Welcome to the Concrete Mix!
This section of the Mixamate website contains the latest mix on site concrete and screed industry news, as well as our own expert analysis and
opinion on upcoming developments as they happen. Here you will also find stories relating to recent jobs, wider construction stories, and the
important work we are doing in spearheading the UK's Batched on Site Association.
For hints and tips, F&Qs, and further information relating to the technical specifications of concrete and screed design, please visit the
Advantages over Ready Mix section of our website.
Stars of Stage & Screed
Last week Mixamate was called in to carry out work on a very tricky job on Piccadilly, the bustling high street in London’s Theatre District.
Going where other concrete and screed delivery companies fear to tread, our nimble Conqueror vehicle had no problems navigating the congested roads around the Piccadilly area and was able to provide pumped screed to three floors of a soon-to-be refurbished building on the street.
It was all courtesy of our new Screed Pumping Truck, which was launched onto London’s streets earlier this year and provides the delivery, mixing, and pumping of screed from a SINGLE vehicle. Pumping can be administered from up to 60 metres away, and with an extremely powerful on-board engine we were able to pump this upwards and into the first, third, and even sixth floors without the need for a separate screed pump.
And of course because with Mixamate you only pay for what you take, this also means no wastage!
Mark Saddington of Charter Screeding Ltd., subsidiary of Charter Building Services, highlighted the key advantages of our unique service:
“Our client wanted to go for a complete refurb in the building requiring screeded floors over which they could lay data cabling,” said Mark. “We knew instantly that this would be a logistical nightmare to administer the screed into the works location especially because the job was taking place across three floors on the first, third and sixth levels – so tackling the stairs or even the lift would have been a nightmare.”
“I’d been made aware of Mixamate’s level of service by a colleague of mine who had used Mixamate for a readymix screed job in Kent. I took a look at their website and was impressed by the varying services on offer, including conveyer belt, mini dumper, etc.”
“In particular, the new screed pumping truck looked ideal for us as it allows for the delivery of screed without a separate pump. I made some enquiries and went down to see it in action to see for myself if it worked at another job in Battersea. It looked exceptional there and did not disappoint when it came down to do the job for us in Piccadilly – there was no mess whatsoever, just a polythene sheet required on-site, and it was much faster and more straightforward than traditional methods. I have recommended Mixamate in the past and will continue to do so, especially having seen the new screed pumping truck in action.”
Mixamate’s work takes us to all sorts of weird and wonderful places and we were delighted to take on a supporting role in the Westend this month. The two key things that our customers like about our service is our high level of trusted customer services and our unique technical capabilities, which are unlike any other concrete and screed delivery service out there and allow us to deliver to the trickiest of spots without any fuss.
For more information please feel free to contact us directly, and for more stories and updates please follow @mixamat_e on twitter.
Free Home Energy Audits Provided by new Govt. Pilot Scheme
Here is an interesting bit of news that appears to be doing the London Concrete rounds this week!
The Waterloo Energy Academy has this month sent its first batch of Home Energy Assessors out into homes in the Waterloo area of London. A whole team of newly trained volunteers are visiting Waterloo residents this month to provide a free report on potential fuel savings and energy efficiency in the home.
The pilot scheme, which was run by the Waterloo Community Development Group and social enterprise, Sustainable Communities in in February with the help of Government funding, proved to be a huge success, with further Academies already having been run this month due to high demand.
The project sees 18-26yr olds benefiting from free training and certification in the growing energy & environmental sectors, and in turn creating value for the local community by way of actually going into people’s homes and assessing their current energy usage.
With sustainability becoming an increasingly important subject within the construction industry, not only from an environmental but also an economic point of view, we would expect to see more and more schemes like this coming into play.
Here at Mixamate, we firmly believe that the sustainable construction sectors have a huge part to play not only in environmental improvements but also in the future of the UK economy and it’s great to see this Government backed scheme helping young starters into the right industries.
Our unique mix-on-site concrete service can be seen as something of a ‘Concrete Milk Round’ as it enables u to deliver multiple batches of concrete and screed to multiple sites from a single truck, without returning to the silo over and over again to make multiple deliveries. This greatly cuts down our carbon footprint and again is something that we take very seriously.
With the invention of our new Screed Pumping Trucks, we are removing the need for additional lorries to be on the road by carrying screed pumps, as these new vehicles allow for the delivery, mixing and pumping of screed from a single vehicle.
We’re doing our bit, and it’s great to see the Government and the Waterloo Energy Academy doing theirs - for further details please join the Waterloo Energy Academy on Facebook and Twitter.
Mixamate Pumped to be Back at the University of Sussex
Mixamate has this month been working on-site at the Campus of the prestigious University of Sussex in Brighton, which is celebrating 50 years of excellence this year.
In conjunction with AM Construction Southern Ltd. – the official site contractor to the higher education institution and one of the South East’s leading civil engineering and building contractors – Mixamate have been delivering mix on site concrete to the site for a number of weeks.
Our handy service is particularly useful for smaller and medium sized jobs, since we are able to offer batching plant quality concrete in smaller deliveries of up to 12 metres of concrete per delivery.
It’s something our regular account customers will be familiar with, but the Mixamate Conqueror truck carries an actual mobile mixing plant around with it, providing a computerised breakdown of mix strength to deliver a level of consistency that volumetric concrete mixers simply cannot.
“We use Mixamate regularly and our on-going work with the University of Sussex is no exception,” said Anthony Martin, Director, AM Construction Southern Ltd. “Mixamate provide a reliable, efficient service and can guarantee the exact strength of materials we request. That is why we tend to stick with Mixamate even though other companies do provide mix on site services – the efficiency of their service cannot be beaten. I have recommended Mixamate many times in the past and will continue to do so in the future – it’s an excellent service.”
As a national company based in the South East, it’s great to be involved in projects in the local and surrounding areas for such institutions, and regular visitors to our blog may remember when we ‘hit a six’ for Bearwood College, Wokingham last year.
For more information on our unique mix on site concrete service please visit the services section of our website, and if you need screed you might like to check out our ground-breaking screed pumping truck – delivery, mixing, and pumping of screed from a single vehicle!
Screed Pumping in Brixton
Mixamate was last week called in to work on a very tricky job in the heart of Brixton, within a couple hundred feet of the train station. Despite the dense architecture this was a mammouth job: A new TK Max build across three stories and requiring 250+ tonnes of screed.
Because of the nature of the roads in this particularly Central area of South London, it would have been incredibly difficult for other concrete & screed providers to get onto site, but not for Mixamate!
Our unique screed pumping truck is capable of delivering, mixing and pumping screed from a SINGLE vehicle, making it extremely versatile in even the tightest of spaces and meaning that you don’t need to hire a separate screed pump anymore.
Over a four day morning period we worked tirelessly with Abacus Flooring to ensure that the screed was pumped into the building in the correct proportions to be worked on efficiently. Mixamate had worked with Abacus before on an almost as tricky job in the heart of the City at Liverpool street, where we assisted with the delivery of screed to the site of a brand new Starbucks, again using our unique screed pumping lorry. We were of course delighted to be asked back again by the same company, highlighting the success of the job we did first time around.
The Brixton screed pumping job was particularly difficult because it required the flooring company to obtain permission from the council to run the pipe across the street and consequently a ramp for cars to navigate their way over it. This was efficient and worked extremely well with our 60m screed pumping hose and we are happy to say that no car tyres were harmed in the making of the new TK Max flooring!
Our brand new screed pumping truck is proving very popular not only in those hard to reach areas where other providers dare not tread but also more generally because it negates the need for a separate pump which is of course extremely costly. It is so far only available in areas within the M25 but such has been the preliminary popularity of the truck that our engineers are now beginning to roll out more and we hope to apply the same technology to our concrete service very soon!
For more information on this unique service please visit the screed services section of our website.
Mix on Site Screed Delivered to New Starbucks Site
We are pleased to say that the work went without hitch (even the fox seemed completely un-phased by it all) and the all new screed pumping truck was perfect for this tight central London location. You can see more images of the truck in action on the gallery section of our website, as well as images specific to this particular shoot.
It was also an interesting day at the office because our friends from Jewson (who we do some work AND blogging with) turned up down the same road to attend another nearby job, which led to some swift manoeuvring from our quick thinking driver.
The new screed pumping truck is currently only available in and around London but we do also offer further screed pumping services in all the other territories we operate in so please get in contact with us about our screed services if you would like to know more.
Just before Christmas Mixamate was called into do a screed pumping job on a new site in Central London that is due to house an all new Starbucks coffee shop.
Being as we had just launched our new screed pumping truck it was the perfect opportunity to test out the new machine – which allows for the delivery, mixing and pumping of screed from a single vehicle and has been widely celebrated throughout the trade press.
You may have already seen our testimonial from Keith Tracy at Abacus Flooring, who first called in Mixamate to deliver the screed to the location. It must also be a very lucky spot for future coffee lovers as it was also this job on which we discovered a fox running around on site-not something you see on a building site every day!
Introducing Q Screed - Our Quick Drying Screed Additive
Mixamate’s brand new quick drying screed additive significantly decreases the drying time needed for screeding jobs.
A standard screed will on average dry at a rate of 1mm per day. So ifor example if your screed was placed at a depth of 75mm, it would require 75 days to fully complete the drying out process.
There is often confusion with screed between the time taken for the screed to set and the time it takes to dry out properly: these are two different things.
Generally screed will usually set within 36 hours of job completion, allowing other tradesmen working on-site to walk on the surface where necessary, although the surface should still be given as long as possible without being interfered with to give it the best possible chance of setting properly.
With the drying out process however, the time taken is significantly longer, and this can be particularly important when an expensive finish is due to be applied to the screed upon completion, as moisture will rise up during this drying out process and interfere with the top layer.
Mixamate can add quick drying screed additive to our composite mix to assist the drying of the screed and allow it to dry within just 7 days, which significantly reduces the drying out time and means that the floor can become usable within this time, rather than suffering from long waiting periods which of course incur additional costs/loss of income.
Please ask us about out new Q-Screed service, which can be mixed by our Screed trucks to match your specific requirements.
For further information please visit the screed section of our website – and for screders in and around the M25 don’t forget about our brand new Screed Pumping Truck: delivery, mixing, and pumping of screed from a single vehicle!
Fox Attracts Attention on Construction Site
Here is something you don’t see every day – a FOX attracting attention on a building site!
This brave little mite was recently filmed scurrying around a site in Central London, where our new Screed Pumping Truck had been called into work on a job being looked after by Abacus Flooring.
Luckily our marketing team were on-site doing some filming that day anyway, and consequently caught some great footage of the creature in action.
Initial curiosity seemed to turn to unease, and we are pleased to report that the fox eventually found its way off the site and towards freedom, having seemingly been caused very little distress along the way.
We have some exclusive footage coming from the shoot showing the new truck in action very soon, but in the meantime you will have to settle for our attempt at Attenborough!
New Screed Pumping Truck Receives On Site Acclaim
As regular visitors to our blog may know, our new all-in-one Screed Pumping Truck was launched last month to widespread press acclaim, some of which you can view here.
It’s fantastic to get this kind of endorsement from the industry press, but what is even better is when we receive positive feedback from the guys on-site that we actually supply this service to.
One such example comes this week from Keith Tracey of Abacus Flooring, who were recently working on a very exciting job in the City of London that only Mixamate could help on! Conditions were difficult for the delivery and administration of screed into a fairly tricky space, and our unique Screed Pumping Truck was called in to take care of the job!
The real advantage of this pioneering piece of industrial manufacture is that it allows for the delivery, mixing and pumping of screed from a single vehicle – meaning that you don’t need a separate screed pump anymore! As testified by Mr. Tracey below, this significantly reduces the labour and operation costs, time taken, and hassle associated with a traditional screed pumping job.
“We had an awkward job in the City of London where we needed to get 20 tons of screed in during a very short window,” said Tracey, Abacus Flooring. “We searched the Internet, found Mixamate, and discovered they can provide a lorry and mix the exact quantities on-site with no waste. They were also able to administer it via pump, which would have been quite an awkward job with quite a lot of labour otherwise. It seems to be a fantastic set-up.”
That is high praise indeed coming from Abacus flooring, who provide flooring solutions to some of the largest names in UK retail thoughout the UK. Further details of their work can be found on the company's website and for further information on Mixamate's brand new screed pumping truck please click here.
Lord Mayors Show Delays Screed Pump Delivery
Last weekend Mixamate was scheduled to deliver over 20tons of floor screed using our brand new Screed Pumping truck to a highly secret (but very central) City of London location.
The new store of a brand new well known coffee Global coffee chain is nearing completion and as the shop moves closer towards opening, floor screed is required to prepare the inside for the flooring.
Abacus Flooring (www.abacusfloors.com) found themselves with a dilemma of how to get 20 tons of high quality floor screed into the new store without having it dumped on the road outside the store. The days when you could just unload screed on to the public highway are now long gone: local authorities will no longer tolerate their roads, pavements and drains being blocked by building materials left on the road.
The Lord Mayors show clashed with the delivery of the screed to the new store, as the new shop is very close to the Guildhall where the show starts.
The City of London Police through a wide security cordon around the City which included the Store -- not even a vital delivery of screed to the store would melt their hearts and the delivery had to be aborted.
Coffee lovers will only have to wait an extra week for their fix as we successfully delivered the screed this weekend. Stay posted to our blog as exclusive footage of the new truck in action will be released over the coming weeks!
Concrete Calculator
One of the things that separates Mixamate’s unique Mix on Site service from standard volumetric concrete operators is the way we mix our concrete. Our pioneering Conqueror mixing trucks have developed a reputation in the industry in recent years as a ‘Concrete Plant on Wheels’, since they carry an on-board computerised 'Concrete Calculator' that ensures that every component that is added to the mix is electronically weighed before it is added.
So how does this work exactly?
Well, standard volumetric concrete mixing trucks can be seen to operate on a “guesstimate” basis – recording the number of times the belt revolves and using this as a proxy to determine the correct mixing proportion.
In the case of Mixamate, our on-board computers mathematically weigh every ingredient as it goes into the mix, guaranteeing exact proportions that are displayed on an easy to read printed ticket, so that you can rest easy in the knowledge that you are getting quality mix on site concrete concrete.
The Concrete Plant on Wheels effect allows us to ensure batching plant standard concrete quality within a mix onsite service, which is something that the volumetric operators simply cannot do. Additionally, this unique system of technical measurement gives us greater control over how much mixture we are able to pour, meaning that you only pay for what you take, no more, no less.
Further information on the Conqueror Truck can be found here, and if you can’t wait until the truck turns up on-site then we also have our very own Concrete Calculator here on the Mixamate website that allows you to work out the exact quantity and strength of mix you require.
Any other questions, as always, give us a call – it’s all part of the service!
