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Concrete Articles

Concrete Walkway
How To Pour A Concrete Patio Like A Professional Pouring a Concrete Patio
Concrete is wonderful for crafting economic, long lasting, and durable outdoor patios, walkways, and drive ways. The following project divides the patio ...
Stained Concrete
Staining Concrete: How To Staining concrete floors has become one of the hottest trends in modern homes and basements. The addition of heating elements to concrete floors has eliminated the biggest drawback of exposed concrete floors. The cool feeling of concrete during the winter. Not to be confused with color-impregnated concrete, stained or colored concrete offer a wide variety of colors and patterns. The results are limited only by the skill and creativity of those involved in the staining process. Because of ...
Concrete in the form
Selecting The Right Type Of Cement Concrete is an extremely flexible building material that can be formed into many different shapes and because of its ability to withstand extremely high loads. Because it is relatively low cost, it has become an extremely popular building material for load bearing applications. The American Society For Testing and Materials (ASTM) as established five types of Portland cement. The Canadian Standards Association has only three categories - normal, high early, and sulfate resistant. Each type of ...

Concrete is the foundation upon which all construction starts. It is inexpensive, durable and extremely flexible. Today's uses for concrete include everything from foundations and slabs to patios and countertops. The recent developments in foam forms make the installation of concrete foundation faster, simpler and more energy efficient. Concrete can be purchased in small (80 pound bags) quantities or large (by the truckload). Prices vary from area to area but the last price I got on concrete was $60 per yard in volume. Pouring and finishing add to the cost For any job larger than a sidewalk, you will probably want to buy the concrete by the truckload. You can buy as little as 3 years from most local concrete suppliers. The biggest issue with concrete is usually getting it from the truck to the area where it is needed. There are several options here:

Direct from the truck If the truck can pull up to the location, then this is optimum. Must trucks can use extensions to drop the concrete up to around 15 feet form the back of the truck. This must be downhill from the truck. You can request additional extension when you order the concrete.

Pumping Concrete The most expensive but fastest is concrete pumping. This is the best option if you have over 10 yards. Pumping truck usually have a minimum of 5 hours and an hourly cost starting around $200 per hour. In many cases, there is no other option to pumping the concrete.

Bulldozer or Bobcat In a pinch, you can use a bobcat to deliver concrete. The bucket is not well suited for concrete delivery but an experiences operator can move quickly. This biggest problem is that a skid-steer bobcat will tear up your wire and dig ruts in the ground as you drive it to the dumping location. If you need to turn a corner while under load the skid-steer can turn a 4 inch thick slab into a 12 inch thick slab in the middle of a pour.

Mud Buggy For job under 10 yards, you can use a mud buggy. These gas operated concrete haulers will hold about 1/3 of a yard at one time. It is slow but can haul concrete up a driveway and dump it in a backyard for a fraction of the cost of pumping. Mud buggies can be rented at the local rental center.

Wheel Burrow This is the cheapest but most painful way to deliver concrete. I don?t recommend it for anything over 3 yards but I have done 12 yard before but it was all down hill.

Please refer to the articles on this site for more details on handling, coloring, reinforcing, finishing, floating and staining concrete.

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