Labour Requirements for Strip Foundation

theexis

Hi,

I'm about to organise a concrete pumping company to fill a new strip foundation with 3m of concrete. I would guess the company do nothing more than operate the pump, so whats the minimum number of people I'd need on site to spread and tamp the concrete before its unworkable?

Cheers
Rob.

The Hill Billy

theexis:

What are the dimensions of the foundation?
3 cubic meters isn't a lot.
Two of you could probably rake it out & tamp it off.

De_man

as hill billy says what are the dimensions of the area? if you're doing
paths, large patio area you might need 3 or 4, don't forget you need 1
to make the tea:D

what work are you proposing to do?

ifah

3m of concrete is approx 60 wheel barrows - could you not get a couple of mates around for 1/2 hour to wheel it in - three barrows will do it in about 20 minutes (depending on how far to wheel it). Then just spread it afterwards and tamp it down - another 1/2 hour work. Should just cost you 1 slab of beer for the lads as opposed to 350 or so for the pump.
Make sure you have all your steel set before you get the concrete delivered.

CJhaughey

The more the merrier when dealing with concrete, but as a guide I recently poured a slab for a 6x5m shed it took 3m2 and three guys handled it easily, although 4 would have been even better.
make sure everything is ready to go, rakes, wellies, shovels etc and have it all standing by, concrete doesn't wait too long!

Carb

CJhaughey wrote:

The more the merrier when dealing with concrete, but as a guide I recently poured a slab for a 6x5m shed it took 3m2 and three guys handled it easily, although 4 would have been even better.
make sure everything is ready to go, rakes, wellies, shovels etc and have it all standing by, concrete doesn't wait too long!

For my house, it took three of us to put down a 4 inch finished floor before the timber frame arrived. As far as I can remember it took 13 cubic metres. We also had a two inch floor to put in upstairs recently. This took 5 cubic metres (tipped on the ground at 8 in the morning). 4 of us carried it in buckets (a human chain using scaffolding) while my father levelled it between the laths. We slept well that night.

Salmon

Carb,

What size is your house approx? Is it a 2 storey?

Carb

Salmon wrote:

Carb,

What size is your house approx? Is it a 2 storey?

Its 3000sqft two storey, so the is the area is roughly the same upstairs and downstairs.

As regards the original question, I'd suggest three people at least, as it will take two people to tamp the concrete, definitely one person with a rake and strips of steel will have to be put in the concrete also as the concrete is been pumped, so maybe a fourth person would be ideal. Although that is assuming that we're talking about a normal house foundation, ie, much more than 3m of concrete. Would a concrete pump even turn up for a job that size?

De_man

3m of concrete is approx 60 wheel barrows - could you not get a couple of mates around for 1/2 hour to wheel it in - three barrows will do it in about 20 minutes (depending on how far to wheel it). Then just spread it afterwards and tamp it down - another 1/2 hour work. Should just cost you 1 slab of beer for the lads as opposed to 350 or so for the pump.
Make sure you have all your steel set before you get the concrete delivered.


I thoroughly agree, would the concrete company deliver a pump for such a small amount of cement? i reckon dump the cement on a plastic sheet
and wheel barrow it in.

I reckon you're being done for the price of the concrete pump!! i'm in the wrong business!!!:rolleyes:

The hire of a conveyor truck should only cost you 50.00 per discharge hour
part hour on site:)


a pint of plain is yer only man

Do-more

Carb wrote:

For my house, it took three of us to put down a 4 inch finished floor before the timber frame arrived. As far as I can remember it took 13 cubic metres. We also had a two inch floor to put in upstairs recently. This took 5 cubic metres (tipped on the ground at 8 in the morning). 4 of us carried it in buckets (a human chain using scaffolding) while my father levelled it between the laths. We slept well that night.

Carb - Did you lay concrete on first floor of timber frame? Any special requirements?

BTW Used 3 guys with conveyor for my foundations 10m X 13m.....

Carb

Do-more wrote:

Carb - Did you lay concrete on first floor of timber frame? Any special requirements?

BTW Used 3 guys with conveyor for my foundations 10m X 13m.....

Once the timberframe company knew in advance, the first floor could be engineered to take the weight, ie more joists, and more timbers in load bearing walls.

Our digger was still on site for the foundations, so the concrete was dropped in using his bucket.

theexis

Thanks for the replies. To answer some of the questions:

- I'm building a workshop/shed in the garden - outer dimensions of the foundation are 4m x 7m, 600mm wide, 300mm deep.

- Wheelbarrow would be nice, but I have no direct access to the garden from the front apart from through the house: pumping over the side extension seemed the cleanest approach but yes, this is expensive.

- I've been quoted €450 for 3.5m "pumpmix" concrete from roadstone, and around 400 for pumping from concrete pumping ltd.

Any suggestions are welcome; naturally I'd like to keep the cost down if possible but would like to avoid wrecking the house with a concrete spill!