Vibrating screed tips

diyshed

Member
Livestock Farmer
I bought a vibrating screed. It is 10ft wide.

I need to do a shed floor that is 30ft wide. I'm thinking of breaking this into 3 different days and doing 10ft widths per day. This is to give us a chance as there will be only two on us at and not to be overwhelmed by too much concrete at once. Will this work ok?

For the first run the concrete will be going up against the wall. There won't be Form work at the inside for the vibrating screed to run along but there will be 6 inch formwork on the outside for it to run along. Will the screed sink in the inside due to having nothing to run along?
 

Banana Bar

Member
Arable Farmer
Location
Bury St Edmunds
I bought a vibrating screed. It is 10ft wide.

I need to do a shed floor that is 30ft wide. I'm thinking of breaking this into 3 different days and doing 10ft widths per day. This is to give us a chance as there will be only two on us at and not to be overwhelmed by too much concrete at once. Will this work ok?

For the first run the concrete will be going up against the wall. There won't be Form work at the inside for the vibrating screed to run along but there will be 6 inch formwork on the outside for it to run along. Will the screed sink in the inside due to having nothing to run along?
Yes, it will sink immediately. You could use K-forms 1m in from the wall and run the screed on top of them. K-Forms are superb.
 

Foxcover

Member
As above, use K forms.
They can come in 2.4m lengths and can be used up to a depth of 225mm and can be left in situ.
If you go steady with your screed and then bull float each pour as you go you’ll end up with a decent finish without needing a power float.
I fudged my workshop floor by power floating at the wrong time but it was alright in the end because the rough finish was a better key for the resin coat that went on top :LOL:
 

Spencer

Member
Location
North West
Think we need to clarify the machine..?

If its a power screed/screedemon, which it sounds like, should work fine without forms. Set up a wet pad with laser level and strike off that. Shouldn't sink.
 

diyshed

Member
Livestock Farmer

This is the screed I have. It is a 10ft.

To the person who said nail in a 2 x 1 along the walls. I presume this timber is then left there for good as it would be almost impossible to get out?
 

Sharpy

Member
Livestock Farmer

This is the screed I have. It is a 10ft.

To the person who said nail in a 2 x 1 along the walls. I presume this timber is then left there for good as it would be almost impossible to get out?
That's basically a magic screed. No need for forms. Pour in one slab, put cuts in for movement joints the next day.
 

diyshed

Member
Livestock Farmer
That's basically a magic screed. No need for forms. Pour in one slab, put cuts in for movement joints the next day.
I don't want to pour it in One day in case anything goes wrong and concrete dries out too quick etc. It is 30ft wide and I wanted to do over 3 days doing 10ft widths per day. This means one run on the screed. I'm using old 6x3 timber purlins as form work. Concrete will be 6 inches thick.
 

rbg27

Member

This is the screed I have. It is a 10ft.

To the person who said nail in a 2 x 1 along the walls. I presume this timber is then left there for good as it would be almost impossible to get out?
Yes, leave it there. If it rots away, you could always fill with mortar in the future.
 

Wisconsonian

Member
Trade
I would use a pipe on stakes for a guide. If you're asking the question, then you don't have enough experience to do that free hand.

The other problem will be the total width of the slab. Is it exactly 30' and is your vibrating screed exactly 10'? You'll be at least several inches short because of the overlap. If your slab is 29'6", then you could pour one "swath" against each wall with pipes and your purlins, then down the middle riding on the slab at each side. 30' or more, I'd pour the slabs at the side, then go side to side with pipes 9' apart to fill the center section. That's if you still want to do this in sections like you say.
 

diyshed

Member
Livestock Farmer
I would use a pipe on stakes for a guide. If you're asking the question, then you don't have enough experience to do that free hand.

The other problem will be the total width of the slab. Is it exactly 30' and is your vibrating screed exactly 10'? You'll be at least several inches short because of the overlap. If your slab is 29'6", then you could pour one "swath" against each wall with pipes and your purlins, then down the middle riding on the slab at each side. 30' or more, I'd pour the slabs at the side, then go side to side with pipes 9' apart to fill the center section. That's if you still want to do this in sections like you say.
Thanks for this. What do you mean by a pipe on stakes? I suppose you hardly have a picture of this? Good point about the sizes.
 

Wisconsonian

Member
Trade
Here, we'd drive a 1"x2" stake into the ground and use a level on the 1 1/4" pipe to set the depth of the stake, then two nails into the top of the stake to hold the pipe. the stake gets left in the ground and concrete, the pipe gets moved down the line of the pour and filled in behind as best you can and bull floated smooth.

IF you're pouring on three different days, then you'd want the purlin form like you describe, and a 1x2 would work good. Easier to set up than pipes.
 

Foxcover

Member
We need to work out what type of screed the OP has.
If it’s a magic screed like in the photo above you don’t need forms to run on but you need to know how to use it, I don’t think I could do a satisfactory job with a magic screed, I don’t have the experience.
The other type is a beam screed, they often have 2 upright blades and look sort of like a grader for levelling stone tracks, I’d say you can’t really use these without forms to run on as they are quite heavy.
 

Sharpy

Member
Livestock Farmer
I don't want to pour it in One day in case anything goes wrong and concrete dries out too quick etc. It is 30ft wide and I wanted to do over 3 days doing 10ft widths per day. This means one run on the screed. I'm using old 6x3 timber purlins as form work. Concrete will be 6 inches thick.
You don't run that type of screener on the forms although you coulduse them to guide your eye for levels. If you must do it in 10 ft wide screeds trim both ends of the screener to fit.How you do this job will be determined by the following.
How long is the shed?
How are you getting concrete? (Mixer truck, volumetric mixer, pan mixer?
How are you getting the concrete in the shed if the mixer won't fit?
What assistance do you have?
 

upnortheast

Member
Livestock Farmer
Location
Northumberland
If it is a "magic" screed, as in the pic, probably not a good idea to do a biggish job with no forms if you have never used one before & you need accurate levels
A hired vibrating beam on forms would be better IMO
Nothing to stop you using the magic screed on forms. I would set a form 6 inches in from each wall. That would give you 3 runs of 9ft 6" Then you can go back a couple of days later & fill the gap.
 

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