Dog Run

billie1b

Hi guys/gals,

Any idea how many 25kg bags of sand and cement I would need for a dog run that is 12 feet long, 4 feet wide and 3 inches deep. I already have a 2 inch foundation of solid gravel.

Thanks in advance for your help
Billie

shane6977

You will a need a 1:5 mix of cement / aggregate for a footpath. You will end up using a lot of sand for the area you are talking about, so I would recommend you use All-in-Aggregate instead, it’s normally sold by the tonne in a builders merchants and is a mix of 60% aggregate and 40% sand. You will probably need about 5no 25kg bags of cement and 2/3’s of a tonne of All-in-Aggregate.

You would normally put in a joint every 2m so I recommend you put one in midway with a filler strip of hardboard about 10mm wide and the same depth as your concrete, do the same at any junctions with existing paths.

Push/pull a timber beam across your formwork with a sawing motion to help compact the concrete and force any large pieces of aggregate below the surface.

If you want to edge your concrete, wait until the wet sheen has gone, test it by pressing your finger into the perimeter, the concrete is ready for finishing when pressing hard leaves about a 5mm indent in the concrete, you can then use your finishing tool to round off the edges to a smooth finish.

Hire a concrete mixer for the day as well, your arms and back will thank you for it!

billie1b

shane6977 wrote: »

You will a need a 1:5 mix of cement / aggregate for a footpath. You will end up using a lot of sand for the area you are talking about, so I would recommend you use All-in-Aggregate instead, it’s normally sold by the tonne in a builders merchants and is a mix of 60% aggregate and 40% sand. You will probably need about 5no 25kg bags of cement and 2/3’s of a tonne of All-in-Aggregate.

You would normally put in a joint every 2m so I recommend you put one in midway with a filler strip of hardboard about 10mm wide and the same depth as your concrete, do the same at any junctions with existing paths.

Push/pull a timber beam across your formwork with a sawing motion to help compact the concrete and force any large pieces of aggregate below the surface.

If you want to edge your concrete, wait until the wet sheen has gone, test it by pressing your finger into the perimeter, the concrete is ready for finishing when pressing hard leaves about a 5mm indent in the concrete, you can then use your finishing tool to round off the edges to a smooth finish.

Hire a concrete mixer for the day as well, your arms and back will thank you for it!

Thanks for the info and help, i'm heading to a builders providers today. Unfortunately it will be all manual labour, there is no access to my back garden except through the hall door and back garden door, so I cant get a mixer. I'm gonna buy a lot of deep heat though

shane6977

billie1b wrote: »

there is no access to my back garden except through the hall door and back garden door, so I cant get a mixer. I'm gonna buy a lot of deep heat though

You should be able to wheel a small mixer through your house they are normally only about 600mm wide, check with your local plant hire.