Doing my own garage slab 9.5 x 6m help.

batey_1020 · Aug 05, 2014 3:47 pm

I have a block im building on in Tas. I live in sydney so doing stuff myself is difficult.

I recently bought a barn , garage kit that requires a slab of 9.5 x 6m 120mm thick with a 300 x 300 edge beam. I also need to do a 10m x 2.5 x 150 slab for my off grid solar installation.

I was intending to have the foundations done by a concreter but now im exploring the idea myself. Has anyone out there done a slab of this size with just two people and is it more cost effective then paying a concreter if im looking at hiring all the equipment (as i said i live in Sydney).

I have no problem with grasping the concept of the process. The set out and form work etcetera shouldn't be a problem with two of us. Its the actual pouring of the concrete that im worried about.

If you have done a slab yourself. Would you do it again to save money?

bashworth · Aug 05, 2014 4:45 pm

The big slab is a lot of concrete to place, and finish, for 2 people especially if you are not used to that sort of work. You are talking over 20 tonnes of wet concrete.

Getting a good flat finish on a 6m wide slab also isn't a job for the inexperienced.

Beetaloo · Aug 05, 2014 5:47 pm

You can save $$ if you are prepared to do all the prep work yourself including trenching, reinforcement & boxing in the edge beam & paying for the concrete.
Just hire labour to place & finish the slab. They should provide their own trowelling machine, vibrator, lazer level and tools.

If a concrete truck can park along both sides of the slab you may not need a concrete pump. However a concrete pump is usually worth the money as the pump operator with his labourer can place all the concrete and all you need to arrange for is your concrete finishers to vibrate, screed & trowel off.
Two experienced concrete finishers plus a pump & labourer should be able to place & finish your slab in a day.

RuffTuff · Aug 05, 2014 6:14 pm

I agree with Beetaloo. Do all the prep work yourself and just get the levelling and finish done by professionals. I hired a grano worker who came with 3 helpers and all the equipment. During the pour it was very busy but it was all over in half a day.

qebtel · Aug 05, 2014 11:43 pm

Have done a 9x6 slab, Boxed it all myself, then hired one only concretor to screed the pour first thing in the morning. I was there to spread out the concrete, but he screeded the lot by himself without raising a sweat. This was in March in Qld.

Cost? $1120 for 7m3 concrete, $400 cash to concretor for doing the pour with helicopter finish, and approx $500 for reo, plastic, levelling, etc. $200 for bedding sand. So ~$2200 all up. Its a top notch slab and took 4 hours from inital pour to finish.

A concretor will charge you 4 - 5K if not more for him to do it all.

Tip: The cooler it is, the longer you have to work the concrete. In Tassie you wont have our warm Qld weather, so prolly any time of the year is good for a concrete pour down there.

TomCat · Sep 28, 2014 10:08 pm

My husband did a whole slab himself for an 'American Barn' with a petrol powered cement mixer. He did an awesome job. Took him 18 months though! It's on a 'bush' property 120km from home.

Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅

qebtel · Sep 29, 2014 2:18 pm

TomCat

My husband did a whole slab himself for an 'American Barn' with a petrol powered cement mixer. He did an awesome job. Took him 18 months though! It's on a 'bush' property 120km from home.
]

Awesome? That slab looks uneven and to be in 3 or more pours? No one uses a hand sized cement mixer and lays a slab in sections, you hire a truck and pour it in one go.

B STAR · Sep 29, 2014 3:32 pm

that's determination!!!! I am sure that kept him fit. and here I am questioning how to go about mixing the concrete for my little garden shed.

TomCat · Sep 29, 2014 7:58 pm

B STAR

that's determination!!!! I am sure that kept him fit. and here I am questioning how to go about mixing the concrete for my little garden shed.

He he ... Fit and determined, yes he is B STAR

He'd pack his lunch, snacks and drinks for site and dress up proper for the job (I'd love to share his drawings he has on his concreting attire ... they are really, really funny!) :lol:

Ready on site at 7am and tied to it ALL day (till sundown) lifting, shovelling, mixing, pouring, levelling (it is indeed quite level).

It also has a pretty decent smooth screed job on top (I *think* he mixed the top layer finer). Seeing it's not a royal ballroom dance floor, it is indeed bloody awesome. It's just an old barn that's going to have an old truck parked in it and store his 'stuff'

I think he's very clever like all the dedicated ingenious OBs in here

The local farmers who pay tens of thousands for their slabs were in awe. If you want any concreting tips for your little garden shed, I'm sure he's got plenty. He's a walking encyclopedia on concrete (well he's not really ... though he does have a legitimate cement encyclopedia that comprises 20 full volumes and I'm sure he's read most of it). I'm impressed with all the OBs on here ... what about the couple making their own bricks and windows, that IS awesome.

B STAR · Sep 30, 2014 9:22 am

Yeah I think concrete and weird as it sounds is quiet fascinating. In fact one of the best tools I have bought was my cement mixer. It always gets used for odd projects. Lately I have found myself having an allocated area in my backyard for Sand and another for Crush Rock. I have made retaining walls, foundations, Garden edging beds. I have put in many posts that have come up more solid than what you could do with bag cement alone. I only wish I was fitter and could do bigger jobs hence why I am questioning the 1 cubic meter I need for my garden shed.

bpratt · Sep 30, 2014 9:56 am

B STAR

In fact one of the best tools I have bought was my cement mixer. It always gets used for odd projects. Lately I have found myself having an allocated area in my backyard for Sand and another for Crush Rock.

I'm seriously considering getting one for myself to use around my new home for all the different landscaping jobs I've got in mind over the next year or more here.

Buying bags of premix is just going to not only add up in price, but mixing it thoroughly and efficient in a wheel barrow, particulary for jobs that require more than one barrow load.

Sure, I could hire one when I need to use one, but that's another rental fee each time, plus the nuisance factor of having to go out to a hire place, bring it home, do the job/clean it up, and return it in the same day/next day.... there goes probably 2.5 hours just in pick up and return !

I bought myself a plate compactor earlier this year, and it has now half paid for itself, as I've used it 5 different times now, and hiring one was going to cost me $50 per day. I've still got plenty of projects I can use it in. I only have to use it two more times, and still be able to sell it for at least $150 (if not more), and the purchase price has been covered.

That all said, there's no way I'd do my own 9.5 x 6m slab for a garage, I just think it would be just too far outside of my capabilities... good on the OP for being able to do it.

B STAR · Sep 30, 2014 12:54 pm

bpratt,
if you have a decent size block and are going to have to install letter boxes, posts, retaining walls, lay bricks, small garden sheds repair fences that the contractor hasn't put enough concrete around posts, decking, render, Pergola the list goes on - then definitely get one. Admittedly my was a cheap one from ebay at about 300 something delivered. You can get one for this price from bunnings or the likes but it would be much smaller.

My Advice would be to get the cheapie as it is not something that will get used each day as in the case of a brick layer cement mixer. A cheapie means that size will be much bigger and make it much easier to work with and quicker also.

Because you have your own mixer will will start getting plenty ideas on all the things you can build. The biggest project you should probably attempt with a cement mixer is 1 cubic meter which is still a bit of a task.

I have something like this but be carefull when comparing as they have many different sizes. I though my motor was 500 watts

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Shogun-140L- ... 5af12b6fdb

bpratt · Sep 30, 2014 12:58 pm

Yep, I'm on a 4661sq m block, so there's plenty of things I can dream up.

I doubt I'll ever do a job that require 1 cubic metre of concrete, as that just then falls in to the category of getting a concretor in to do that.

TomCat · Sep 30, 2014 9:49 pm

Great investment! Mr TC loves his cement mixer. Says he's got no reservations in doing another slab. He's got a Quaker's Barn to erect next :roll:

I think I should just organise a pour for his birfie or summat. Here are his notes on cement attire -- sharing as Batey might decide the slab is really summat he wants to do.

Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅