Pouring concrete stepping stones (salt finish)

the project today is to build some concrete pads that can be used as stepping stones to connect the existing back patio to the paver patio that i'm currently building there will be four concrete pads so i need to build four forms i have some leftover melamine from another concrete project and i'm going to use as much of that for the forms as possible because concrete doesn't stick to it the remainder of the forms will just be two by fours [Music] [Music] so [Music] as part of the overall patio build i rented a plate compactor and compacted all the dirt including where the concrete forms are going it's important that it be level from the existing patio over these steps onto the paver patio to accommodate for that i'm marking the form locations with paint and then digging out trenches to seat the forms down the right amounts [Music] [Music] next step was to add some steak so the forms wouldn't move make sure when you're doing that you put the stakes below the top of the form that's going to make it easier to screed the concrete later i'll be using rebar to reinforce the concrete so i measured it and i'm cutting it to the right lengths we're using plastic rebar support stands for the long pieces because the forms are buried a little bit the stands also need to be buried with the goal of putting the rebar about halfway down into the form and then for the cross pieces i'm just laying those on top and using twisty ties to hold them down the purpose of those ties is just to hold those crossbars so they don't move when you pour concrete they're not performing any structural function so here we have the forms leveled staked with the rebar supported and tied we're going to be mixed in 12 bags of regular old quikrete mixing concrete is a drag i don't have a concrete mixer i thought i could use a paddle but for a job this big a paddle mixer just isn't good enough after filling the form use a screed just a straight board to get it level with the form a sawing motion in particular really levels it out and then if there are low spots you can just shovel in more concrete and screed again [Music] [Music] i have very little experience finishing concrete and it is definitely a skill i think the hardest part is figuring out how long to let the concrete set first and that depends on the kind of concrete you're using and the temperature and humidity this first step i think i waited too long to start because it was pretty hard to work with we both jumped in traveling and retrialing and using a spray bottle of water to keep the surface a little more workable for the edge they make a trowel with a curve to it that you can run around your form in this first one as with the troweling i think i waited too long but in the other ones it was easier and you can see that using the edging tool leaves marks you have to go back and trowel those out the existing patio on the back of the house has what they call a salt finish they sprinkle rock salt on it while it's still wet and it sinks down to the concrete makes these little decorative divots so that's what i'm doing here sprinkling rock salt on and leave that overnight and hopefully get those same matching divots [Music] and here we are with the forms filled greeted trowelled edged and rock salted i waited 24 hours before taking the forms off and they actually came off quite cleanly [Music] the rock salt made some divots in the concrete but i should have put it in when it was more wet to have it match the patio better overall i'm pretty happy with how these turned out they do have some rough spots but given that they're stepping stones i think that's just an anti-slip feature i'll be filling in the gaps with stones as i finish the paper patio i hope to have that patio in that video done soon so please check it out

Channel: Project ReaDIY

Views: 220,286

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Id: Lz1x21sud68

Length: 7min 36sec (456 seconds)

Published: Thu Jun 02 2022