concrete delivery

Sounds like a couple of ton bags of ballast and several bags of cement?

My recommendation: hire a labourer to do the mixing and barrowing. This is well within the capabilities of most labourers, provided you keep an eye on the wetness of the mix and work out exactly how many shovels of ballast to concrete first (he will do exactly what you ask of him). Expected cost - about 80 cash +/- for a day plus mixer hire. Saturdays are popular for these guys as it's extra cash even if they are otherwise engaged.

If you hire him for the day, have a list of low supervision jobs ready, like digging the garden or something because he will (assuming he's a good one) work faster than you think :) That should leave you comfortably able to wibble around getting the slab tamped and levelled the way you want.

And if you get stuck and need an extra pair of hands to hold the something, he's there.

^^^^ cement

I did this myself a few weeks ago, 1 cubic metre from mix truck on roadway to foundation trench in back garden, about 20 metres distance each way.

The driver was a very nice guy, and evidently not in a hurry, but not all drivers may be happy to wait. Some will drop the mix into a large plastic sheet/bag for you. It can then be barrowed in from there, but of course it has to be shoveled up into the barrow, whereas loading the barrow directly from the chute of the truck is much easier.

Weight: Depends on the exact mix, but the ofter quoted figure is 1 cubic metre of concrete is about 2400Kg.

As regards barrow loads, 1 cubic metre =3D 1000 litres.

Barrows generally have a nominal capacity of 60-100 litres - but that's full to the brim, which you obviously can't do with concrete. If you're carrying 40 lites of concrete per load, 1000/40 =3D 25 loads.

hth,

bookieb.

With the usual limestone or gravel aggregate, 1 m3 of concrete weighs

about 20 - 25 depending on the size of the barrow.

one cube is going to be costly no matter where you get it from as there's a minimum charge....one cube or less and I usually mix it myself and pour straight into the hole

I reckon 6 big barrows per tonne, and about 4-5 tonnes of concrete per cube. Which comes to the same.

If you are reasonably fit, its nothing.

I'd personally mix that lot myself, with a single helper. That way it all gets done in a day.

But if the lorry can have access, its a lot easier!

The work is lifting it all into the mixer, or the barrow.

when its dry, possibly.

Well, I've found the mix-on-site company I think I used last time (Master Concrete). They stop when you say stop ! Price 131.60 for 1 cube (the minimum price) plus 10 quid extra to have it barrowed in by some dude with a good strong back ! Seems worth it to me. Simon.

A very common error.

I grind my teeth whenever I read of people "mixing cement".

You buy cement, it comes in bags. You mix concrete. ;-)

No, when it is wet.

At that price, it's a no-brainer. Go for it!

limestone in concrete?? go on tell him ;>)......or are you learning now?

Cheers JimK

eh? I believe tim was correcting his slight mixup "ballast to concrete" to the correct "ballast to cement"...

You been out in the sun? still got sunglasses on?

JimK

That's not a bad price at all for a single cube...it's not worth trying to mix it yourself for that - the ballast and cement would probably be about £75, then mixer hire and a day mixing etc

Oh, the reason I say that, is that I laid a 3m2 floor slab last year. The mix looked fine going in (wasn't dry, but wasn't running with water either - it's what I'd normally throw down a hole in the ground for making bases or paths outside.

By the time I was half way through tamping it onto a DPM, there was excess water forming on the surface as it couldn't drain through the DPM like it would if on hardcore. It set OK eventually, but the surface was powdery for weeks - I poured on some dilute PVA in the end...

Just something to watch for IME - wants to be slightly drier than you

Hmm - no contest then :)