Did you ever try laying concrete? If so, how did it go? A question that concerns me is whether one can sledge out a few cubic feet of concrete, and just replace that. If so, I might have a go at it.
Bill
------------------------------------------------------------------ "Bill" wrote:
------------------------------------------------------------------- Was going to expand a slab patio by adding 12-14 ft x 18-20 ft slab.
Stripped off all the sod, set the forms, and added foundry sand available at the right price from the local FoMoCo foundry.
Set the forms along with the black spacer strips for expansion.
Starting getting prices for concrete and something kept telling me to talk to a concrete contractor before I jumped into this project.
My daughter who was in the 1st grade at the time had just fallen in love for the first time with a classmate who was the son of a concrete contractor.
I called the contractor, explained my situation, and asked if he would at least look at the job.
He looked, was impressed with the form work and agreed to do the job.
On the appointed day, his crew showed up, complete with a gasoline powered concrete buggy to bring the concrete from the truck at the street to the project area.
Suddenly a roll of wire mesh appeared and was placed inside the forms.
The 2nd thing I hadn't thought about, damn I was luck I listened to my little voice.
The project went well. It could have been a disaster.
Went on to add a slanted shed roof off the house and have some wrought iron columns fabricated and had many years of enjoyment.
Up to that point, had limited my concrete work to many small jobs using bags of concrete from the local K-Mmart.
Your project would seem to fit into the K-Mart category.
Knock out enough concrete to get a smooth surface to butt up against and you are in business.
Lew
Thank you Lew! I enjoyed your story.
Bill
might not be meaningful but then again it might be i have seen a lot of people claiming to be expert in lots of different endeavors but they do things that reveal they are not expert
that picture is not very good but what difference does it make it was done wrong and they did it using wrong knowledge i heard that an expert is someone who has made all the mistakes that are possible so maybe that tree feller (fella) is on their way to becoming expert
i have heard of that and as mentioned by others wind can be a factor
That's what he should tell his insurance company! --LOL
Maybe the tree was fell right and the house was built in the wrong spot. ;~)
Gotta say, three cheers for the tree--you may have killed it but it got its revenge.
i wonder what this kind of accident would fall under i would claim an act of god and see where that goes
maybe they should have had a fire right around the same time it is possible that they are tsol
As a young teanager working on the farm (98 lbs soaking wet carrying a hay bale) I and the boss did all the forming, mixing, and pouring concrete for the installation of a stable cleaner, as well as the floor of the hog stable and half the manure yard - all with a little electric mixer (1 HP electric motor) using bags of portland and gravel from the pit on the farm. I don't know how many yards of concrete I mixed, wheelbarrowed, and trowelled that summer - but it was a LOT!!!! Thankfully a broom finish was all all we needed -but that was enough work for the two of us.
It's pretty easy, especailly for a small space. Be careful not to add too much water to your mix. You don't want it runny or watery or like syrup. You want the mix to be thick, to where it barely flows off your shovel or out your wheel barrow, when either are tilted 45 degrees, there abouts.
Mix one 60 or 80 lb bag at a time. Mixing two bags at a time is too much work and inconvenience, even if you have a large wheel barrow. Two-bag han d/shovel/hoe mixing is a PAIN in the back and elsewhere!
If you're patching a spot in your driveway slab, or similar, lay some sort of wire (fencing will work) or metal strips, if available, in the hole, abo ve the ground. The wire/metal will help hold the patch-work more firmly t ogether.
If convenient, dig a little lip under the bottom edge of the existing slab. This should help (a little) maintain that the original and new pours rem ain coplanor. As you initially pour the mix, work the mix, well, into the lip cavities.
As the mix settles into the hole, as you're troweling, any excess water may rise to the top.... just skim it off with the trowel, but make sure the co ncrete remains level with the original slab. For a small slab, you may no t have so much of this effect, but if a lot of water rises to the top, you may have to add a little more mix, to maintain that the old and new surface s remain level. The patch having a slight convex (hill) surface may be bet ter than it being concave (valley).
Driveway: And you probably don't need to do this: After an hour or two, te st the surface, with a broom, for firmness. You want the concrete fairly h ard, but the very top slury film to still be a little soft. Sweep (gently, lightly) the slury surface, if need be, to give it a roughness similar to the existing drive. Normal driving wear & tear will likely result in achie ving the same roughness, anyway, if you don't sweep.
If it's a driveway repair, avoid driving on the patch for a week.
Optional: Get an extra bag of mix and practice the water addition, to get a thick mix. Again, you don't want to add too much water, when mixing. Practice your troweling, if need be. Maybe make a few stepping stones for the flower beds.... with some broken glass, large pebbles as surface decor/ texture.
Sonny
An expert nonexpert! My sister once commented that I was a jack-of-all-trades. My brother immediately replied that I was a jack-of-all-asses.
Sonny
you know of them too
brothers are always good for a laugh
Thank you Sonny! I AM thinking of a driveway repair. I printed off your directions to guide me! Thank you very much! This seems like a good project for next spring. Maybe I'll try chiseling away at what I have and see how it goes. This seems like a good way to save several thousand dollars, or at least hang on it it for a while.
Virtually everyone in my neighborhood who doesn't have a somewhat-new driveway has a cracked driveway. None of us have basements. I don't mind a crack here and there, but I think I could repair the spot where there is the most erosion (caused by ice forming/expanding inside the cracks in the winter). Two neighbors each covered their driveway's with asphalt this week (it's epidemic!)
Bill
i watched a blackwood acacia go down in a similar way recently with the exception that were cutting longer sections for the local portable lumber mill i think they were 6 feet or so
the trimmer used ropes for each piece and when he cut those pieces loose that tree swung a lot
looked too exciting for me but he seemed to know the tree wasn't going anywhere
only the smallest of branches went into the chipper i got some nice pieces that are aging
Watching the pros do it is pretty neat. The swing around and make it look e asy with a chainsaw on their belts. We have a friend who does it for us whe n we need it. I can fell a lot of trees in the right direction with the pro per notch cut, but the larger trees are really the province of the pros.
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