How to mix small batches of concrete efficiently
kyrral
| Posted in Construction Techniques on
Is there any efficent way to mix smalll batches of concrete rather than buying the bags from Home Depot? A short load from a concrete truck wouldn’t be cost effective.
Replies
Easy peasy
Get a pile of sand, another of crushed stone, and a sack of portland cement. Portion out appropriate amounts, add water, and stir.
Refinements include: a bucket, an electric mixer, a shovel and/or hoe, a strong helper, and various admixtures.
The strong helper is the most important component.
I get 'reclaim' from the yard. It is washed concrete that comes back in trucks that could not dump the whole load on-site. It cannot be used for further truck mix use as it could go to a pmper, and can contain 'lumps'.
I use 12 shovelfuls of reclaim into the mixer, and 2 or portland out of 94# bags. About 1/2 the cost of buying the 80# bags normal price at big box.
The other thing I watch for is the 'broken sacks' at the big boxes, those usually sell for $1 each, good deal if you have a dry place to store a few till job site quantity found. I find 2-3 per week that way, as the Lowes near here is right on my way to other places so I often just drive past the loading area to look at what is broken.
As soon as you get to a yard or more, it is usually cheaper to get a truck, even with the delivery, unless you already have the aggregate on site and labor is free.
The break even point with sack mix may actually be less than that.
If at all possible, try to find a use for more concrete and split a load with someone else if you have to.
try to find a use for more concrete and split a load with someone else
great point.
my brother lived only 3 miles from a readymix plant - he had an arrangement with them that when they had 'leftovers' on a load they could 'dump it free' at his place. He had a great driveway by the time he was done for pennies on the dollar.
Likely only works if you are right near a ready mix plant.
When I lived in a new subdivision, I knew a guy who got a foundation for a sunroom poured by standing at the entrance to the subdivision and flagging down concrete trucks leaving. They'd have a quarter yard or a half yard and were more than happy to give it to him for a "tip".
When my wife was building houses I always had a spot or two formed up. She called me many times and asked if I was ready for a yard or two. I got a lot of concrete poured around here for free.
For the OP, I would suggest talking to the neighbors and seeing if anyone has a little patch they want .
If you are slow unloading you may end up paying a little extra but having a spot they can wash down the truck might blunt that a bit getting you back even. As long as you hose down the dump site right away you are only left with some sand and gravel.
I don't think you can beat Sakrete for small batches. It's cheap and easy to handle compared to truck loads of sand and gravel. I use 5 gallon buckets and a Milwaukee heavy duty drill with a mixing paddle. We put the buckets in a group, pour about 4 inches of water in each one and start dumping in the bag mix. You can walk the tops of the buckets mixing and adding mix or water as you go. I mixed and poured 41 buckets in about an hour once but I had a good helper.
I remember helping pour a concrete roof in Mexico. So many buckets of sand, so many buckets of "gravel" (really just coarse caliche), so many of water, and half a bag of cement, into a gasoline mixer. It took 4 strong men and a half-dozen of us not so strong to keep the process running at full speed.
(The roughly 8x12 roof had been "formed up" using no piece of wood longer than 4-feet, and reused nails.)