We would like to pour our own concrete pad. How do we do it? We have done numerous home projects before?
by admin on Thursday, August 19th, 2010 | 4 Comments
Hi, we have a camper and would like to save money by pouring our own concrete pad along side of it for a patio. Where do we begin? And so fourth…… We do have experience of dealing with home projects…building deck,installing pool, etc…..but not a large pad. We would have to rent a bobcat from rental company but, what else??
The pad is 10 x 40 and the attached sidewalk is 3 x 5
I called the local concrete company and they quoted..$498 for 5yds with fiber
Thank you inadvance, Kerry
first make a timber frame the size of the pad and the height you want
then lay it where you want it then pour in the concrete and use
a concrete screed to level it off
Don’t forget to put rebar in your form so that the concrete doesn’t crack.
Dig out your area to a depth of 8″ and back fill with crushed stone(5c/yards )and level it out and compact it then lay a sheet of plastic to act as a weed blocker and set your form on there using 2×4″ timber and securing the outside with metal bars to hold it in place now place in your re bar mesh and if you can try and keep it a little bit up of the plastic say 1″ so as the concrete will go under it when poured,try and not have the concrete too wet when pouring as this reduces the likelihood of cracking when it sets because it will shrink and in cold weather to much water in the original pour expands and again causes cracking,also you need to have a slope in the slab so as surface water will run off and not pool on top so for a slab 10′ wide a fall of 1/4″ every 4′ would do so you would have a fall of 1/2″ or more away from the door of your camper.Cover the slab then with a sheet of plastic again then or some sand and allow it to cure,good luck,there are also good sites on line to look for and you can actually watch projects like this being done.
as stated, remove sod and dirt to a depth of 8 in. 4 in. of crushed stone for a base… tamp…form your pour , no plastic necessary…an inch or 2 of fall away from the trailer side is plenty…cut a straight 2×4 to about 10ft. 4 in. and use this as a screed board to level your concrete…bull float it …edge it and mag it and broom it…you can cut the control joints after it is hard…i tool my joints but i know what i’m doing…unless its blazing hot you wont need to cover it just mist it down for a few days…covering with plastic makes it splotchy for quite some time…