Concreting with Mixamate
Concrete is easy to use and versatile. Its strength, durability and relative cheapness make it the ideal material for drives, paths, garage and shed bases.
This website, brought to you by Mixamate Concrete gives useful tips and advice on how to lay concrete. It is not intended to cover large jobs that need expensive equipment and detailed knowledge but is aimed at the handyman who wants to lay a drive, path, garage base or foundation at home.
If you are considering a large job, such as building your own house, Mixamate will be pleased to give further information and advice.
Tools for the Job
Most homeowners will probably have most of the tools and materials required to lay ready mixed concrete, but it may help to check through the list below before you order.
We supply: • 2 wheelbarrows on each lorry
To ensure a good job is done you will need:
• Straight Edge - (for levelling)
• Rake - for moving concrete
• Shovels
• String - for setting out
• Tape measure
• Hammer and nails
• Float - for finishing surface
• Timber - for pegs, formwork and tamping beam
• Spirit level
• Wood saw
• Brush - for possible surface finish and cleaning up
A Good Job is Well Planned
Time spent in planning the job will be repaid many times during subsequent stages of the project. Start by sketching a plan to see how things will fit.
If you draw this to scale it will help you to calculate how much concrete you will need. Next set the job out on the ground. Use nails with pegs and string lines to ensure that things will finish as you intend them to. All levels should be measured from a known point if possible. Don't forget that any surface adjoining a building must be at least 150mm below the damp-proof course and should be laid to slope away from the building so that water drains away.
Levelling pegs, a spirit level on a piece of straight timber can be used over short distances, use a water level made from a clear plastic pipe filled with water. Provided the pipe is carefully filled and has no air locks, the water at each end of the pipe will be exactly level. Large areas of concrete should have a fall of about 1 in 40 so that water runs off adequately. Set the high side first, then the low side.
Preparation (Bases and Drives)
All concrete needs to have a solid base of adequate depth. Dig out the area to twice the required depth of concrete below the finished surface level. (For driveways or garage bases taking cars, the minimum thickness should be 100mm or 4").
Once dug, compact the soil in the base with a garden roller or similar, then place and compact a layer of crushed stone or hardcore, leaving sufficient space for the depth of concrete required. It is always advisable to place a layer of polythene between the stone base and the concrete prior to laying to prevent moisture from within the mix being absorbed by the dry hardcore beneath it.
Formwork
Set the formwork around the edge of the area and nail it solidly to firm pegs spaced at regular intervals along its length, ensuring that the pegs are on the outside of the boards.
Check that all levels and falls are correct, and that pegs do not project above the formwork. Measure the depth, width and length in metres and multiply these together to determine the volume of concrete in cubic metres that you need to order. I.e. 3m x 4m x .100 = 1.2 metres cubed. If you prefer to work in yards and inches, measure the width and length in yards and multiply together to give you the area in square yards.
If you need help in calculating the amount you need give Mixamate's helpful staff a ring and they will gladly work out how much concrete you need.
Ask us about our Mini Dumper service to aid replacement of your Concrete and Screed.
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