Poured A 55' Walkway And 5' X 9' With Broom Finish

nbishop

Hey all,

Had an 11:00 AM pour this morning, truck arrived on time with a load of 2 cubic meters of concrete. 28 MPA, Air Entrained, no other additives. I added WWR as well.

First of all it was a 55 foot walkway with a 5x9 patio at 3.5" concrete depth. In some spots it may be 4". I was expecting to have enough concrete (2.0m3) for that plus a front step and some small footings, but I was just short on completing the walkway and patio! Im wondering if my math is off or what.

Next, we were unable to completely finish the concrete before it completely hardened up. was pretty hot out today. we got the edges and broom finish done, but we waited to long to do the control joints. So we were unable to complete a few with the tool, we decided to cut them in.

All in all it went well, I am returning on an hourly basis to wet the concrete for curing. any ideas on finishing the cut in control joints and what went wrong in my concrete estimate

Chris Johnson

Easiest way to figure concrete in meters @ 4" thick...

Every 100 sq.ft. is 1 m3, it's not precise but so close it's not funny

I would do the math for you but you didn't give the width of the walkway

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Chris

raskolnikov

I'm not a big fan of concrete and usually defer to my concrete sub so as to keep me feet clean! When I am part of the mix I ALWAYS figure for more and am happy to eat the extra! I know my cliant would rather see a blob or two as opposed to a short load and a void! Just my take!

D.

nbishop

the walkway is 3' wide


Im still curious about the finishing portion of it. In what order would you do your edging, joints, and broom, and how long do you let the concrete set up for?
Another little detail, we poured the concrete with a slump of 3 1/2 inches

Any pros out there wanting to pick apart the details on this job are welcome. thanks.

nbishop

Yeh, I was actually expecting to have enough extra for the footings, then I was going to hand mix for the rest of the piers maybe 10 bags. I was quite surprised when I came about 1 ft3 short for the walkway alone. After this experience, I'll try a little harder to find a good sub to take care of the job, but the concrete guys out here charge a fortune, obviously for good reason.

nbishop

I obviously made a mistake in using 3 1/2 inches as the slab thickness, should have just used 4. I did spend extra time grading before the pour to ensure accuracy but there you have it. the extra 1/2" got me o well we ended with a nice construction joint and will have no problem adding the extra 5 sq ft of patio with the bagged stuff

raskolnikov

I'm not short changing your subs and their gig, it's just not my forte and I always defer to the pros! I can shave a 1\16 off a stone, I have a hard time playing concrete boy when it might play into that 1/16 I need to shave!

D.

Tom R

It's not as much your math that's off as that you're ordering too tight with no allowance. Sometimes more waste is less . . .

buckeyeso2

3 1/2" slump? I bet you fought that concrete. 4" is barely workable by hand.

We level our fill with a 2x4 and still figure 4"concrete depth and that usually comes out right. You said that some spots were 4", so if you only figured 3.5, how could you possibly have enough mud?

Do I understand you in saying that some of your control joints are center-creased and the other ones are going to be sawed? That's going to look rugged!!Hopefully this was not for a paying customer. We would be tearing out the walks if we did that around here.

tip--pour your concrete a little wetter next time. I got some valueable advice from a veteran concrete truck driver--he said" I don't care how strong your mix is--if you can't get it leveled off and finished nicely than you are wasting your time" I would sacrifice a little strength and add more water, and be able to at least work your concrete

neolitic

The walk and patio is a three yard load.
That's 2.3 meters.
It would be nuts to order less than 3cy.
It would be nuts for me to order 2.3 cubic
meters...at least the ready mix guy would
call me nuts!

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Brock

Sir you sound like a very nice chap. Would you be so kind to send a pic of the area that you added sack crete for your cold joint? Also, if it's not too big of an imposition, could you also send a photo of how the saw joints look in comparison to the troweld joints. I am just curious. Thank you so much.

Tscarborough

An 11:00 pour when it is hot is not a good idea. I do not think you had a 3-1/2" slump, and if you did, you should have added water to get 5 or even 6 inches of slump. The limiting factor on concrete placement is not usually filling the forms, it is finishing the concrete. You have to have enough manpower to finish it, that is, not place it. Estimating quantity you are better to throw away 20% rather than be short by 5.

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house bldr

your pour figures 2.56 yards at 4'' thick,not sure what that is in meters.I would recomend re-cutting the joints that were wet cut if you have to saw cut some anyway so they look somewhat alike,I would also tear out back to the last cut if you didn't set a form where you ran short for a finished edge.As far as the timing,edge when it is hard enough that you don't leave big ridge with the side of your edger,brooming depends on the texture you want, I like to wait until I can drag my broom without rolling up clods,some people like to go back and re-edge over the brooming to create a border, never cared for it myself just a matter of preference.

nbishop

Yeh I'll put up a few pics when I can.

nbishop

Obviously I'm not a pro when it comes to finishing concrete, I have no problem admitting that. And I did screw up the amount of concrete I needed but I think the end result will be satisfactory. as far as throwing away 20% instead of being 5% short, I'll agree with that!
It was difficult to schedule the pour due to weather, originally I wanted to pour a week earlier but it began to rain heavily in my area i didn't have tarps set up. luckily an hour before the truck was supposed to arrive i was able to reschedule (In hindsight I shoulda gona ahead and poured then.) There next time available was today, hottest day of the year apparently Just can't win. It was the concrete truck driver that recommended a slump of about 3 1/2. I wish we had gone higher. but it was actually quite workable for at least 30-40 minutes after the pour as far as the edging and what not was concerned.

nbishop

I do plan to tear out back to the last good joint if I'm unable to make it look good. Any ideas would be appreciated.
If i were to do this again i think I might do the edge, then the joints, then the broom finish...then a once over with the edger and jointer for the border look.

nbishop

I guess I could be nuts

neolitic

Or just green.

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nbishop

damn you caught me.

My arsenal of skills does not yet include ordering of, placing, and finishing concrete. But someday...someday.

I have done lots of forming tho, lol

Chris Johnson

How did you get a 3 1/2" slump off the chute? Let alone flat and trowelable?

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