I Made a BIG MISTAKE on my First DRY POUR CONCRETE SLAB Project - Is it a COMPLETE FAILURE?
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 13 พ.ค. 2023
- I Made a BIG MISTAKE on my First DRY POUR CONCRETE SLAB Project - Is it a COMPLETE FAILURE? - I'll show you a BIG MISTAKE I made on my first dry pour concrete slab pour. Hopefully this will help you with your first dry concrete slab project and prevent you from making this same mistake.
How I fixed the rough look of this dry pour concrete slab project:
My FIRST DRY POUR CONCRETE SLAB is a FAILURE so I DID THIS...
• My FIRST DRY POUR CONC...
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And thanks for this!
You're welcome, thanks for watching.
what i would do is wet the thing soaked it for a while then do the edges... also for texture a broom with fine bristles works wonders. you can also float the thing when the top is wet but the bottom is not dried yet. tapping the surface with a float will give bring up the more liquidy stuff and make a smooth surface (wich you can then broom then edge , with the edger dont put pressure too much otherwise it will make the peek you got and have to float it again.
Late for your project, but for future reference:
Rebar ProTip - It would be better to have the reinforcing bar at the perimeter of the slab (even better if you can bend it to 90 degrees and have the reinforcing continuous at the corners).
Qwikcrete
This is what TH-cam needs. Someone who tackles a job and is not afraid to show the mistakes they made so others can learn from it. Probably learned more (planning to do this myself) from your videos than from the experts. Good job!
I wish you the best with your project!
It can be a nightmare! If I don't know what I'm doing, I would hire a contractor and pay to get the job done professionally. I'm not the kind of person who think they know everything, and always right.
I know the feeling when say O Sxxx what did I do. But at least you gave it a good effort. How much weight did it hold?
@@slimdude2011I wish you could just hire a contractor and it would be done with highest quality for a reasonable price. Good luck ... one reason many have resorted to doing it themselves is they pay full price, job the so called professionals do is as bad or worse than what they do themselves.
Don't get me wrong, installing and finishing concrete us a skill. It's just hard to find someone willing to do small jobs at a reasonable price.
Lastly, jobs you do yourself that come out well, you will get a good feeling every time you look at it.
1000%, THIS is why the internet was created. That, and hot moms that live 6 miles from me.
Thanks for the video. As my old man used to say, "Any dumbass can learn from their own mistakes, a smart man learns from someone else's!"
I love how honest you are about your learning curve. Most channels make everything look so easy, but you know they edited out some mistakes.
If I can learn from my mistakes why not let others learn from them too.
We did a dry pour for a raised planter. Its difficult to get a good finish on dry powder and i think its more permeable than normal concrete. I wouldn't use it anywhere you can get a frost. I think getting a good finish can just be an afterthought. There are sand based skim coats that people use for decorative concrete that we could use to get a good finish, or even grinding and polishing or something like an acrilic paint like what is used on pool decks. Cracking is common with concrete slabs so control joints are used to give the cracks a place to form. I think the spacing standard in feet is 2.5x the the thickness in inches. So for a 4" slab its usually 10' max. For 1.5", it works out to 3' 9” max. There is also a standard for something long and skinny like a sidewalk, in which case i think the cuts need to be spaced no more than 1.5x the width. So for a 4' wide walk, the cuts should be spaced 6' or less apart. Personally, i wouldn't do concrete less than 3", even if its for just foot traffic.
Large areas of concrete are usually cut with a saw for a control joint
I am a 72 year old woman and I did a dry pour "all by myself" it was 10 x 12 and turned out awesome. I also followed the instructions from Cajun Country. I wish I could send a picture.
Excellent!
YES MAM I LIKE YOUR GUMSHUN AND WILLINGNESS My wife and I are in our mid 70's and still building top to bottem 53 years of marrage and still enjoy each others help and friendship... when we got maried we ment it..
I am a widow, just shy of 72, and I’m getting ready to pour a 3 x 4 slab at the bottom of my steps. I am also digging out a bank and laying rocks steps with wet. My late husband and I poured a lot of wet mixed concrete at my previous home, and I am anxious to try this dry pour. I’m glad to hear yours turned out well.
That is excellent. I always love to see comments of a elder woman or man doing a diy like this.. Now I know I can do this myself and I'm only "59". I wish you could send pics on youtube as well, I would've loved to see it.
The one mistake I see everyone doing for a dry-pour or wet-pour is...not enough water after the initial setting-up of the concrete. The best way to harden a slab is to cover it in an inch of water for a month. The concrete actually grows a microscopic crystalline, dendritic interlocking web that grows outward in all directions like roots as it sets up but it needs water for this to occur. You might consider covering that slab with elastomeric paint with sand mixed in. That'll cover imperfections, give you a nice non-slip surface and will look great.
That is definitely a consideration. Thanks for the info and tip!
I considered painting the dry pour i did yesterday, but im worried it might seal the concrete and cause it not to keep adsorbing water from rain and cause it to not cure as strong.
Water is Integra to concrete hardening. You didn't use it anywhere near enough. Also you should have used the float again once you had it soaked and you would have found the surface would have leveled out nice and smoothly. Also, it should have been kept damp for at least a week at that dept, put damp hessian over it and keep re wetting.
I would even after a month or two after its had lots of time to cure. Pressure spray it let it dry and spend a $100 on a coat of Apoxy resin but add a tiny bit of silica sand to give it a bit of grip. You can make it any color you want aswell. And in the end that Apoxy will protect it from chipping flaking wear and tear and should hold everything together for years and years. Apoxy is Beautiful aswell. And the price has drastically come down lots over the past 10 years for such a strong product. Cheers and good luck. I'm looking forward to trying a dry pour myself one day.
what you mean The best way to harden a slab is to cover it in an inch of water for a month ? how i cover with water ? just spray every 1h ?
The only people who never make mistakes are those who never do anything. It's part of the process, and now you know better for next time. Thanks for sharing your experience.
Yes! Thank you!
The reason for the pebble problem is not enough lateral (side to side) motion. You are pulling the screed forward instead of side to side. I just poured a large dry pour slab with much larger pebbles and it came out pretty smooth. You can also smooth it out with a long wooden float. I use a 3 footer and it works fine, especially in areas where my screed can't go. Hope this helps.
Thank you for the nice tips they help alot!
Wow, lightbulb!
Thank you for this important tidbit of info!
Also the 1 1/2" thick slab makes it a little more difficult.
@@JamesArvidsonHow so?
I'm curious how the thickness affects being able to smooth the top...
if the slab is 1 1/2” thick and your mix is using 1/2” aggregate then its only got room for 3 rocks to be on top of each other in the thickness of the slab! Ideally you want a little sand/ cement mix (cream) on top to cover the aggregate.
I give you a 10 for not giving up.
👋🤠👍
Dude, you and me are the same guy. I would have done it exactly like you, right down to "well I figured it would be ok". This is how real men do it, and it's just fine.
You know what they say, great minds think alike. LOL 👍
If this was my DIY, I would have broken it up and started over. I would have been too ashamed to share my mistake with other DIY folks. And no one would have learned from my mistake. With that being said, I truly appreciate your honesty and willingness to let others learn from your mistakes. This was extremely helpful as I’m about to embark on my own dry pour. Wish me luck.
I wish you good luck with your project!
how didn your dry poor go buddy? hopefully better then this guys
This video is underrated. It's great to see how to do complex jobs correctly but it's also just as important to see the mistakes other people make. Thank you for making this video we can learn from.
I appreciate that and thanks for stopping by.
"patting" then troweling the concrete surface with a finishing trowel after wetting will embed the aggregate and leave a smooth surface, let it set for 20-30 minutes, then lightly drag a push broom over it for a brushed, non-skid finish (then use your edging tool for a smooth border). don't forget to have your family put their initials and handprints in a corner.
TH-cam/internet needs more videos like this, that tells you what Not to do. Far more useful than videos where everything goes perfect the first time.
Great job admitting an error and helping others that are trying to tackle the same thing.
Thank you and thanks for stopping by.
If your not doing something you can't make any mistakes, that's what life is all about, learning from our mistakes.
Keep your head up, you did a wonderful job..
Kudo's 2 U..
I agree and thank you.
Mine turned out way better. I noticed one difference, that I didn't do as much pulling. I did a lot more small scree motions and even picking up the 2x4 slightly and patting the top. Those little pebbles are a problem though. It's fine for a little pad under the deck to store tools and walk on. Better than the mudhole it was before.
DIY Homestead Projects certainly is a community these days! I found the video to be extremely worthwhile. Thanks for sharing it!
Thanks for watching!
There are actually several concrete products that are made as an overlay that would make your slab look great. It’ll be an easy fix. Apply a concrete bonding agent 1st. 2nd, Mix the concrete overlay into a slurry and pour it onto your slab. I would recommend you put your forms around the perimeter again before doing the overlay. You could screed the overlay slurry mix and give it a broom finish after an hour or two.
Thank you for the info, I'm researching some of those solutions. When I decide what I'm going to do I'll post a video to share with you. I appreciate the tip!
@@DIYHomesteadProjectsDIYHP10 What Rene said is extremely doable. We used to fix scoured out spillways on dams like that. After a thorough pressure washing, we applied a bonding agent. Add some bonding agent+water to a feathering concrete mix. BRUSH some of the mix well into the bonding treated area (important not to just smear it on with a trowel). THEN you can trowel on and finish your feathering treatment. Sets and bonds hard enough to withstand water erosion on a concrete dam.
Excellent, thanks for the info!
A really cool trick that always works for me, is to add all the water first, and mix it really well, that way you can get a stronger slab every time.
I really appreciate the honesty and sharing your mistakes. My husband and I love doing projects on our own. We spend a ton of time researching before jumping in! This is such a great help really showing "the good, the bad and the ugly"....that's the reality of DIY! It's not all easy, perfect, cheap. I applaud your candor and took note of the "tips" you provided. Oh....and it wasn't complete failure...its called personal growth,failure is not trying:) Thanks again!!
You are so welcome! Here is a video showing what I did to give this dry pour a better look. I agree, it's not a loss I learned a lot in the process and it's still functional. th-cam.com/video/zjSK9tEIW6o/w-d-xo.html
Absolutely. Well said!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Others can learn from you so I can really appreciate it.
Honestly , I like it. It's much better than mud. Right? And it looks good. I think you did a great job on a project that almost anyone would never attempt. So your 1st try is not perfect. I bet your next project will be much better. But, as I said this slab is fine for a shed.
Congratulations!
John in San Antonio
Thank you!
Thank you!
thanks for the video. Seeing what doesn't work is often just as helpful as seeing what does work. Thinking your calculator came up short on bags because most calculators assume you're mixing with water which increases the volume a bag will fill. Dry pour will always use more bags because you are packing the form at a higher density (considerably higher concrete to water ratio).
That makes perfectly good sense. Thanks for the info, I appreciate it!
I appreciate how honest you were in the video, I think it looks like a great job. You could use a resurfacer OR get a bag of rapidset cement all and try to go over the areas where the Portland mix was used for a bit more strength but I think it looks good
Thank you and I appreciate the tips!
Michael Builds channel did use Cement All to patch up some areas and it looked good.
Good thing is that that the Cajun Country Livin' channel show you how to dry pour a new slab on top of an old slab... you just have to follow all of their directions...
I'm sorry but I 😂 when the dog walked across it
Wow, your video is totally relatable. I watch inspirational DIY videos, and then attempt to do the same myself. First time it doesn't turn out as good as I hoped, but I still feel like I'm better off after because I learned so much from the process by doing it myself. It's ok because we're not pros, we're just bros.
i found out if you dry pour the slab and left a few mm of space at the top you can come back and wet-pour some Rapid set mortar mix and finish it off the traditional way, wet. You get a better fit and finish. If that is the look you are looking for. So the dry pout method to build up and the mortar mix to finish. I do the mortar mix before I pull the boards off after a couple days of letting the dry pour cure. The Rapid Set doesn't need a bonding agent and the new dry pour isn't dirty so you can just go right over it. Just remember to wet the top before you pour the
mortar mix.
Thanks for the good information! I may give that a try. It makes perfectly good sense to me.
I appreciate you having the courage to put your mistake out there to let others know what not to do.
Another thing just my proven opinion, is I don't do a smooth finish on concrete. If I want to slip and be injured I go to an ice rink. I either finish with aggregate or broomed finish. Ty
Pretty much the reason you had the tough time with the pebbles is because you didn’t have enough concrete. When you are short on the amount, it don’t have enough powder to cover the voids. If you go back and look at the video, you will notice that the area where you ran out of bags it will show the most rock. It happens the same way with wet pours.
That's some good info and I think you may be right about that.
I forgot to mention… you don’t want to put a layer of a different product over cement, it won’t ever come out well. It is just better to have way too much cement and bring the extra back.
Good to know and thanks for the info!
Yep
on wet concrete usually you get a mag bull float / fresno to push aggregate down and bring up what they call the cream that why results will be diffrent dry pouring is not the way to go for slabs or foundations , now it might work if you were to premix in portland cement and then put it down or screen out the aggregate maybe add sand you might get a smoother dry pour but now it's just mortar at that point.
Thank you for showing us your trial and error. Appreciate your effort in trying to keep others from making the same mistakes.
One thing I found that helps with the pebbles is tapping after screadding, alout. Screadding brings the rock up, tapping brings the fluff cement up then use a paint roller and it looks great. Hope that helps.
Thanks for the tips!
I hope this isn't too crude but I thought about using a vibrator. Then I realized that might not have enough kick so a back massager might do better.
You did all right for a first timer, and now you know the Portland wasn’t a good choice for top , although if you mixed it in with a steel rake to increase volume it would’ve been ok ,but then a redo on the the screeding and leveling . And I agree it should have been at least 3 or 4 inches thick but it may be ok without heavy traffic on it ,and how your frost cycle is in the winter . Up here in upstate NY I have a 8 inch tapered ramp in front of my garage x 7 feet x 24 and sometimes it will lift a full inch where it meets the garage floor but it’s heavy enough to settle back after spring ,it’s happened 4 times in 11 years ,with no cracks . Not a fair comparison it was a wet pour with 4000 lb. mix , and was around this stuff for years . Good luck I hope she lasts for you . ( the 24 ft. wide ramp has 2 control joints that’s why the sections move without cracking elsewhere )….
IF you want it smooth you can do it now
Use 6000 PSI mortar mix over the top
After watching several videos on this topic doing research for my upcoming pour, I could see the mistakes as they were made. But it's very useful to see those mistakes to confirm or disprove your theories before taking on a project. I have 80 bags, (4,800LBS) of concrete on the side of my house waiting for this to happen, and failure would be far too costly to have to demo/haul away/start over.
Get a professional cement finishers. Save your back a ass whiping and your time. Believe me my friends.
GOOD LUCK
soak the ground 1st
then rebar and wire mesh
then spread dry concrete,, use a 6ft or 8 ft level as a screed,, start in the middle and work all around the perimeter
Seeing the goods and the bads of this process is great. Thank you for showing this even though it didn't turn out the way you wanted. I did a much smaller surface area for my first dry pour, but 4 inches deep (same number of bags of concrete as you needed), and had the same problem with the stone issue the first time I did it. It didn't matter what I did, I could not get it smooth. Without any research, I guess I lucked out and end ended up getting mortar mix instead of Portland (simply because I could get a small bag of mortar and couldn't get a small bag of Portland). That worked very well to make it smooth and the slab came out great. I'll also reinforce something that at least one other person said - use a lot of water....like more than recommended. I did three extra soakings and really soaked it the last 4 or 5 times. Realize that the Cajun folks live in Louisiana and I live in Wisconsin - both places where the soil is very wet most of the time and the concrete soaks water from the soil up into the concrete as you spray the top. It looks like you live somewhere it is dry, or at least the soil was very dry, and no water soaked up from the bottom. That is a huge benefit in this dry pour process. The compensation is using more water soakings...also I am absolutely no expert at all, but I think leave the forms on a lot longer than 24 hours. Everyone I have seen have edge problems with dry pour have taken off their forms the next day. I have now done several of these and have left the forms on for about a week (no reason other at first other than I didn't feel like taking them off, yet) and my edges are all good.
I think you are spot on and I'm confident my slab would have come out with a better appearance had I used mortar on the top. I do live in a high desert dry environment. I should have watered it more as you said. It's doing ok and I have decided to leave it "as is" to see what happens to it over a couple months or so. Depending on how that goes I'll decide what (if anything) to do about it then. I would go a little thicker if I were to do it again but I'm not convinced that you can't get a nice slab that's 1-1/2" thick if you have some experience with this process. Thanks for sharing your experience and information!
As for getting it smooth, going back and forth with the back side of a flat shovel seems to give a nice surface to work with before you pull it with a board. Seems to work the larger pieces into the cement while letting the smaller particles rise.
On one of his videos he used a sander on the forms that let all the pockets fall in by vibrating the form and re do the top. I'm getting ready to try something too. I'm a complete Newby also. But Press on regardless. Mine will be deep as the 2x4 on top of rock and I plan to reinforce the concrete.
TH-cam videos always make it look easy.
Interesting video.
For most codes, foottraffic-only slab on ground requires a minimum thickness of 89 mm (3.5 inches)@3000 psi compressive strength.
If you use rebar, at least 40 mm (1.6 inches) concrete cover is required over the rebar.
If you use straight portland, you have to account for the chemical reaction ratio: 1/7. So you need six to seven times the amount of water during curing. 48 hours minimum before form removal or any weight set on surface. IMO regardless the thickness, the commercial standard of seven days curing (covered with tarp or film, 2xdaily mist until pooled) would be the way to go.
If you really want a thin slab, consider ferrocement as an alternative.
Thanks for all the good info!
@@DIYHomesteadProjectsDIYHP10 Even for DIY's some cities require permits, inspected, and an inspector on site.
This may be doubling up but I want this response brought to the attention of you bothe:
Even for DIY's some cities require permits, project inspected, and an inspector on site.
Yes, these are great tips, and no one on these videos ever mention to use mortar for your final layer. I did the same thing. Poured concrete mix, screed and screed and screed and screed and screed lol and finally quit. It then rained after my first 3 waterings and left divots, mostly from not being able to screed all the rocks down. But if I would’ve known about the mortar portion, mine probably would’ve came out better too, but thanks for this great video and tips. 👍
I’m considering trying a recap of some sort on my slab. It’s all an experiment so I have no idea how it will turn out. If I do it I’ll post a video showing what I did good or bad then you can decide if it might work for you. Thanks for watching and posting your comment!
On the bright side, good exercise.
I love seeing videos like this the homeowner trying to save a buck and do it yourself really makes you appreciate the construction worker that’s put his time in to have a skill and whatever trade he’s doing blue colored man overwork, dirty hands underpaid blue colored man
America 🇺🇸 💪🏼🛠️
Just because there’s someone that made a TikTok video about it that doesn’t mean it’s the right way to do it just because you can don’t mean you should
I think it turned out great! Rarely does anyone’s first time doing something turn out how we envision. One of the best outcomes is the ability to learn. I call this a win!! Good job and I’m hoping my attempt comes out half as good as yours!
Thank you! I wish you the best with your project!
@@DIYHomesteadProjectsDIYHP10 Great job and video. Try and learn about the work and yourself.
I did however once hear the caveat, if at first you don't succeed, skydiving is not for you. ;-)
it is an outdoor entry slab. who care about the pebbles etc. great job
I appreciate your honesty, not many people are willing to do that.
As someone who doesn't have concrete experience either this is valuable content.
I'll be looking forward to a follow up video and possibly a redo of the project.
The best thing to have done when you ran short on the concrete mix, would have been to add another form inside of the original form, making the slab slightly smaller.
As for adding the plain powdered cement, it would have worked had you added sand to the portland cement in a 50/50 mixture.
Professional concrete crews sometimes dust the top of concrete slabs with a cement/sand mix.
Especially when attempting to dry up small amounts of water on the surface.
That mixture will also make a nice finish when worked into the concrete.
I would also highly recommend lowering the gravel around the entire shed below the siding.
It takes many years to master any trade. A true master of a trade would likely tell you that they never stop learning. It is through failure that we learn. Thankfully, there is a good lesson to be learned here. For situations like this, I would have advised you to make a miniature form with 1 bag of concrete. Of course, not all of your mistakes would have been discovered, but some of them would have revealed themselves. All that being said, concrete work is best done with a skilled team, good concrete, and ideal pouring conditions. Either way, you can bust that up easily enough and give it another go! Good luck and thanks for sharing. P.S. I have done similar with similar results.
Very admirable effort
So nice of you
Also the cracks is because you have to keep wetting it for the next few days. Get a longer screed next time. You need at least a foot ad a half hangung on either side of your form. That will give you the space for lateral screeding as opposed to only 4 inches of lateral movement as I can tell from your video.
Thanks for the tips, I appreciate it!
Maybe use Quikcrete Morter Mix instead of the Portland?
Thank you for this video! I'm doing a dry pour this year in my back garden and have been researching this subject, and I thought about using cement to top it with, so glad this video was recommended, I learned a lot from you! 👍🏼
This morning I did a dry pour over an existing small slab to extend it. I had some sakcrete laying around so I used that as the base and then topped it with quikcrete. In my opinion quikcrete has a finer powder finish than the other brand. I also finished it like it were a wet pour, I used a trowel and an edger to get a smooth finish and then put texture on it. I've never done any concrete work before, so I thought I'd start with this process vs the wet application. I did a 4 inch thick slab so there's another an inch on top of the existing 3 inch slab. I'll do the 8th soak in an hour. Hoping this works because I have lots of projects! Appreciate your video here .
Sounds like it should work pretty well to me. That’s a good idea using the two brands to your advantage! Thanks for sharing your idea!
you need to stick the second slab onto the existing slab, it's called keying in. It won't just bond together without a bonding agent, even water, neat cement powder, and broom into a slurry, then the 2 slabs will bond together.
Thanks so much for this video. I too had never done a dry pour before. I felt like such a loser as the top was pocked throughout and looked like the surface of the moon. After a couple of weeks I got the idea of adding a layer of fine mortar. I added shovelfuls at a time and gently brushed with a wide broom. It was a big improvement. I lightly misted it and only time will tell if that was successful. It’s far from perfect but I can live with it.
Thanks for sharing 👍
Well you tried something different and it didn't work out. But trying new things is how progress is made..
Cool dog.
I agree 100%
Loved your video. You are hummble man who shows his mistakes from lack of knowledge and then shares it for our own benefit. It's such a hard and backbreaking job. The outcome was not what you were hoping but I am certain most viewers appreciate your honesty and will come to your rescue for the final perfection.
Thanks for stopping by!
Sorry you had to learn so many lessons the hard way, but you have helped enlighten the rest of us with your video and tips on how to avoid problems. So thanks for that. On the bright side, your 15 year old buddy appreciated your hard work! Good job!
Glad it was helpful!
I wish I would have seen this video 3 days ago when I tried to use Portland cement to fill in those areas of pebbles. Most of my friends think the concrete looks fine but I’m very unhappy with it.
14 years ago, I got a concrete job. 400sqf of concrete, inexperienced, 2 helpers with cero experience. I calculate the amount of material, I needed over 200 bags, I use to have a small toyota truck, firt trip 25 bags , after a couple trips I decided to order material to be delivered. Did prep and the day to pour the concrete the mixer broke down, it was hot 🔥 and had to go to rental place and another one. By the time I got to job site concrete was hard. My helpers were exhausted. I had hard time. 😪
Years later I met a guy from Mexico he's a master on concrete. Now, piece of cake. 🎂
Looks pretty good for a first slab pour. The portland probably needs a lot longer cure time than you gave it as well, but obviously mortar would have been the better call.
I did a 2 by 4 foot, but thicker (about 3") and had the same experience. That was also with Sakrete High Strength. I screeded many passes and the surface got slightly better but never good. I had half a bag extra at my disposal so it wasn't due to lack of product. I'm reading that others say that Quikrete might have less rocks, and since my pour is so small I might start over and try that for comparison. Thank you for the video, it's very informational.
I agree with all that you said. I’d be curious to hear how it goes if you do it again using Quikrete. I wish you the best!
Methodical. Articulate. Humble.
Thank you for the share. You saved me $$ and time sir.
Glad it helped and thanks for stopping by.
Thanks for sharing the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly - about what NOT TO DO when it comes to a Dry Pour SLAB
Thank you for your honesty in doing this video. Subscribed. 👍
I appreciate that! Welcome!
Thanks for sharing. In others video, they keep mentioning more concrete to get the smooth surface. Motar top layer may look good on the surface literally but I think the durability is not there. Just something to consider beforehand.
I agree! I'm really curious as to the durability over time of the mortar top layer technique.
It's not bad it looks pretty good for first timer. Good Job!
Thanks, I appreciate that.
First off, great job. As a wet pour dyi guy with an electric 2 bag mixer, I decided not to have a heart attack trying to lift enough bags to complete my current barn pour. I am working on a large dry pour 30x30 slab in my barn. Cost to have company is lowest at 9k, but a dry pour by us (me/myself/I) are going to be at 3k and I can break it down into sections spreading the cost out. Looking at yours, I would say you have a possible success story if the ground doesn't freeze/move underneath. If all you end up with is a few hairline cracks after a year, then great. A fail is a slab that ends up looking like giant uneven puzzle pieces. All slabs crack, that's why we cut lines in them every few feet so the crack follows the cut. Well done.
Thank you!
Is it perfect? No, but its a pretty damned good job for your first time. Thanks for making this video. I would have made the same mistake!
Thank you!
Interesting. Well, it was a good learning experience, next time things will certainly be easier. Hopefully since you only expect foot traffic it will hold up....fingers crossed. Thanks for posting this despite not achieving the results you had desired as it's really helpful for learning !
Thanks Joe, hopefully it will help someone else if they decide to try one of these "dry pour concrete slabs". I'm looking into some possible "fix it" solutions that I may try in the future. Honestly I think it's going to serve it's purpose as is but we'll see how it performs over time.
Mistakes made, it's still going to work out well. Your learned about Portland and it's properties. After your scratch down, Paint and forget it. Lesson learned 😊
Appreciate your candor. Your experience and some of the comments will doubtlessly help others.
Thanks for stopping by.
Thank you for taking the time to show the do's and don'ts on this. Makes a great difference in how things don't go always to our plans!! 👍
You are quite welcome! I think it's good to show the failures too so others can learn from my mistakes. 👍
I'm considering doing something similar to this at the bottom of my new deck steps. I was thinking it would need to be 3 or 4 inches thick as well. Or i may go with 12 inch pavers. Thanks for the video
I wish you the best with your project and thanks for stopping by!
a brave man to show your mistakes, but it's great for us!!
I enjoyed your video. You made an honest attempt at a new idea. I just poured a 3×2 step and followed the manufacturers directions for the amount of water to add. My surface looks very similar to yours. I added 3.5 quarts per bag just like they said to. It has a rough surface because I didn't have amy cream on top to finish the top. I tried to do it the manufacturers way and you came up with your own way. I'm pretty sure the concrete guys that do this for a living have way wetter concrete to get those smooth finishes. Next time, I'm going to mix my dry concrete bags with a shovel load of portland cement and a swivel of sand.
For all the 'problems' you ran into, the final result is still good. I'd recommend using 2x4's instead of going for the 1.5 inch thickness for beginners, then working your way up into thinner projects. For a given size of the project, thickness becomes your margin of error. Over water and allow for days for this to set up before giving it any load. Also buy a few more bags than you think you'll need. After the initial screed boarding you'll see rocks and that means add more concrete. I like to add it by the large scoop once it looks like you're close so you can minimize over spill, but if you're not worried about ten bucks of concrete just overfill from the start and shop vac it up.
It's really not that bad at all.
Thank you :)
Thanks for your honest assessment. It's pretty simple though. Concrete is meant to be mixed. Dry applications will not hold up, and a disaster in the North with freeze and thaw. With a mixer attached to a drill and a 5 gal. bucket, it's not that hard to do a section a day if you don't want to work hard. Also, use rebar or whatever you can.... cut up old wire shirt hangers and "make them long"... Do small sections at a time with the "wire" or bars sticking out so the next days' work can adhere to yesterdays work, and wet the old section before adding the new work. In the north,, put a few inches of sand and gravel underneath, tamped down level, for freeze and thaw.
Thank you for your honesty!
Always!
Aww, bummer that you had such a rough time, but thanks so much for sharing your project. I've been watching all the dry pours since Cajun Country Livin's, and I think this one is the first I've seen that shows things that could go wrong. I also really appreciate the tips in the comments for how to remedy it. I'm looking at my own projects soon. We're all in this together!
I wish you the best with your project and thanks for stopping by!
As a retired pool builder I highly recommend NOT doing dry pour.
It’s not really easier or quicker and it’s just stupid to think that you can dump out a bag and everything will be thoroughly mixed together for uniform strength.
Here is response from quickrete after I emailed them about this nonsense
Thank you for reaching out to us! We are aware of at least one video on-line, published by a source other than QUIKRETE®, which demonstrates QUIKRETE Concrete Mix being used in a manner inconsistent with our directions which will lead to a degradation in quality of the final product. Additionally, failure to follow package directions voids the product warranty. While we understand the desire to develop other methods that may seem to make use of our product easier or faster, our directions are developed after extensive testing to generate the highest quality results possible. In the video, QUIKRETE® Concrete Mix is poured dry for a small slab, then misted multiple times with water after the dry material has been placed. No QUIKRETE® concrete product is intended to be used for slabs without blending it with clean water prior to placing. Again, thank you for contacting us and do not hesitate to reach out with additional questions!
@Oldcrow77 - Experimentation is how some of the best things in life are discovered.
@@DIYHomesteadProjectsDIYHP10 next time you see a concrete worker eating lunch or at the hardware store or if you see them at a job site. Ask them.
Funny all these people that don’t know squat about concrete would rather take there advise from a couple in their backyard than concrete workers. Many have chimed in, and not one has said it’s a good idea.
But hey, I understand you’ve made up your mind and don’t want to be confused by facts
Good luck with your projects
I give you an A+ for trying. Although it doesn't look bad, I'm a firm believer that enough failures eventually lead to success...😏
Thanks! Yes the more you fail the better you will become. (eventually LOL)
Thanks for the honesty! I just ordered 50 90lbs bags of Quikrete to try to make my first concrete project... A 40' X 5' slab to fill in the walk way on the side of the house. I'm planning to make it in ~2.5' x 2' stone sections. Sprinkling pure cement on top to make the surface smooth did come to mind! Thanks for getting that out of my head! Would have never lived it down from my brother (contractor) who's trying to talk me out of doing a dry pour in the first place.
I wish you the best!
Thank you so much for sharing this!
You are so welcome!
That seems like a lot more work than just mixing and pouring concrete the way it was designed to be done. Good job on showing mistakes and such. You don’t often get that on TH-cam. It always has to be “perfect”
Interesting, thanks
Thanks for watching
Being as thin as it is, at least it will be easy to remove if you decide to remove it. On the other hand, my concern with a slab that thin is that there should be more control joints because such a thin slab is more prone to cracking. That said, there is nothing wrong with experimenting and learning from experience when it's something that belongs to you.
I agree, thanks for stopping by.
This is just what we need. Going to attempt a smaller version this week, but it will have quarry tiles on top eventually. Your job looks pretty good to me though!
Sounds great!
I'm all for trying new things. That being said, I'm also sure concrete manufacturers have tested every conceivable way of using their products. One would think that following the directions on the package, is probably best.
I think I have seen someone use mortar mix on the top layer, and it worked very well.
My two cents:
First, THANK YOU for being so honest and showing what does not work... Kudos...
2nd, obsoletely right... Mortar mix would have saved the day instead of portland alone...
3rd, SackCrete brand is not a good choice. It seems (as you can see when you dump it out of the bags) their mix is made from "graded" materials that is portland, sand sized aggregate and larger 1/2 to 3/8 aggregate mixed... other brands (quickcrete) seems to be made of portland and 3/8 - minus meaning all sizes smaller than 3/8 are present... not only when you mix it in a wheel barrow or using this method, it creams up or is easy to see is has much more substance.
4th, absolutely right, any defect or bow in the skreed board is then passed into the top surface.. also laying flat allows it to bow up easily in the center, so also not proper... but it seems to bring up the fines, so maybe a 2nd pass after leveling...
and lastly... you can always pressure wash the surface to blow out any weak or soft spots and then use a Resurfacer products to top coat and improve the finish... even brooming it on will give a good result... mixes in a 5 gallon bucket to a loose "batter" consistency and pour and spread... but that could be your next video...
Thank you for this honest and very helpful video. I learned a lot
My pleasure, thanks for stopping by!
Don't beat yourself up mate! It was your first time doing something that you had never done before. What you ended up with was better than a kick up the arse and it is serving a purpose.
THANK YOU for sharing your mistakes! Usually posters hide errors and show perfect results and, when copied, it’s a disaster. How refreshing to watch a great video showing step by step with comments on errors so your viewers are spared making mistakes on their dry pours! You’re awesome!
Thanks for stopping by!
Admired your honesty.
Thanks for taking the time to create this video.
I appreciate your humility.
I admire you. 👍❤️
I appreciate that!
Thanks for sharing your experience with the dry pour method , including your mistakes.
You are welcome, thanks for watching.
Ty so much for sharing 😊
Thanks for watching!
This video is fantastic. Thank you for showing your mistakes to teach us, i find it even more helpful sometimes.
Glad it was helpful!
I'm so glad you covered the mistake regarding adding the Portland mix sans aggregate to fill in the gaps as that is exactly something I would have done if faced with the same issue. Thanks for sharing!
Glad it was helpful!
I finish concrete for a living so this peaked my interest. This is a very cool little hack, depending on what you are using it for. Air conditioner pad, kennel, etc. Please do not do this anywhere other than your own home. You will certainly be getting sued or at the very least called back to replace it after 1 winter. Especially at 1.5 inches. That may work for a countertop, but not anything exposed to any kind of temp change. Thanks for sharing this with us. You learned something valuable no matter what.
Thank you for putting this out there😊!
My pleasure!
Thank you for the video. I did a dry pour based on the Cajun Country video having never done concrete before. There are probably some steps off camera that made the results better. However using just Portland doesn't seem to be a good idea since it lacks a binding component.
A four-inch slab with some rods and netting will make a ton of difference. 1 and a half slab with just one single rod will crack whenever you had to bring in a big load like a refrigerator on a two-wheeler trolley or something else that is heavy. Your learning curve is way above normal as your mind was continuously analyzing and processing the input data and verifying the results and modifying your methods. You even implemented using the smaller side of the 11 feet long level. People who are willing to make mistakes are the fastest learners. I would suggest writing down the mistakes and corrective steps but then you have the whole video to watch again. 👍💯
Thank you 😀