Concrete Mixing

It is true.

Do you really have no way of transporting the readymix to the site? Mini dumper? Large wheelbarrows? Even if you had to use wheelbarrows, it would still be a lot quicker.

Are you comparing like with like? Concrete suppliers are skilled in the art of supplying a mix that might just, on a good day, and if the driver hasn't decided to add a bit more water, meet the standard they've quoted to supply, whereas the tendency when mixing your own is perhaps to go for a bit more strength. Are you also using bulk aggregate prices, or "shed" plastic bag prices? I've had bad experiences with ready mixed - supplied far too wet to get a finish on - and mixed-on-site-by-cowboys (see threads passim), so I really don't know what I'll do for the next garage - mix it myself, I guess, and at least get a decent job. I buy aggregates loose, directly from the quarry, but I am surrounded by quarries here, and I have a trailer that will happily carry 35cwt. I'm also much happier bringing a trailer close to the job (70yds from the road) than I was letting the ready-mix lorry get close.

Shop around for materials, and check your mix.

We had to do this over almost the same distance a while ago we used a small ride-on dumper and held quite a bit of dollop didn't take that long to empty two lorries..

Well we did hire a couple of 'em!..

Have words with your local hire shop ...

Yep ready mix is cheeper if you need a lorry full. Say you get a 6m3 lorry, and you have 3m3 of concrete, you will be charged for 3m3 of air, at about 50% of the concrete price. The quality with the lorry is more consistant.

I have my concrete lorry deliver 1/3 of a mile from my site, and I dumper it to the site. Actually the lorry driver (small local company) drives the dumper and I lay the stuff. We can empty 6m3 in arround 30 minuites this way.

The work in getting the materials to site is no less than the work in shifting wet concrete, its just that you get more time to move the wet materials. But the mixer lorry will unload direct into the dumper, saving a hell of a lot of shoveling.

If you shop arround for your dry materials you will get your price down, I get sand at 25 quid a tonne loose delivered to site in a small tipper.

Rick

I wonder if anyone would anyone agree or disagree with this?

Forgetting the time involved to mix, it would appear to be cheaper to buy ready mix concrete than buy the raw materials and mix it by hand.

Ready Mix = £90 inc. vat / cubic metre Raw Material = £135 inc. vat / cubic metre

The issue I have is the base site it 200 ft from the access so I have to mix by hand / concrete mixer but was susprised it would cost me more.

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That ready mix seems expensive. Hansens charged me £69/metre (c35 pump mix with crack stop IIRC) for 12 metres last spring.

And for a similar distance I used a concrete pumping firm. That was £180 IIRC and they did the work, no bsuggering around with dumpers or fleets of wheelbarrows. I just drank tea while they pumped it into the building!

Julian.

Thanks to everyone that replied. I never considered a mini dumper it sounds a lot less effort than mixing on site and still cheaper.

Martin.

Never ever use them. They charge by the barrow load, not the quantity of concrete. The result is they sell you water at concrete prices.

The result of that is about 3 or 4 inches of water settling out of the mix taking a lot of cement out of the bottom.

sounds a lot less effort than mixing on site and still cheaper.

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Dumpers and barrows are really for the hard of thinking IMHO!

Let someone pump it for you - much easier - and with the land being so wet you don't end up to your armpits in s*it!

This should give you the idea, Transcrete: