Has anyone poured a concrete driveway

[radioouman]

I am considering renting a concrete mixer and buying bags of Quikrete to add a driveway extension. Has anyone done his before?


Old thread opened after 12 years by new member with much attitude.
admin allisolm

 

[jcovercash]

How big of an extention? If its faily big it would most likely be cheaper to have a company come pour it, and you lay it/smooth it out yourself.

 

[Electric Amish]

Yeah, how big?

You'll have to be really quick with the mix/pour/finish if it's very big...

 

[DeadByDawn]

If it's a big area, and you want it to look good I would let a pro do it. Start small and work your way up imho

 

[radioouman]

It will be about 15 feet wide and about 21 feet long. I would probably have to divide that up and pour it "one small slab at a time".

 

[glen]

I think you will probably want to pay for a truck to come and pour a few yards of concrete onto an area you have prepared.

 

[skyking]

Draw it up for us. Do you have a 3/4 ton or larger pickup with a hitch available to you?
If so, the new batch trailers at the rental places are pretty cool. They now have a honda running an agitation system so the mud is not all settled out when you get it home. The same motor runs a dump cylinder.
A yard covers 81 square feet 4" thick, or about 87sq. ft. for the typical 3 5/8" 2x4 form.

A yard goes for around $90 in that trailer with rental, and additional yards are less. If it is 3 yards or less, the trailer is OK. Any more than that, and a 4 or 5 yard minimum delivery by a big truck is the better deal. They can take back whatever you don't use.
If you get a delivery, make sure to have them clean out the truck in a manner that you can dispose of. They have to clean some mud out on the ground, and wash out the chutes. I was not home for our flatwork pour, and one truck cleaned out into the bottom of a wire fence. I had to cut the fence to clean it up:|

 

[jcovercash]

Originally posted by: radioouman
It will be about 15 feet wide and about 21 feet long. I would probably have to divide that up and pour it "one small slab at a time".

I would get the ground leveled off, and have wood put up for the outer edge, and rebar if you plan on using it, then have a crew come out and pour it.... It will be better in the long run rather than pouring it yourself...... If it was a smaller area then I would say go for it, but that big I would call a crew.

 

[Gurck]

I'd definitely let a pro do it.

 

[skyking]

your job = 4 yards = truck.

 

[Armitage]

That's a 4 yard pour for a 4" slab - you're nuts if you think you're going to do it with bags of quikrete.
The batch trailers might be feasible if you pour it in sections, but why not just bring in a truck? Have some friends handy!

 

[drnickriviera]

I work that to be 94.5 cubic feet at 4" thick (3.5yds). I think it's 3 bags ber ft^3. So 300 bags of quickcrete. Going rate is somewhere around $2. $600.

I'd go with a truck and get 4yds. You are going to kill yourself using bags and it's going to look like sh*t.

We poured our own driveway last year. Somewhere around 20 yards. We poured it in 10X10 sections. Be sure to get lots of help. 4 men could do your job, but the more the merrier.

 

[Squisher]

Have you ever tried to finish a pour yourself? It's not as easy as the pros make it look. Getting out the bubbles and finishing are tough enough, now your throwing in mixing your own :roll:

How many bag mix? What kind of slump? Don't get a cold joint in this hot weather.

 

[MaxDepth]

Do not use quikcrete for the driveway.

How to measure a yard of concrete.

he form in which you buy concrete depends on the size and nature of your job. Concrete is normally measured in cubic yards. To determine how much you?ll need, figure the volume inside your forms in cubic feet and divide by 27 (the number of cubic feet in a cubic yard). For example, a 4-in.-thick slab that covers 90 sq. ft. takes up 30 cu. ft., or just over 1 cubic yard. Projects using up to about a cubic yard can be handled with a portable cement mixer that you can rent. The proportions of cement, sand, gravel and water can vary depending on the use of the concrete. For example, thin work?between 2 in. and 4 in. thick?will require more cement, whereas a higher-mass pour can afford to use more aggregate. An average 1:2:3 mix contains one part cement, two parts sand and three parts gravel. To make 1 cubic yard of concrete, you?d need seven 94-pound bags of cement, about 1/2 cubic yard of sand and just over 3/4 cubic yard of gravel. The amount of water you use depends on how wet the sand is. If it?s already moist, you?ll need about 4-1/2 gal. per bag of cement.

 

[Armitage]

Originally posted by: drnickriviera
I work that to be 94.5 cubic feet at 4" thick (3.5yds). I think it's 3 bags ber ft^3. So 300 bags of quickcrete. Going rate is somewhere around $2. $600.

I'd go with a truck and get 4yds. You are going to kill yourself using bags and it's going to look like sh*t.

We poured our own driveway last year. Somewhere around 20 yards. We poured it in 10X10 sections. Be sure to get lots of help. 4 men could do your job, but the more the merrier.

Quikrete Quantity Calculator

315 ft^2 = 177 80 lb bags (234 60 lb bags)
And of course you always want some extra - nothing worse then being short on a pour

Quikrete is for small jobs - setting fence posts, small steps & pads, etc. You don't have a small job here.

 

[rahvin]

Originally posted by: radioouman
It will be about 15 feet wide and about 21 feet long. I would probably have to divide that up and pour it "one small slab at a time".

Sackcrete is good if you have a small job but you will pay a forture to fill that area. You should be using a 6" depth on a driveway and given the dimensions you gave you need 5.83 cyd of mud. That's about 2/3 of a truckload (one truck is 9cyd). Not to mention if you use the sackcrete you aren't going to have any air entrainment and freeze thaw cycles will bust the mud to pieces. Call a couple Redi-mix plants and get prices, you should be around $70 a yard for cheap mud, make sure you tell them it's for a driveway and you want air in it.

One other thing, make sure and put a layer of 2" of crushed rock underneath whatever surface you pour, it helps drainage and will lengthen the life of the slab and is worth every dime it costs in materials and labor.

 

[Ausm]

You will never get it flat and it will look like shat...


Ausm

 

[Armitage]

Originally posted by: rahvin

Originally posted by: radioouman
It will be about 15 feet wide and about 21 feet long. I would probably have to divide that up and pour it "one small slab at a time".

Sackcrete is good if you have a small job but you will pay a forture to fill that area. You should be using a 6" depth on a driveway and given the dimensions you gave you need 5.83 cyd of mud. That's about 2/3 of a truckload (one truck is 9cyd). Not to mention if you use the sackcrete you aren't going to have any air entrainment and freeze thaw cycles will bust the mud to pieces. Call a couple Redi-mix plants and get prices, you should be around $70 a yard for cheap mud, make sure you tell them it's for a driveway and you want air in it.

Never heard of this?? What are you getting at here?

One other thing, make sure and put a layer of 2" of crushed rock underneath whatever surface you pour, it helps drainage and will lengthen the life of the slab and is worth every dime it costs in materials and labor.

 

[Vette73]

Originally posted by: Armitage

Originally posted by: rahvin

Originally posted by: radioouman
It will be about 15 feet wide and about 21 feet long. I would probably have to divide that up and pour it "one small slab at a time".

Sackcrete is good if you have a small job but you will pay a forture to fill that area. You should be using a 6" depth on a driveway and given the dimensions you gave you need 5.83 cyd of mud. That's about 2/3 of a truckload (one truck is 9cyd). Not to mention if you use the sackcrete you aren't going to have any air entrainment and freeze thaw cycles will bust the mud to pieces. Call a couple Redi-mix plants and get prices, you should be around $70 a yard for cheap mud, make sure you tell them it's for a driveway and you want air in it.

Never heard of this?? What are you getting at here?

One other thing, make sure and put a layer of 2" of crushed rock underneath whatever surface you pour, it helps drainage and will lengthen the life of the slab and is worth every dime it costs in materials and labor.

http://www.popularmechanics.com/home_im...t/how_it_works/1275111.html?page=2&c=y
"Air-entrained concrete has tiny bubbles to help prevent cracking."

"One problem with concrete is a tendency for freeze/thaw cycles to cause cracks. To help remedy this, air-entraining agents are added. These admixtures create a dispersion of very fine air bubbles that cushion the concrete against the effects of freezing water. "


Someone above posted this already

 

[91TTZ]

Just because pro's make it look easy doesn't mean it is easy.

 

[rahvin]

Originally posted by: Armitage
Never heard of this?? What are you getting at here?

I don't think it was ambiguous what I was getting at, if you are pouring a slab on grade for outdoor use it should have entrained air or the freeze thaw cycles will bust it all to hell in a few years. (Unless you live in florida or something where it never freezes)

 

[Armitage]

Originally posted by: Marlin1975

Originally posted by: Armitage

Originally posted by: rahvin

Originally posted by: radioouman
It will be about 15 feet wide and about 21 feet long. I would probably have to divide that up and pour it "one small slab at a time".

Sackcrete is good if you have a small job but you will pay a forture to fill that area. You should be using a 6" depth on a driveway and given the dimensions you gave you need 5.83 cyd of mud. That's about 2/3 of a truckload (one truck is 9cyd). Not to mention if you use the sackcrete you aren't going to have any air entrainment and freeze thaw cycles will bust the mud to pieces. Call a couple Redi-mix plants and get prices, you should be around $70 a yard for cheap mud, make sure you tell them it's for a driveway and you want air in it.

Never heard of this?? What are you getting at here?

One other thing, make sure and put a layer of 2" of crushed rock underneath whatever surface you pour, it helps drainage and will lengthen the life of the slab and is worth every dime it costs in materials and labor.

http://www.popularmechanics.com/home_im...t/how_it_works/1275111.html?page=2&c=y
"Air-entrained concrete has tiny bubbles to help prevent cracking."

"One problem with concrete is a tendency for freeze/thaw cycles to cause cracks. To help remedy this, air-entraining agents are added. These admixtures create a dispersion of very fine air bubbles that cushion the concrete against the effects of freezing water. "


Someone above posted this already

Cool - I've never heard of that.

 

[chowmein]

you ought to buy a bag of small rocks while you're at it. that way you should save a few buck on the mix. those black slabs that smells like crap is great for dividing.

 

[gsaldivar]

lol don't use Quickrete.

 

[rahvin]

Originally posted by: chowmein
you ought to buy a bag of small rocks while you're at it. that way you should save a few buck on the mix. those black slabs that smells like crap is great for dividing.

Why did you post this bs?

Something else that popped into my mind, make sure you put joints in the mud every 8-10 ft for the controled cracks that will form as a result of creep.