Thread: Who knows about concrete?

That last option is a great idea for such a small volume, but don't let them back up your driveway- if it's been done as a 2-strip arrangement it's been done on a tight budget and is unlikely to survive a truck. Buy or borrow a good wheelbarrow and make sure the tyre is well inflated before the truck arrives! Unfortunately most of us can't be at the beck and call of a concrete truck driver at short notice so I expect you'll be mixing it yourself. For small volumes like that, I buy sand, screenings and cement from a garden supply and mix it in a barrow, or mix it on a board. A board (about a meter square) is easier in many ways as long as your back is good for shoveling whilst bent over, you mix the ingredients dry first (use a D-handle square-mouth shovel) and then make a well in the centre, put water in the well and then keep turning the outside of the pile into the water. Add water a little at a time or you wash all the cement away. This is how concrete and mortar was always done prior to mechanical mixers. I wouldn't use premix bags for anything more than a letterbox post. And with such a small area, the cost of going a little extra depth, say 5", would be insignificant. Personally I wouldn't pin it to the existing although it can't hurt, I'd go 5" thick with a strip of reo down the middle, pour a little concrete over the reo then use a steel hook to lift it just clear of the ground before pouring the rest.

Hi,
Premix is about $40 per m^3 from our local landscape place and 2kg bags of cement are about $18 if I remember correctly. About 12 bags for 1m^3 of premix.
Mix it 5 to 1 and not too sloppy.
Cheers