DIY Laying a Concrete Slab

in this DIY I'm going to show you how to lay a concrete slab now I'm gonna be doing a 1 meter by 1 meter square concrete slab here are some of the tools that you need and everything that's here is suitable for any sized slab obviously you just have to adjust the quantities here are some of the tools that you're going to need I'm gonna make a wooden framework to mark out exactly where I want my concrete slab and hold it all together I'm gonna make use of some paint to mark out the area so I can excavate their ground accordingly I'm gonna put down some crushed stone beforehand to act as drainage I'm then gonna put down a thin layer of concrete mix followed by a steel reinforcement balls on top and then followed by another layer of concrete mix on top I'm gonna make use of a hammer pigs and a spirit level just to make sure I've got everything perfectly level and I'm gonna finish it off with a wooden float to give me that smooth finish once you've cleaned the area out is now time to actually make that square box frame I've gone with a 1 meter by 1 meter I'm gonna make the box frame put it down mark around the edges and then I'm gonna excavate that ground out and then put my box frame inside that's my box frame done I've got a 1 meter by 1 meter at the square concrete slab I'm gonna put that down this is where I want it I'm now gonna make use of some spray paint all the way around the outside edges then I can mark exactly where I need to dig out execrate that so I'll take it out make it level put my frame back in and put the frame back in probably about halfway so it still sticks out of the ground as well I've got my marked outline I know exactly where to dig I'm gonna dig down around about 40 to 50 mils so that my step is sticking out of the ground about about 50 mils and below the ground 40 or 50 moles as well I've dug my hole I'm gonna put the box frame in now to line that up into position now it's important to make sure your box room is square the easy way to do that it's just to measure from diagonal to diagonal and make sure you have the same measurement if not you can just adjust it slightly to make sure that there are the same once it's in position I'm then going to put some pegs in on the side and then I'm gonna level this box for him to make sure that I have got it exactly level you'll see by my box frame I've used a 94 millimeter timber and that's gonna be the depth of my slab I'm gonna bring it all the way up to the top edge obviously depending on the Oh stab you are going to adjust the thickness of your stab or so depending on its usage now you can see that my level is slightly off so I can just lift my box trim up and you can see it's moving up against that stake and when I've got into position I'm just gonna fasten that screw all the way in and that will hold that box frame level gonna do that on all the sides as you can see I've got a steel lattice inside here I've made it out of standards mild steel rebar and I've bound it together with some binding wire the reason why I've got it in here is axes are reinforcement within the concrete to stop that concrete slab from cracking but it's not gonna go in at the bottom remember I went to put the crush stone and first pack it down then I'm gonna put in one layer of concrete and then I put the steel reinforcing on top with concrete on top so the steel reinforcing will actually sit in the middle of the concrete I've mixed up my concrete slurry mix it's quite wet to make sure it fills up all the cavities in my box frame let's get started remember when you're laying your snap don't forget to stop halfway to make sure that you actually put in your reinforcing bars line them up into position and give them a good shake or a tap of the Spade just to make sure they bed themselves neatly into the concrete and any cavities or voids or moved out the way once you've got your rebar securely in place it's now time to put some more concrete over the top and then pack it down firmly once you've got your box frame filled in with your concrete mix take a straight edge across the top from edge to edge and just shake it along to make sure you getting a level surface and you're filling in all those cavities and those voids as you're leveling the concrete slab it's a good idea just to tap the sides of the box using a hammer that way it just releases any trapped air bubbles along the side that allows them to come to the top whilst the concrete fills in the void the concrete slab is laid I can wait 48 hours before I move the wooden framework but I need to wait a full 2 weeks for that concrete to cure before I put a new load onto the slab whilst the concrete slab is curing to protect it from any rain damage you can cover it with a plastic sheet this also helps retain the moisture and stop that concrete from cracking my concrete slab is finally cured it's set for 2 weeks now I left it for the full 2 weeks with the framework on the side just so that I don't end up damaging those edges all I have to do now is remove the framework I'm going to unscrew the pigs and then break the box frame apart and that should hopefully expose my concrete slab my concrete slab is now complete I'm just going to backfill with some loose soil up against the edge of the concrete if you found this DIY simple and useful like it share it you can also subscribe to our Channel

Channel: BuildersSA

Views: 1,902,379

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Id: CVOsf1Ksyh4

Length: 5min 5sec (305 seconds)

Published: Thu Dec 21 2017