Paint your 2x4 forms and screed board all over with K1 (Kerosene) or a light motor Oil. This keeps the Concrete from sticking to the form and makes a smooth edge finish when you remove the forms. After pouring slab take a Hammer and peck all around the outside and top of forms. This bounces the aggregate away from the edge and leaves a paste of Concrete on the outer edge of the slab. Also, the form lumber cleans up easy for reuse. Before Pouring Concrete spray the bottom of slab area with water. Do not leave new concrete in direct Sunlight after troweling off. If you can’t cover the slab up, use straw on top spray to keep it damp. If you use a pre-mix and think it looks thin, throw a shovel full of Portland in and mix with each bag.

@sleeknub

Жыл бұрын

Lots of people use diesel too.

Humility about videomaker's skills was refreshing. A bunch of people looking for video DYI advice are fumbling through our own projects, so it's nice to watch somebody else admit their own mistakes - while still doing a good job. Also, an honest evaluation of the total time needed for the project is appreciated. It helps one decide whether or not to contract the out the project.

@EverydayHomeRepairs

3 жыл бұрын

Hey Jim, thanks for the kind words. Much Appreciated and best of luck on your project!

@patty109109

3 ай бұрын

Facts. Truth is these DIY projects are often worth doing but also often take a lot longer than one might think.

watched a lot of videos recently but your was one of the best. Loved how you showed all the tools needed at the beginning. Not many others did that. Thanks!

@EverydayHomeRepairs

2 жыл бұрын

Thanks for the feedback Michael 👍

Great vid. Thanks for being honest about your level of experience. How refreshing.

Awesome n informative instructional vid on concrete pad. An improvement would be some instructional narration on what's happening from the pour to edging/leveling process for our novice DIYs. Kudos for upload. Anticipating ur next one.

Thank you for the video and tips on curing. I just repaired a 2' by 3' by 5" slab and yep took me half a day. Now I'm trying to learn how often to wet it. Thanks for the info :)

@h0va4life

3 жыл бұрын

wet it a lot especially if fully exposed to sun. there's also sealers you can apply in the beginning that will trap in the moisture so that you don't have to worry about the hassle of keeping it wet.

Very informative! I did repair my deck and after watching your videos I see mistakes I had made. I have since sold that home and my new home is in need of a new deck. This is going to be my project for next spring. My grandson doesn’t know yet but he’s a deck installer so he is going to help me!

@EverydayHomeRepairs

2 жыл бұрын

Hahaha, that will be a good project for him 👍

You know what I like this guy. Good guy

Simple video good explanation. Thank you

@EverydayHomeRepairs

4 жыл бұрын

Happy to help Andy.

Great video! Thanks for sharing your mistakes, too.

Awesome Thanks for info sharing video 💪‼️

Good lesson.

Confused. 4 “ base plus 5” of concrete is 9”. How did you use a 2x4”?

Great job. Thanks.

Job well done ~ 👍👍👍

Nice work

Good video bud.

Good job

Hey bro next time you have a project like a concrete slab. Get yourself one of those small easy to install concrete mixers their like $250-300 dollars. I know it's kind of expensive but it's worth the investment. For example when my uncle asked to help him rebuild his driveway he got one and it helps make the job go more smoothly. When you use one of those make sure you use between 1 gal of water to 1 1/2 gallons of water to every bag of concrete. And the regular sized ones can hold up to 2 bags of concrete at a time. They're pretty pieces of equipment and if you ever think about buying one that can broaden your horizons to different kinds of diy projects for your customers. My uncle was joking around about it but no seriously if you can find even a few customers a year that needs their whole driveway redone that could be another great way to increase your streams of income. As long as you do it up to code and the neighbors like the work your doing for your customer there would be no need to pull a permit and get an approval from the city zoning office. I've done that before. Great video

I was thinking when you poured it that the slump wasn't correct, but you know that already. I would be totally satisfied if I got the same results. Great work.

@EverydayHomeRepairs

3 жыл бұрын

Thanks man, I am still a rookie for sure when it comes to concrete but I should have a few more projects next Spring 👍. Live and Learn.

@netwt449

Жыл бұрын

What’s “slump”? ( see how some of us need basics!?)

@4thgradedropout980

Жыл бұрын

@@netwt449 It's the consistency of fresh concrete before it sets. The higher the number, the more fluid the concrete is.

@netwt449

Жыл бұрын

@@4thgradedropout980 THX! Be well

Thanks for the video. That was cool and when you were done you had something to show for your efforts. Yay! Just sane... :^) Saint

This is exactly what I am looking to do with my deck. Thanks for the post, great video. Looks like you got your materials from Menards?

Great video thanks.....

@EverydayHomeRepairs

3 жыл бұрын

You're welcome!

This was no joke a difficult job. We just completed ours today. It was a two man job for us since we have never done this before. We carefully spray misted the slab and it is currently covered in plastic. Wish us luck when it's time to remove the forms.

@EverydayHomeRepairs

Ай бұрын

Nice, way to knock out the project 👊

Could you say a bit more about what to look for when floating? How does one know when it is smooth enough. Also what is the purpose of edge floating. I know I see it everywhere on pads, and sidewalks, but have never understood why. Is it just a cosmetic thing, or does it provide some stability or make it easier to take off the frame? What would happen if you didn’t edge float? Thanks for the video.

Great job. However, if it's just for stairs, the ready made 30" X 30" pavers placed on dry tamped 3/4 clear and limestone is more than sufficient.

"I don't spend a ton of time floating..." *Sun comes and goes* Looks good. A lot better than mine would turn out

Did you make surface level or slope for water run off?

how much concrete mix do you need to build this 4x4 pad?

Great job! I am half way through mine. So far I have tore out the old junk stairs and dug out most of the hole for my slab. How did you set the level of your forms so that water will roll off? You kind of omitted that! LOL

@StuffTested

2 жыл бұрын

Two Degrees or 1/4 inch per foot seems to be the standard.

What kind of concret is that? Ciment mixed with stones or Ciment with sand?

How many bags of cement did you need? Thanks for sharing. Great job.

@StuffTested

2 жыл бұрын

The bags provide the square footage amount. So you just have to find the dimensions of your slab LxWxH=Volume of your slab. Making sure that everything remains in the same unit of length.

Dude, you did a great job on this. One of the things I was taught as well was to tap on the forms after you've poured the councrete to elimiate air pockets against the frame. Doesn't seem to be an issue for you, but I've poured a couple pads where I had voids on the sides because I didn't tape the forms. Have you thought at all about your risers being directly against the concrete? Water behind that collects will drain forward and get trapped behind your stringers (especially since you used tapcons and a horizontal framing member to secure the stringers to the concrete -- yes, I watched your other videos...). Does that water just dry up as it's "exposed" to air? Any rotting for you yet? Thanks!

@EverydayHomeRepairs

2 жыл бұрын

Hey Brian, thanks and good tip of the “tap” to avoid air pockets. I plan on doing a couple more projects with concrete this year so I can use as many tips as possible. No rotting yet but we are still pretty early along in the life of the project. Thanks for the feedback 👍

@alexsinclair4879

2 жыл бұрын

@@EverydayHomeRepairs Very much enjoyed this video. How hard are you pressing for the float stage? Would love to see new vids on this topic!

@EverydayHomeRepairs

2 жыл бұрын

@@alexsinclair4879 not very hard. It will depend on the moisture content of your mix. Mine was a bit dry so I had to apply a bit of pressure but nothing major. I am a Newb when it comes to concrete and looking to improve my skills that is why I was confident doing this small landing prior to a sidewalk or larger pad.

@tmirvin

Жыл бұрын

Rather than tapping, put a orbital sander on the forms (or any other tool that vibrates). This would have also helped bring moisture to the top as you said it was dryer than you preferred. If you're concerned about the concrete touching the risers, look at using deck flashing on the underside of the raisers.

Dry concrete makes is much stronger than wet concrete. Practical Engineering had a great KZread video on this. Sure, wet concrete is much easier to work but that's about it. Dry concrete beats wet concrete every day

is there a short ridge between the two spikes, or is that an optical illusion?

@EverydayHomeRepairs

3 жыл бұрын

Hey Cameron, nope shouldn't be any type of ridge as you setup the forms. Best of luck on the project and let me know if you have any additional questions.

👍👍

How come you didn’t trowel the concrete?

How many bags of concrete did U use? And how many bags of paver base?

@EverydayHomeRepairs

4 жыл бұрын

Hi Hieu, I used 12 X 60 lbs bags of concrete and 10 X 50 lbs bags of paver base. Let me know if you have any other questions and best of luck on the project.

@mydesiree29

3 жыл бұрын

@@EverydayHomeRepairs - and what size square did you make that used those amounts of bags? Sorry if you mentioned it but I missed it. Thanks!!

@EverydayHomeRepairs

3 жыл бұрын

@@mydesiree29 the width was 48" and the length was 45". Best of luck with your project!

I’m tired just watching this!

@EverydayHomeRepairs

2 жыл бұрын

Scared of a workout? 😂

Hey Scott, how did you place your mold and the rebar mesh in it? I've got my base done but trying to figure out how you have your mold floating over the base! Thanks!

@EverydayHomeRepairs

3 жыл бұрын

So the forms (2x4’s) were held up with the black stakes and then I held the wire mesh off the base by making little metal “chairs” with some of the extra mesh. Make sense?

@heatherrawls9327

3 жыл бұрын

@@EverydayHomeRepairs yes! Thank you! I picked up the wrong stakes... Just found them at Lowes! Thanks again

@EverydayHomeRepairs

3 жыл бұрын

No problem, good luck on the project 👍

no base, mesh setting? that was the #1 reason I started to watch this. Very clear and easy to follow otherwise.

@EverydayHomeRepairs

3 жыл бұрын

I actually have about a minute or so of video showing the time lapse of putting in the base. Should have included it but if you jump over to our facebook group "Everyday Home Repairs Community" and join I can add it so you can see the base going down and being compacted.

what is that for?

@EverydayHomeRepairs

3 жыл бұрын

Hey Mary, the concrete pad served as a landing for the deck stairs outlined in this video kzread.info/dash/bejne/Yn9hubmEk6WYprw.html

Where are you building, do you have to worry about frost heaves there? Thanks

@EverydayHomeRepairs

3 жыл бұрын

Hey Rich, yep I am in Illinois and we usually use 30 inches as the frost line. I feel comfortable with the aggregate base and thickness of the concrete that I shouldn't have much problem with this landing.

@Rich-jo9io

3 жыл бұрын

@@EverydayHomeRepairs thanks, nice video.

How much water? The directions on the bag of ready mix advises a specific amount of water. Not accurate, but useful as a general idea on how much to use. Just add some water to the dry mix ( less than advised on the bag ), and use a hoe to mix it up. Add more water until you arrive at a desired wetness. Mixing with a shovel is too tiring. Use a hoe. An ordinary garden hoe is fine. You don't know how many bags of ready mix you will need. You don't want to buy fewer bags than you need, because you won't have enough concrete to fill the form. So, buy more than you estimate that you will need. If you find that you need just a little more concrete to fill the form, mix up a partial bag of concrete to get the correct amount. Any extra bags of ready mix should be put in heavy duty garbage bags to keep the moisture from invading the bag and hardening the ready mix in the bag. I'm a beginner, myself, having only done 3 such pads with ready mix concrete. Each pad was a learning process, especially the 1st pad. I don't consider myself an expert, and the next pad I will pour, I'm certain there will be mistakes to learn from.

Concrete seemed pretty dry. Edit: okay, you covered it at the end. I definitely would have gone wetter.

Yeah, your intial slurry looked a bit dry just a tad. Maybe it just need to be worked a bit more before pouring.

I read about self leveling concrete. If I dump it down how does it self level in the shape of a square?

@artboymoy

3 жыл бұрын

That self leveling cement is used for basements, I believe. It's almost a milkshake consistancy and not good for pouring pads like this.

@griddlegary2312

3 жыл бұрын

@@artboymoy you sure are 100% correct. I made a square using storage bins and dumped a wheel barrel full of wet cement in the middle hoping it would self level. I came back in a few hours and it looked like a cement truck threw up in my backyard! Maybe some people aren’t meant to do DIY. My neighbor said I’ll probably need a Jack hammer to clean it all up 😅

@artboymoy

3 жыл бұрын

@@griddlegary2312 Ouch! Live and learn. You'll know better next time. I have yet to pour a concrete slab but have done enough research and watching videos to know what to do for the most part. Rest will get done with experience.

Knee pads my friend, hurting just watching?LOL........just a heads up I bought 9 ripped bags at Lowes and they discount those 80lb bags for $1 a bag and did a landing for literally $9 in cement?

Please show more 4K on KZread all video

@EverydayHomeRepairs

Жыл бұрын

Got it, thanks for the feedback!

Seems to me that 5" for a stair pad is WAY overkill. You would have been fine with 1/2 that thickness. You also only needed about 1/2 that much rock on the bottom as well, so you could have saved time (and your back) by not digging nearly as deep or mixing as much concrete. Other than that, as everyone here has been saying, good job!

@KamKing19

Жыл бұрын

In my area it’s 4 inches minimum

@damonrice8469

10 ай бұрын

Unless he will have guess over that are 900lbs per person. 😮 But he done a goodjob from form to finish.

@panth3r26

4 ай бұрын

I need to figure out how much material for a 3x3 landing pad that is very high, heavy, traffic. I currently have four 16 inch blocks that continues to sink. Added dirt once already, a lot of dirt, and tamped it as much as I could. I need to work around the stairs. And have a good base layer. I just hate to go buy all the necessary tools for a one-time job. But, when it rains a lot, we get a deep puddle.

@dienekes4364

4 ай бұрын

@@panth3r26 -- It seems to me, from the videos that I've watched, that the amount of concrete doesn't change, just the watering protocol. So if you use a concrete calculator online, it should give you pretty close to the right amount.

The fastest and easiest way to mix concrete by hand is using a steelemixer.com It will mix a bag of concrete without power in less than 40 sec and its supper easy to use! Go check it out!

Please go by yourself a pair of knee pads - those knees have to last your lifetime brother.

10" rise? Ouch...that might be fine at 43. But, 7.5" will make your knees happier when you're 70.😮

Spider.

A shed platform lol

so much initial detail but you dont get into any instruction about how the meshing was installed

@EverydayHomeRepairs

3 жыл бұрын

I did miss that part, I actually had video of the mesh but just left it off during editing. Only thing special I did was just make up some "chairs" to hold the mesh about 2" off the base material.

😂😂😂

So disappointed, I wanted to see how you prepared the base. Maybe next time.

@EverydayHomeRepairs

4 жыл бұрын

Hey Susy, in terms of putting in the paver base and compacting?

@artboymoy

3 жыл бұрын

Pretty much pour the base in an inch or two at a time, level it a bit, tamp down with a tamper, repeat till the desired depth and level. Get your workout on the tamping part as you don't want the pad to sink too much.

All day? Lol

Great Video: But Please stop with the immature, childish “uptalk” inflections. Can’t watch the video without being constantly annoyed by the linguistic foolishness.

👍👍