My slab

[jillanddavid1]

Well that was fun.

Slab needed for shed. Cement mixer, aggregate, sand, cement.

Break in weather! Set everything up. Start cement mixer, put one bucket of aggregate and one of sand. Cement mixer stalls. Call TP, they deliver a re placement.

Work Sat morning, Set everything up, cement mixer is nearly new. Arrgh no water (building and plumbing work being done) check all capped pipes, turn water on. Leak fron one push fit cap. Cut pipe, put on new pushfit cap. Tes t - OK. Start mixing - all going well. Check pipes again - all OK. Continue working. Pressure seems low in hose - rush inside - water through ceiling

- push fit cap leaking. Turn off water, get water in buckets from our renta l. Run out of cement, borrow bag from neighbour. Concrete still below top o f shuttering, smooth out as best as I can, go home. Neighbours a bit doubtf ul about my language and we haven't moved in yet

Now, my question after this tale of woe is: I am left with a raft that is a little uneven with a few bumps. I know I can pack it out with slate unde r the bearers, but if I wanted to get it level with the shuttering and love ly and smooth, what are my options? The first pour is now a day and a half old. Can I put another mix on top?? Can I use self levelling compound outs ide? Should I hide the bad work - under a shed for example?

All suggestions welcome

David

[F Murtz]

You should be able to put a topping layer of sand and cement if the layer is thick enough or even more concrete. Better if the surface of the first pour is rough.

[Tim Watts]

First, fire your plumber. Noone apart from Dribble (uk.d-i-y passim) should be able to bugger up a pushfit end cap.

You could screed it with an SBR modified sand cement screed which functions down to 10mm or so if bonded correctly and will be waterproof and extremely strong.

Read the PDF there ^^ but any make of SBR will do, it's all the same.

Basically, soak the concrete in diluted SBR.

Mix the screed as per PDF.

Mix a pot of cement/water/SBR slurry.

Paint slurry on as you apply screed (slurry needs to be wet as screed connects, don't let it dry).

Warning - it's a sticky nasty mix to work with - clean your tools and the mixer *immediately* and finish with plenty of running water and steel wool and do not walk it inside the house - once blobs set it ain't ever coming off. I still have a stainless mixing bowl with a layer of slurry bonded to the inside.

[jillanddavid1]

Thanks for the suggestions folks!

As for

Gosh, how terribly unhappy!

David

[Tim Watts]

I don't know who that was from, lest to say they were in my killfile...

[ARW]

Just pretend that it a lounge floor of a Taylor Wimpey new build and just cover it with cheap laminate flooring.

[Tim Watts]

Indeed. I've never seen a new build of any construction that actually had a flat stable floor!

[Roger Mills]

Only up-market houses have stables, anyway.

[Tim Watts]

In Kensington and Chelsea the house used to be the stables! (well, "mews" to you plebs ;-)

[charles]

That was the later use of mews. It use to be where the hunting birds (hawks) were kept.

[Mike Tomlinson]

En el artículo , Tim Watts escribió:

Woddles "waste of oxygen" Speed.

[Mike Tomlinson]

En el artículo , Tim Watts escribió:

crêche: a car accident in Kensington.

[News]

My house has stables, one of which is my shed, the other being walls only. Another long term project ...

[charles]

Morningside, surely?

[Dave Liquorice]

+1

Stop being such a pefectionist. If it was going to be the floor of the shed yes SBR screed or similar of suitable thickness but under the floor why bother?

Not quite sure why people put down a raft for a shed in the first place TBH. 12" sq paving stones bedded down and a few bricks to get clearance above ground level for each end of the joists and supported at 2' ish intervals (ie a intger division of the distance that ends up about 2') by similar is all that is needed.

Our shed floor joists actually rest on 4x4" treated fence posts resting directly on the ground. Been there for > 10 years.

[Muddymike]

I'd finish it off with a screed and not have a wooden floor. Raised wooden shed floors provide a perfect home for rodents.

Mike

[Chris French]

In message , Dave Liquorice writes

Yes, can't see the point if it is just to rest bearers on.

Quite, when I did the base for the shed in the old house, I bedded down half concrete block onto damp sand/cement and laid bearers across those. (I needed to level it anyway as it was on a bit of a slope and I wanted it off the ground as our clay soil could get very wet.

[Chris French]

In message , News writes

We have an old stable - though ;possibly it would count as an upmarket house - it is behind the garage which presumably was for the carriage - with an old hayloft above that.

Doesn't have a flat floor though, still cobbled and sloping into the middle for the drain

[News]

In message , Chris French writes

Our stables are a dilemma. The smaller one is fine, although the original slate roof is very tired. The larger one, without a roof, would make an ideal garage, but it is not quite wide enough for two cars side by side, and not quite long enough for two cars end to end. However, if one side wall and one end wall were each moved out about three feet, it would suddenly be a four car garage. Unfortunately, that would mean the smaller building would prevent access to the larger.

Oh well. More than enough to deal with in the house before worrying about sheds and garages.

[tabbypurr]

click on images.

NT