Concrete Pad

[Greg Amy]

Jeff, one of these days soon (waving!) Jake is contracting to do improvements to my garage, part of which is concrete work. So why not contact him about doing the same for you?

I paid someone several years ago to dig up the area next to my driveway and put in gravel, that area where I park the truck/trailer. I thought about concrete but the estimates I got were PRICEY. I think gravel is almost as good; it drains well but I'm sure it's not as dry as if I had concrete. It's starting to subside so I should look into getting a new top layer thrown down...

GA

[quadzjr]

In the field I work in I have done it but it isn't a DIY. Closer would be a DIWF (Do it with Friends). You won't need a dozer, you could do it with a simple skid steer or a backhoe. Then once you dig up the area, use a plate compactor, or even some time with the bucket of the backhoe. to hammer down the soil. Frame it out with some cheap 1x4" wood. Now depending on how nice you want it, this is where it gets tricky. I have done small driveways buy buying a long piece of 2x4 and resting it on the frame and workign it back and forth to rough it out, then coming with some floats to finish it off.

At minimum you will need one guy runnign the shoot, two placing the mud and maybe a finisher. Concrete work is hetic and quick. So plan ahead and have everything ready before the poor. and just like anythigne else the quality of your prepwork will determine your finished product.

You can increase the set time by making it "wetter" and if you feel real lucky decrease it by adding lyme.

Also get some nice fiber re-inforced stuff concrete. harder to make a baby smooth finish, but alot stronger. Also if you can't make it look right, it is common to jsut take a shop broom and just before it hardedns run teh brrom across to give it a textured finish.

Or you can pay the 2500 to 4000 to have someone else do it. With DIWF or paying someone, the majority of your cost is materials.

[quadzjr]

It's starting to subside so I should look into getting a new top layer thrown down...

GA

If yo ubelieve that the gravvel has been compacted enough you could spreadying some dry portland cement or concrete down. The water it. This will firm up the void spaces between the gravel.

Another option, is to pull the gravel out, sell it (as it is still valuable), and poor concrete.

[dickita15]

I have found locally masons work pretty cheap.

[240zdave]

Winter is not the best time to be pouring concrete in Connecticut. Concrete setting up too fast will not be a problem in cold weather. You will be standing around at midnight waiting for it to get hard enough to finish. If you have to pour in cold weather, you or your contractor will probably need to use hot water in the mix instead of cold just so you can get done with the pour before the sun sets.

I don't recommend dumping bagged cement over your gravel, either. You don't want to fill the voids in the gravel; those voids between the individual rocks can accomodate a lot of water while it waits to soak into the ground.

If you were pouring a 4' x 4' pad outside your workshop door, I'd say go for it, do it yourself. If it looks like crap, you can always tear it out and try again. A pad the size your are talking about needs some experience and know-how, better left to the professionals.

Also, chain-link fencing would be a poor substitute for welded wire mesh/fabric reinforcement.

[dj10]

Winter is not the best time to be pouring concrete in Connecticut.
Also, chain-link fencing would be a poor substitute for welded wire mesh/fabric reinforcement.

I concur!

[joeg]

You would be making many many trips to the local Lowes and HD for bagged cement.

Hire a pro.