's expensive but if you're not confident in mixing yourself it might be a good idea.

Alternatively you can rent a small mixer - buy some bags of cement, sand (fine aggregate) and gravel (coarse aggregate) and give it a go yourself. It's not difficult and you can batch it to your own needs then so it won't be going-off on you. You'll be able to get the sand and gravel delivered in the bags you describe.

Metric Tensor

P.S. Sorry - I didn't see the part where you said what you needed it for.

If it is for footings (designed by an engineer?) then disregard all talk of garden centres and mixing it yourself as it will need to be to the grade specified by the engineer and the only simple way of ensuring that is to order it in that grade from the plant.

You'll just have to talk to them about small deliveries or find a use for the rest of it somewhere else.

N.B. - You'll need help - it will go off fast. You'll also need a poker vibrator.

Hecklar

Thanks for the tips guys.

I can mix concrete no probs but I was kinda hoping for the easier approach, as it's a pain in the arse in terms of added effort. I'll probably end up doing it this way though.

I'm building new footings to support a timber floor and have 3 x 3 meter trenches dug of 300mm width and approx 300mm deep.

The original floor was made up of 3x2's on concrete footings too, but I need to bring the overall level down to accommodate the larger 9x2's, as there wasn't much of an air gap below and I don't want to raise the floor level.

I'm doing it mostly after work too, hence why I was hoping I could get ready-mix dropped rather than have them pump it for me etc. You're probably right though, rent a mixer and get the finger out is probably my best option.

I got a price from Roadstone of €200 per cubic meter, which I thought was mental, am I way off?


PS. The floor is 6x3 meter and non load bearing in terms of any internal walls etc and the building is a bungalow.

Metric Tensor

Is that because you asked for 1 - 2 cubic metres?

Seems very high but maybe prices are gone up - haven't heard the price in a year or so + you are in Dublin.

Hecklar

Yeah I thought so too. A chap I used to work with suggested about 70 quid per cubic yard (He's old skool and likes imperial. ) so I was pretty surprised when they said 200 quid.

I didn't even mention how much I actually needed, he just gave me the per meter ^3 price.

Metric Tensor

Wow - it was 75 a cubic metre when I heard last year. (Not sure if it was ex or inc VAT)

But that was down the country and it was a big job - I think 20+ full trucks.

Dudda

Hecklar wrote: »

Yeah I thought so too. A chap I used to work with suggested about 70 quid per cubic yard (He's old skool and likes imperial. ) so I was pretty surprised when they said 200 quid.

I didn't even mention how much I actually needed, he just gave me the per meter ^3 price.

Last month I got a small batch of 2.25 cubic meters of C28/35 which cost €260 including transport although I'm less than 8km to the quarry and in the west of Ireland. That included a 'small batch charge'.

Mantis Toboggan

Hecklar wrote: »

Yeah I thought so too. A chap I used to work with suggested about 70 quid per cubic yard (He's old skool and likes imperial. ) so I was pretty surprised when they said 200 quid.

I didn't even mention how much I actually needed, he just gave me the per meter ^3 price.

Yeah most likely 100 euro for the concrete and 100 for the delivery.

The driver will be paid the same for delivering 1m as he will for 5 meters.

Hecklar

Ahh I see what you mean. It's probably not really a viable option at that kinda rate so I'll have to look into mixing myself.

Calahonda52

or else redesign the floor to use engineered I section timber joists spanning the 3 meters mounted on wall hangers, either directly on wall or on two trimmer beams fixed to the wall.

They would be much easier to use for insulating the floor also

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I-joist

Yes they will be dearer than conventional rough, warped, crooked 9 by 2's, but all in will be a much better job

I first used them 15 years ago and never use, or specify anything else since

Hecklar

Calahonda52 wrote: »

or else redesign the floor to use engineered I section timber joists spanning the 3 meters mounted on wall hangers, either directly on wall or on two trimmer beams fixed to the wall.

They would be much easier to use for insulating the floor also

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I-joist

Yes they will be dearer than conventional rough, warped, crooked 9 by 2's, but all in will be a much better job

I first used them 15 years ago and never use, or specify anything else since

See, In order for me to do that though, I'd have to dig away material anyway, so I figured I might as well just make footings if I'm doing it. I figured they'd be better in terms of isolating any flex or bounce in the floor if I did it the other way.

It's also quite an old house with soft brick and lime mortar so fixing can be an issue, as well as moisture for the wall plate.