Simplest Way to Mix and Pour a Concrete Slab

hey guys Jeff here in today's video we are talking about how to pour a concrete slab now we're not doing a shed or we're not doing anything massive what we are doing is we're adding on to the front porch area of the house I call it porch but it's really just the entrance way we got to do the concrete first though so what I did is I ran down the store I got all my materials I picked up a six pound bag of 4 000 psi concrete and this concrete at two to three inches it gets what is labeled okay the bag itself is good for one and a half square feet per bag if you pour four inches thick so keep that in mind when you're framing up your concrete area how many bags it takes it takes a lot more than you think I'm doing about 15 square feet but I'm only going to go two to three inches so I got eight bags I should be fine with that I've also got this great little gray bin here I'm going to use that to mix my concrete I grabbed a garden hoe because I'm in down here in Florida I don't have any tools so I got to buy every tool I need I grabbed some Expansion Joints for me okay because I'm pouring my new slab up against old parts of the driveway I got some Stakes that I bought and I got a magnesium float and I got an edging tool to round off my Edge okay I also bought aluminum flashing and I'll tell you why I am not doing a traditional slap it's not a square I could use two by fours and then I could do that and make life simple what I'm going to do is I'm going to extend my Landing here down here gonna do a nice soft curve into this bam okay no Square edges I'm going to clean all this out I'm going to stake it I'm going to put in my aluminum frame then I'm going to mix my concrete put it in here smooth it shape it finish it so that way I can have remove all these Garden edges clean them up and reinstate them with cleaned out here we're going to put in some plants and some mulch we're going to have this curve nice and soft right around to the front so when you drive up to this house everything looks very intentional it's very soft there's no hard curves and when you get out of your car you'll be able to actually walk to the front door without going through the dirt won't that be nice what a huge Improvement I need garbage bags today because well I'm not going to get a bin out here quite yet I'm going to order up the bin in about two weeks for the rest of the demolition on the front of the house remember a lot of times bins nowadays you pay for the volume and the time it's there so you got to be careful it's not like the good old days where they just drop a bin off and come get it in a month nowadays they want to come get it about a week or so later and then they start charging you per day to get the bin on site so you got to manage that I've got my concrete I've got all my tools this is all 160 bucks probably 15 of the garbage bags all right and I already own the shovel and the hammer and the knife take that out of the equation so it's basically a 200 project okay we're gonna just jump into this right now because I've got to excavate my area not just for the slab but for the area where I'm putting the stakes okay so we're going to make it a little bit bigger we're going to take off the top couple of inches let's just get at it there's not a whole lot to say it's just a whole lot of Blood Sweat and Tears now for everybody who lives in a place where they have Clay eat your heart out this is Florida guys the land of sand this is like that's the easiest digit I've ever done in my entire life are you kidding me and in order to get down past Organics I don't have to go very far here we go as soon as I hit that sand only I'm out of Organics wow I'm looking at two inches maybe that's just fantastic let's just see yep that's in the way now if you're not in Florida Organics are an issue in a project like this you really want to get rid of anything that has roots because free soft Cycles happen and it'll lift your concrete it'll crack it so get down to just clay or just sand or whatever other non-organic material you've got [Music] you're working in make sure that you've got room for what you want plus your barrier plus your Stakes plus room to maneuver right like don't make this difficult even if it's hard digging it's worth it to make sure that everything else goes smoothly it's like any other project preparation is usually 70 to 80 of the work and the execution is easy part okay so square that off make the landing nice and big so that you can get out of your car and avoid the hand row with your holding groceries soft curved towards the driveway and then back out again nice small s-curve I want this to kind of mimic where it finishes off for the driveway so my garden can have a nice soft curve all the way out now the only other thing I got to do move enough sand out of the way at the joint because I want to put in my expansion joint this is key all right that is a looks like a actual three and a half inch we want to put this in not at the height of the slab a little bit lower okay so we just want to trench that out it's important this may not be a Four Season climate but we'd get more than just a beautiful warm we get really hot days as well down here and that means expansion the things are going to be moving best to make sure that you've built in Expansion Joints so they don't get destroyed did I mention we're right next to an airport [Music] yeah this cut this Cuts real easy now you can see here the last slab they obviously had it framed and the concrete got underneath can't use my expansion joint in that environment [Music] better [Music] all right let's try that now all right I'm going to set this up so that it's setting about a half an inch beneath the concrete all right [Music] yeah that's step one dig the hole get your Expansion Joints in there next step is we're going to throw in our steaks I'm lucky this particular store I went to the Home Depot down here sells these cute little steaks how awesome is that so I can actually set them up as often as I need to in order to set up my perimeter so we're going to get our hammer out and First Take we're gonna go right off the corner here we're going to use a lot of them because the sand doesn't hold a lot of strength now my plan to create my Edge like that and I'm just going to drive my stakes and make my Edge perfect here all right so what I'm going to use is a just a pre-drill some silver screws nice and simple just wood screws guys because the stakes are kind of thin and we're going to just reach down free drill we put in our drill bit and throw in our set screw that's we're going to use to hold all that in place then when we're done we'll just be able to rip it all out of the ground opening a problem because of the wind and because of the nature of how long this flashing is I'm making an adjustment to my curve to meet my material so we're gonna redo a few of these Stakes better represents the actual curve I drill all my holes above where my concrete is going to go that way I can at least undo the screws after it's set up now the reason I'm doing this is two parts one you've always seen the wooden frames you see how they grab a 2x4 and they'll they'll level off their surface and all that kind of jazz truth of it is it's never really all that necessary what I need is to create an actual perfect curve and so what I did is I went to the building store and I found materials that were already on the market design to solve this problem and I'm choosing to build with those instead of trying to frame a curve with wood here we go this is starting to look like it's going to work now I am not a concrete expert just for full disclosure in case you haven't figured it out yet but I am a big firm believer in a diyer can solve any problem just by going to local store and two parts Blood Sweat and Tears and one Parts be creative that stick was just there to keep it from blowing over in this high wind I really could use some knee pads over here this Florida grass is not very forgiving ah like kneeling in sand which really is exactly what you're doing all right and then we got the last one at the edge here we're going to just try to drive that in as nice and tight as we can get a good finish so there's our form pretty rookie but it's gonna work remember the goal is just make sure that the concrete is confined to a space while you're finishing the surface and edging it that's all it is whatever you have to do to make that work you know make it happen [Applause] there we go guys in my experience whether it's cement or a thin set place the bag cut a sucker in half all right pick up the ends and it empties out all by itself okay the cleanest way to work with that done now the instructions call for about two and a half quarts per bag of water which is almost exactly identical to two and a half liters if you're in Canada watching this instruction which is about 30 seconds of city water pressure in most scenarios make a bit of a volcano and off we go to the races that's 20 seconds we're going to start there because I'm nervous water pressure isn't the same everywhere I'm going to use the hoe and just drag it through drag and push mix it nice and slow when you get started basically all that rock got to mix with the Portland cement that's in the bag and the sand and right there you can see I am going to be shy of water probably closer to 30 seconds but by doing it and breaking it up into segments here this little bucket which is more designed for Mortar than concrete it gives me ability to control this mixture and if I can mix it really nice without having too much water that just means it sets up quicker and that's not a big problem yeah but at this point it's obvious this is just way too dry I'm gonna go five more seconds important to count this out make a formula that works for you sounds like Armageddon in the background doesn't it now I know a lot of you guys you know you've been out there you've tried mixing this in a wheelbarrow before I've done this in a little mini mixers one bag at a time can I just be really honest here this is working amazing this is not hard work this little bin is giving me a really good result not making much of a mess at all I obviously added a little bit too much water here I'm also on a hill so all the water wants to run towards you which is actually turning up for my benefit because I can get a really good consistent mix here well I think it's a little wet but at the end of the day it doesn't matter it's going to be on the bottom part we'll just take this and pour it right in here [Music] typical you know I went to the store and I was thinking you know what I'll put a nice soft curve on it it'll look nicer and then I wanted to go oh and extended I've never had that square footage up properly I'm definitely out I was doing originally a 3x4 which would have been 12 square feet now if you take a look at this you know let me just resist the pointing stick this would be like a four foot Mark right here I haven't taken much off that corner so I've got another 4x3 cut in half basically six I need another four bags of concrete good news is this stuff doesn't set up that fast I can actually wash my hands go to the store and get four more come back and keep on mixing it hasn't set up too much so we're going to get a cold joint and on my ears the one thing I've hated is going to return concrete to the store it's heavy enough as it is the first time and these bags don't seem to hold together very well so if you've moved them more than once you almost always open up on you and they won't return open bags of concrete just a quick note this is the first time I've ever mixed concrete on a hill this little bit of a slope makes this so much easier I mean the consistency in this mix is incredible considering because it's always flowing in the direction towards me I'm loving this I'm ever using this outside again I'm going to throw a couple of two by fours under the one Edge and create that slope because that uh that's a game changer all right that's all I got for now but before I go to the hardware store I'm going to comb this out a little bit and give it a quick travel just to make sure that I got the right idea as far as in my head what I need for space or for material here that's why I love having the hoe because you can pull it and push it [Music] some magnesium flu okay it's designed to make things smooth this is just a preliminary [Music] early on in the process because I'm really just to reduce eliminate it actually for limit the temptation to try and make it perfect cement has got a long time you can play with it unless you buy like a really quick set product I'm just doing this to get an idea and how much product I need to fill the hole so I do need to do about a three by four foot I'm gonna get the full four bags because I'm on a hill life is easy I'm always gonna have rain running away Okay so even if I have extra material I can incorporate it into the slab and still have good drainage so I'm not worried about it good news for me Home Depot is only three minutes away so I'll be back in 10 minutes no different than if I poured two more bags of cement so one quick note here one of the biggest challenges I got facing here is because I need that expansion joint check this out I also need to manage it I'm flush at one end but over here I'm not now I gotta fight with this thing I need to lift this flush and I'm on my concrete flush for this too right so look at what I've got to do with here I need another inch here if I don't you run the risk of it being a tripping hazard and anytime you're in construction tripping hazards are frowned upon so now this is the time to do this before everything is too set up get everything nice and tall right where you want it okay and then we can pull this back again just the just the top okay grab our float now we're going to have a finished concrete surface that's the same size as the next step to it okay and that is the goal that we're looking for right there before I make any more I'm going to try to pull as much as I can this way and finish off as much as my my first coat on this slab as I can and I see I'm already going to run into problems getting that the height that I want unless I cut it [Music] where the other expansion joint is so you can follow the different slope [Music] okay I'm much happier about that okay let's get a little material over here now all right guys we're trying to do here is make this as smooth the transition as possible so the way we use the float and it's a lot like drywall Start From the Rough and work towards the smooth okay work towards the Finish area and really we're just looking for some continuity and when I'm just traveling I'm just moving material and it Smooths out a little bit okay but the way that the magbees operates is this vibration settles all of the smoother particles of the top so if I just travel I get sort of smooth but if I vibrate I get a real smooth mixture at the top all right and right now all I'm doing is just trying to make sure that the material is in the right place not worried about how smooth it is making sure that when it's done it has a doesn't have dips and valleys and aggressive angles okay make sure that I'm making the right amount of material like right here is a bit of a dip so to fix that I'm actually gonna push material up here [Music] okay keep in mindful of the height that I need at this Edge [Music] my uphill up hill uphill uphill right and then I'm gonna if I break down and you can use a two by four and screed it as well once you've vibrated it down when you travel look how smooth that Surface starts to get and that is really the goal make the Surface smooth as long as there's big rocks on them you can't do it so vibrate and trowel here we go that gets us 90 of the way there and as it sets up it'll start to act more and more and more like a thick paste like like drywall compound and you can actually start to really travel and smooth it for now I'm happy with that that gives you an idea of what we're going through rule number one when you're working on concrete clean your tools before you worry about your concrete when you're done mixing concrete's not setting up that fast but your driveway will sure get stained in a hurry separate in the sand from it with a lot of water even if you got some dirt left in your driveway that should pretty much take care of any long-term problem you're going to have I really should have my knee pads on it I was smart it's going to vibrate that into that corner there okay [Music] so I'm doing here is I'm kind of taking material from the left side here bring it to the right side because I'm more concerned about this this lip here making sure that it's not gonna be a trip hazard okay there we go this is not going to be walked on as much as just having a soft curve helps to create the aesthetic That I Want from my garden [Music] [Music] okay now that's good now I know you can see lines right that's okay I'm not done I'm not walking away and wait until tomorrow we're going to give this about a half an hour to let it set up let some of the water settle in I'm going to come back and smooth travel again with a clean magnesium float and then we've also got the edger tool we're going to show you how to do that next okay so we're going to use our edger now and you can see the profile and it just curves the idea is you get a soft curve on your concrete finish so that the edges don't tend to break off or in contact or harsh weather or whatever the house might happen we're just going to clean the top of our expansion joint we're going to slide that right in next to it okay and we're going to go in an angle here just to prepare the location and the secret room here is really simple you want to lift the front edge as you're pulling seat it and then lift this Edge in the direction you're heading okay that's it really is all we're trying to do we're not trying to do anything too miraculous here we're just separating curved from edging making that part real super smooth by doing this [Music] like I said it gives you this great little detail and if there's too much material in the way that's where the Magnesium floats for now we can come back and start floating all this in and this is just a combination of both tools working on unison okay I should mention if your concrete pad that you're working on is larger than four by eight consider putting an expansion joint to make sure that it has good performance long term snow plow okay that's it we're just going to keep on playing in the mud until we get a finished surface that looks like what we want now you'll see over here it's starting to firm up a little bit I'm just going to steal some moisture so that I can manipulate that surface only a little one step left is when it does get this smooth and this firm and not dry give it about 30 minutes or more and you can come back with room and just gently pull it across and give it some texture okay that'll help provide you some anti-slip Factor on your concrete you can actually finish it too much and make it very slippery when it rains so for us we're finishing this by painting the entire concrete surface again we're going to use a two-part epoxy and we're going to throw in a little bit of sand as well for non-slip and that'll give us a great result so I'm not quite as concerned about how perfect this is as long as I get rid of my ridges like I said the more this sets up the more this tool makes everything melt together so you're going to be just fine yep you guessed it we're edging everything okay here we go [Music] when you see something you don't like throw a little extra cement there wiggle it in this is an amazing material because you can patch and repair as you go on the Fly remember just keep on pulling everything uphill [Music] anything you don't like just greet it there we go okay you know when you get it just perfect show one more little line in there with that detail get that edge on there once you're happy this little Edge right here that just makes it look so sexy that's just my own opinion all right [Applause] [Music] it's really hard to do this kind of slow but [Music] [Applause] [Music]

Channel: Home RenoVision DIY

Views: 467,067

Keywords: homerenovision, renovision, jeff thorman, homerenovisiondiy, pour concrete pad, how to pour a slab, pour a concrete slab, concrete slab, concrete, how to pour concrete, how to pour a concrete slab, how to pour a concrete shed slab, diy concrete, build a shed slab, concrete skills, concrete mix, do it yourself, dry concrete, finishing concrete, concrete mixing, diy concrete slab

Id: z-vGkb-VCdk

Length: 26min 35sec (1595 seconds)

Published: Sat Jun 10 2023