I would on a grainstore floor, but in a yard probably not. Probably not correct but how i feel.
Idiots guide to concreting
- Thread starter Flat 10
- Start date
- Location
- Lincolnshire
Inside a building you lay it to stop damp rising, and you would need sand, outdoors its to stop the moisture in the concrete being sucked into dry hardcore and weakening the concrete,, so sand isn't really important
- Location
- South Lanarkshire
Couldn't put it better myself
Thinking of concreting a bit of our yard that is currently an uneven stone surface. I’ve layed concrete before but as this is (a) the entrance bit to the yard, subject to heavy farm traffic, and (b) right in front of the house, actually between the house and garden, I want to do a proper job to it, leave a nice finish and have something that will last and not crack up.
It is a rectangular area, rougly 17m x 7m, public road one end and existing concrete farmyard the other. Slightly sloping down to the road.
Have few questions and I would appreciate anyone’s thoughts on any of them:
1. Photo of existing surface below. Looks muddier than it is, it's very very solid. I’m hoping not to do anything with it and (for most of it) just lay 150mm on top of it as is. Any issues with that? (Re levels/slope see (6) below). What about DPM, would that be neccessary?
2. Reinforcing. Never used it before, but I guess I should in this situation? Any tips welcome. Have used some of that fibre concrete before, supposedly negates the need for rebar?
3. Expansion joints. Again not something I’ve ever had to deal with before. Youtube etc has some (sometimes conflicting) advice and not sure how much of it is relevant to this project so any advice welcome as to how and where to fit them.
4. Lay and tamp. I guess doing the 7m width in one pour is a bit much? So a 3.5m stretch one day, then after a few days do the other section? Is it worth hiring a vibrating screed or just tamp with bits of 4x2 ?
5. Finish. What sort of finish do people recommend? Where we’ve left a tamp finish on previous lays it often looks pretty poor. Is it best to get one of those easy-float things, does that leave it too smooth and slippery for a yard? A lot of stuff on the internet says about brush finish, is that the best bet? Looks like it might trap the dirt?
6. Following on from (1) above I was saying about just laying it on the existing surface. The top end already has a 6” ish rise up to the existing yard so that should meet ok and be flush. Would have to have a lip down to meet the road though. Would that work ok, if done over say 3-4 ft, or would it be awkward for pedestrians and machinery? Finding it hard to visualise, anyone got anything similar and if so does it work ok?
Thanks in advance, as I say any thought welcome
Cheers
It is a rectangular area, rougly 17m x 7m, public road one end and existing concrete farmyard the other. Slightly sloping down to the road.
Have few questions and I would appreciate anyone’s thoughts on any of them:
1. Photo of existing surface below. Looks muddier than it is, it's very very solid. I’m hoping not to do anything with it and (for most of it) just lay 150mm on top of it as is. Any issues with that? (Re levels/slope see (6) below). What about DPM, would that be neccessary?
2. Reinforcing. Never used it before, but I guess I should in this situation? Any tips welcome. Have used some of that fibre concrete before, supposedly negates the need for rebar?
3. Expansion joints. Again not something I’ve ever had to deal with before. Youtube etc has some (sometimes conflicting) advice and not sure how much of it is relevant to this project so any advice welcome as to how and where to fit them.
4. Lay and tamp. I guess doing the 7m width in one pour is a bit much? So a 3.5m stretch one day, then after a few days do the other section? Is it worth hiring a vibrating screed or just tamp with bits of 4x2 ?
5. Finish. What sort of finish do people recommend? Where we’ve left a tamp finish on previous lays it often looks pretty poor. Is it best to get one of those easy-float things, does that leave it too smooth and slippery for a yard? A lot of stuff on the internet says about brush finish, is that the best bet? Looks like it might trap the dirt?
6. Following on from (1) above I was saying about just laying it on the existing surface. The top end already has a 6” ish rise up to the existing yard so that should meet ok and be flush. Would have to have a lip down to meet the road though. Would that work ok, if done over say 3-4 ft, or would it be awkward for pedestrians and machinery? Finding it hard to visualise, anyone got anything similar and if so does it work ok?
Thanks in advance, as I say any thought welcome
Cheers
Steevo
Member
- Location
- Gloucestershire
The best tip I can give you….get @RWG Contracts to lay it for you.
Other than that….
If it’s hard and the right level, DPM and concrete is fine.
Reinforcement - A252 mesh or stronger, laid on chairs/tric-trac
Expansion joints - every 6m x 6m or closer
Lay it all in one pour if you can. That’s what the professionals will do and it looks much tidier.
Finish - I recommend brush finish for outside. You don’t want it any more smooth than that or else someone will slip over.
next to the road ,tarmac it
Yeah I had considered tarmac, but it gets a lot of abuse, eg fully loaded artics turning sharp, think it would get chewed up especially in the summer?
- Location
- Lincolnshire
Not with the right stuff, it lasts ok on roundabouts
hot rolled asphalt .i belive
Tend to do ours in a less complex way. Good hard base to start, dpm, expansion strip by existing base and use either metal or plastic structural reinforcing in c35 mix. 6m wide is fine. One thing often overlooked is expansion joints, concrete expands and contracts equally so joints should be in squares, not rectangles else you'll likely get more trouble with cracking.
Steevo
Member
- Location
- Gloucestershire
- Tags
- farmyard grain store