How To Make Pervious Concrete

this is pervious concrete it is durable strong and water can flow right through it this video will show you how to make it regular concrete uses rock and sand mixed with cement to form a hard and durable material pervious concrete omits the sand creating voids that water can pass through large installations of pervious concrete require special mix designs and equipment but it can be simple if pervious concrete is not available as a packaged product in your area you can make a basic mix yourself with three parts Rock one part cement powder and just enough water to hydrate the cement almost any rock will do round and angular rocks are both okay to use smaller rocks provide a smoother more aesthetically pleasing surface though the smaller the rock is the cleaner more angular and/or uniform in size it needs to be to maintain permeability we've developed a product called perc top that gives both a smooth and permeable concrete surface but in this video we will use for our rock 3/8 inch pee gravel you can find it at your local rockery or landscape supply store if the rock is wet it will require a little less water than if it is fully dried here we have our ingredients measured out three gallons of dry pea gravel one gallon of loose unpacked cement powder and one quart of water finding the correct amount of water to add is the trickiest part of making pervious concrete if you add too much water your concrete could end up impermeable if you add too little some rock could come loose from the surface of the concrete once it has set if you choose to use a different Rock as an aggregate you will likely need more or less water than we are using here don't get discouraged if it takes a few tries to get the right consistency make sure to document the amount of water you add this will allow you to make further batches without having to test the consistency every time and because the correct amount of water needed lies within a very narrow range we recommend mixing in the shade in the morning or on a cloudy day to keep the mix temperature cool this will minimize evaporation that can occur before you have a chance to place and finish the concrete ideal temperatures are above freezing but below 80 degrees Fahrenheit it's important to keep your ingredients in the shade out of the hot Sun make sure your water isn't too warm like water that has been sitting in a hose on a hot day when mixing the concrete you'll be working with cement so take the necessary precautions to mix your concrete add the rock and cement to a mixing tray then add the water if this is your first time making the mix start with less water than you think you need then add a little at a time until you achieve the correct consistency again make sure to keep track of how much water you use if you want to make further batches as you're mixing scrape the edges and base of the tray to ensure you get every bit of cement in every drop of water mixed in after the ingredients are thoroughly mixed squeeze a handful of the pervious concrete into a ball the ball should hold together and the cement paste should have a shine to it this is the correct amount of water in the mix you'll see that a lot of the paste will stick to your gloves the pervious concrete will be workable and we'll set up strong and permeable this mix doesn't have enough water in it the paste appears dull and the ball crumbles very little paste will stick to your gloves as well to fix this mix in a small amount of water and do the test again this mix has too much water it appears wet and your gloves get almost completely covered in paste too much water thins the paste and the concrete feels loose and slimy to fix this mix in more aggregates and cement here you can see how watery paste drains away from the rock and onto your gloves in a good mix with the correct amount of water the paste will stick to itself more and doesn't come off on your gloves as much here the three examples side-by-side not enough water is on the left too much is on the right and the correct amount is in the middle once you have achieved a good water to cement ratio for your pervious concrete you can make a larger batch to pour a path a solid base for a flagstone patio or even an entire driveway and now that you know how to make it check out our video on placing and finishing pervious concrete at pervious products we work exclusively with pervious concrete we develop special mixed designs for a wide variety of applications check out our website for more information and examples of the many things that can be done with pervious concrete pervious products com

Channel: Pervious Products

Views: 220,593

Rating: 4.9159074 out of 5

Keywords: pervious concrete, permeable concrete, porous concrete, how to make pervious concrete

Id: tDblkXphYlw

Length: 5min 19sec (319 seconds)

Published: Mon Jan 22 2018