Readymix or handmix

bazwaldo

I need to build a step. Total volume works out at about one third of a metre cubed.

Anyone recommend a readymix company that delivery that little? And a rough cost?

Or if I mix it by hand/shovel, how many bags of cement & gravel would I need?

RKQ

bazwaldo wrote: »

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Or if I mix it by hand/shovel, how many bags of cement & gravel would I need?

The answers in the question - definately mix that small amount by hand - mixer or 2 at most! No worth even ringing a Conc. company IMO.
Heavy loading on half loads, don't know what it would be for a "fraction".:)

You would have it mixed by the time you rang the company & they delivered it! Mix it - no waiting for delivery!

bazwaldo

Yeah, I was leaning towards doing the mixing myself. You mention a mixer. On samhire they are €30/day. Would it be worth it? I still don't know how many bags of cement&gravel to get? 4 cement & 12 gravel? 25Kg bags. The builders mercharts would be best to ask I guess. Also, Would I be better getting the gravel loose? My local builders merchants delivers for free.

RKQ

This might help http://www.pavingexpert.com/calcall.htm 6:1 aggregate / cement mix.

Mixer for €30 per day isn't bad - will save the back if doing a good amount.

Buy sand and gravel by tonne if possible as its cheaper than bags at about €45 - 55 per tonne delivered.

bazwaldo

Using .35metres cubed it worked out
112 cement
221 sand
410 gravel
105 water

which I think would be

5 bags cement
1/4 tonne sand
1/2 tonne gravel

Sounds like a need a mixer:eek:

reilig

bazwaldo wrote: »

I need to build a step. Total volume works out at about one third of a metre cubed.

Anyone recommend a readymix company that delivery that little? And a rough cost?

Or if I mix it by hand/shovel, how many bags of cement & gravel would I need?

As a rough guide, there's approximately 250kg of cement in a Cubic Metre of concrete. That's ten bags.

Estimating that you need 1/3 of a metre, you will need 3 to 4 bags of cement and 10 to 15 bags of gravel.

I wouldn't bother hiring out the mixer. Mix it about 4 to 1. Spill out 4 bags of gravel on the ground, throw one bag on top of it. Use a shovel to turn the stuff over 3 times. Make a hole in the centre and add water. Continue to turn it over and add water until the concrete is wet and you will have a good strong mix. A half an hour will mix the whole lot, and save you the cost of hiring the mixer.

bazwaldo

When put like that it sounds reasonable. Saves the hassle of collecting and dropping the mixer off too. Half an hour might be a bit ambitious though. Maybe you mean per mix (Spill out bags, mix dry, mix wet, shovel into box made for step), so that would be 30x4. 2 hours. Sounds more like it. Cheers

reilig

bazwaldo wrote: »

When put like that it sounds reasonable. Saves the hassle of collecting and dropping the mixer off too. Half an hour might be a bit ambitious though. Maybe you mean per mix (Spill out bags, mix dry, mix wet, shovel into box made for step), so that would be 30x4. 2 hours. Sounds more like it. Cheers

Ah now come on

In the 1940's and 50's my grandfather worked building mass concrete houses (blocks were not mass produced at this time). Three of them could mix a ton of cement with gravel in the day - and shovel it into the shutters which often involved pulling buckets of concrete up a scaffold using a rope.

You'll easily mix a bag of cement with 4 or 5 bags of gravel in 10 minutes

Best of luck with it anyway. Mix it good and strong and put a few reinforcing bars into it to hold it together.

bazwaldo

Speaking of bars, do I need to drill anything into house where the step is going to ensure no movement. Fair enough its a step (2 steps actually) so it won't have to much weight on it, but I wouldn't want a crack developing where house meets steps.

10 mins! I'll spend that long just leaning on the shovel

10-10-20

I mixed a 20kg bag recently and I was fecked after 15 mins, and I'm not auld or a smoker!
Get the mixer for that load.

bazwaldo

About 5 years ago I mixed about 5 bags of gravel worth and swore I'd get a mixer the next time. Then a year or so after that, I needed to mix a bit more than that so I did get the mixer and it was great.

reilig makes it sound like a doddle but going on my history of mixing, its not. Its bloody hard. Mixer is back on the cards me thinks.

jambo73

hi all, find out is there any ready mix plants near you that you can collect pre mixed concrete from them , if you have a car & trailer you could pick it up. 1/3 of a meter would weight about 500kg's so it would be no bother collecting it and should cost about €30, also if your looking for what mix to use get 30n10 with extra sand, you will have to take it semi-dry as wet concrete would slop all over the place, you can wet it up when you get it home........ cover it after you have it in place to stop the frost from cracking it ....... have fun