Enough of COVID...what are you doing to the house? | Page 105 | GTAMotorcycle.com

Enough of COVID...what are you doing to the house?

jc100 said:
So just in case I can’t sort out someone to do this for me….can I put down the concrete pad for my shed on my own/with someone if I rent a gas concrete mixer and a float? I can get the mixer into my back yard. I have no idea how many loads I’d have to run to get the pad done. Mixers+float runs about $100 for a day. They rent a concrete vibrator too, is that only for bigger jobs? How many bags of concrete for a 10x8 pad?

I can excavate the soil, move it nearby. Get gravel delivered and I have a manual tamper (or do you need a machine?).

I figured the mixer might be cheaper than getting the stuff delivered and less hassle with moving the concrete to the site. I could also be dead wrong.

I’m happy to pay to get this done but the issue may be timing so…..

Edit: also..Lyndsay…guess what, the shed isn’t back ordered anymore!
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For a 4" slab, about 72 50 lb bags. Boo. For a pour that big, I would be considering buying sand, aggregate, cement as opposed to premixed. Even better, let a company mix it for you.

Concrete isnt my thing but I have done a few projects with it. I dont think a vibrator would hurt but for slabs i did, we just rodded it with a piece of rebar with acceptable results. The deeper the pour, the more important the vibrator becomes (eg walls).
 
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I agree with the above two. The premixed concrete gives you about 0.5 cu ft per bag. You can do the arithmetic to figure out how many bags you need depending on how deep you want. I have a mixer, but it needs work, probably a new motor which I may have kicking around, and a new belt. The problem is it only takes a few bags, so it's a lot of loads. I have a manual tamper. If you come out to shoot this weekend you can give it a try and decide if you want to rent a powered one.

Personally, a few buds with wheelbarrows and a mix on-site would be the way I'd go. Slabs on a good bed of gravel might just be the easiest as Wingboy did.
 
When we did a small shed for the motorcycle a few years ago it was just dad and I. Manual mixing with a drill connected paddle and a wheel barrel.

Wasn’t overly thick pad (maybe 6”) and never had issues for the subsequent 8 years.

EDIT: slightly off topic but anyone know how much a yard of topsoil weighs? When it’s time I want to use the trailer to get soil instead of paying $270-300 for the Big Yellow Bag.
 
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mimico_polak said:
When we did a small shed for the motorcycle a few years ago it was just dad and I. Manual mixing with a drill connected paddle and a wheel barrel.

Wasn’t overly thick pad (maybe 6”) and never had issues for the subsequent 8 years.

EDIT: slightly off topic but anyone know how much a yard of topsoil weighs? When it’s time I want to use the trailer to get soil instead of paying $270-300 for the Big Yellow Bag.
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Google says 1500 to 3000 pounds, depending on wetness.
 
GreyGhost said:
For a 4" slab, about 72 50 lb bags. Boo. For a pour that big, I would be considering buying sand, aggregate, cement as opposed to premixed. Even better, let a company mix it for you.

Concrete isnt my thing but I have done a few projects with it. I dont think a vibrator would hurt but for slabs i did, we just rodded it with a piece of rebar with acceptable results. The deeper the pour, the more important the vibrator becomes (eg walls).
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My experiences:

My brother and his friend decided to pour a concrete patio about 12 X 12 and formed it with 2X4's. Mathematically 42 cubic feet. The friend drove a dump truck and delivered the bulk materials and an electric mixer to the driveway next to the prepped area.

Saturday morning the mixer got turned on and in go the ingredients. Mix, mix, mix and dump. The first dump was so small it looked like a concrete cow had pooped. "To hell with this and they all take off for the day."

I did the math and figured if I did a 2-1/2" rough pour I could cover 2-1/2 square feet of slab per mix at four or five minutes per batch. Four or five hours later, working solo there was a base, just as the quitters returned. Having only 1" to cap the slab they went at it and ten years later the slab was still there with no issues.

Next:

The frame garage had a crushed stone floor and doing one car repair lying on it with a sunburn wasn't going to happen again.

Again the bulk materials were dumped in the driveway next to the garage but the mixer didn't make sense. This time the slab was going to be single pour in sections, a total of 300 SF about 3-1/2" inches thick.

First I jacked up the garage using 2x4's and leverage to get the mud sill higher than the future floor. Then I formed about six separate sections and hand mixed batches using a shovel. It took about two weeks IIRC and I was 23 or 24 at the time. Talk about developing six pack abs.

I have done two more similar sized slabs since. "Hello Jiffy mix, when can you offload a yard or so?"
 
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Lyndsay said:
I agree with the above two. The premixed concrete gives you about 0.5 cu ft per bag. You can do the arithmetic to figure out how many bags you need depending on how deep you want. I have a mixer, but it needs work, probably a new motor which I may have kicking around, and a new belt. The problem is it only takes a few bags, so it's a lot of loads. I have a manual tamper. If you come out to shoot this weekend you can give it a try and decide if you want to rent a powered one.

Personally, a few buds with wheelbarrows and a mix on-site would be the way I'd go. Slabs on a good bed of gravel might just be the easiest as Wingboy did.
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yeah…I think I’ll ditch the mixer idea. Still got to sort this out but I just want a back up plan in case the guy we talk to can’t fit us in early.

So…when do you want the old shed?
 
jc100 said:
yeah…I think I’ll ditch the mixer idea. Still got to sort this out but I just want a back up plan in case the guy we talk to can’t fit us in early.

So…when do you want the old shed?
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I can grab it whenever's convenient for you.
 
mimico_polak said:
When we did a small shed for the motorcycle a few years ago it was just dad and I. Manual mixing with a drill connected paddle and a wheel barrel.

Wasn’t overly thick pad (maybe 6”) and never had issues for the subsequent 8 years.

EDIT: slightly off topic but anyone know how much a yard of topsoil weighs? When it’s time I want to use the trailer to get soil instead of paying $270-300 for the Big Yellow Bag.
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put a tarp in your driveway and get it trucked in. The big yellow bags are rip offs.
 
When the topsoil was $1 a bag I’d take the SUV on multiple trips and load up on 20 bags at a time too. Worked out cheaper and it’s actually easier to handle.
 
jc100 said:
When the topsoil was $1 a bag I’d take the SUV on multiple trips and load up on 20 bags at a time too. Worked out cheaper and it’s actually easier to handle.
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I was talking with my neighbour about that. They were buying mulch in bags from costco and they said that another neighbour had worked out pricing and it was cheaper that way than in bulk. They had serious problems with their math. It was about double the money the way they were doing it but it was more convenient to have bags than a pile of mulch in the driveway.

Friends are moving out west so we bought most of their backyard. Filled a 24' enclosed trailer with tables chairs, couches, trampoline, etc. and brought it home. Sadly the trailer was just a loaner.
 
GreyGhost said:
I was talking with my neighbour about that. They were buying mulch in bags from costco and they said that another neighbour had worked out pricing and it was cheaper that way than in bulk. They had serious problems with their math. It was about double the money the way they were doing it but it was more convenient to have bags than a pile of mulch in the driveway.

Friends are moving out west so we bought most of their backyard. Filled a 24' enclosed trailer with tables chairs, couches, trampoline, etc. and brought it home. Sadly the trailer was just a loaner.
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they charge a fair bit for delivery here....after delivery things can even out. I was buying no name mulch in bags from Loblaws over the summer for 2-3 bucks a big bag. Filled the SUV rinse and repeat. For me it saved a small amount of cash and was very convenient. I didn’t need a massive amount though so for larger amounts trucking it in would have been better.
 
I think we were able to buy bags (let’s say 30-50lbs) for $3.50/each in the summer at a local nursery on Winston Churchill.

Neighbour said Cooksville Lumber is about $50/yard when he bought it a year ago or so.
 
Re Soil,

Maybe a gardener can chime in but there are differences between lawn soil, garden soil and dirt.

For lawns I was told they shouldn't be using compost that may have seeds in it.
 
Took the pool down yesterday….wow does that dead grass stink like ***….

Think next year I’ll dig up 6-8” to have a dedicated spot that’s evened out for the pool.

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