Things You'll Need:
- wheelbarrow, finish trowel, shovel, tape measure, hammer, stakes, level,
- 2x4, nails, string line
-
Step 1
Like with any building project planning is every thing, knowing what you need and where to use it can and will cut the over all project time in half if set up right. What a lot of people don't know is how much over the cost of labor and material they are being charged for the job. Example lets say you need a new driveway that is 15'x40' and you hire a contractor to remove and replace it. The cost would be about $4000.00 and you would see this concrete contractor show up and take out your hole drive way, form it up to have it ready to pour for the next day. (just the other day on my block I live on I watched a concrete contractor remove and replace 3 driveways in 2 days complete) So lets go over the cost a little bit, we got a $4000.00 driveway that needs 7.4 yds of concrete at $85.00 a yrd that is $629.00 lets add in a bob cat rental to remove the slab about a $150.00 a day we wouldn't need it more then one day, we will need to dump the old concrete so we need to hire a dump tuck and driver to pick up and dump the old concrete trucking fees and dump fees would be around $250.00, since we used a bob cat to remove the slab there isn't many man hrs needed, total there wouldn't be more then 20 man hrs into the job if done like above, So lets add this up 20 man hrs x $20.00 a hr= $400.00+250.00+150.00+629.00=$1492.00 so your contractor is putting $2558.00 in his pocket to move some rocks and dump some mud on the ground for you. The prices above for the project cost could and I sure is a lot higher in some states. Trust me contractors don't want the prices per sq ft for there services to go down so they almost stick together to try and hold a market price up. They want you to think your getting a great deal, like they are doing you a big favor. If you ever want to check out how fair your contractors price is, check the projects material cost, or a material list made for your own DIY jobs, Its now simple and fast go to FreelanceConstructionEstimator.net set up a project manager account, Post your project for free and start getting quotes for the cost of making your estimate or material list from construction pros worldwide.
-
Step 2
Get the ground ready, That is done by you taking the top layer of grass and dirt out, going down deep enough to make up for 3" of sand that needs to be added in. One of the biggest mistakes made and or over looked by a lot of concrete contractors or DIYs is having your ground flat and level. Dipping up and or down can make for a lot of added trouble because you take the chance of using more concrete then needed (added cost) or you get high spots in the ground that puts low spots in your concrete. By code no concrete should be under 4" thick at it thinnest point, you also should add a little pitch to it so that your water runs off and away from anything you mite be butting it up to. For our example the concrete slab will set above ground level by 3" and it is 10'x10', so we will be removing 4" of dirt so that from the top of the 2x4 concrete form to the bottom of the ground there will be 7".
-
Step 3
now your dirt is removed and your ready to layout your slab, get 8 stakes out find your longest run, you would set your first string to the longest side of the concrete slab. put your first string line up by running two stakes into the ground 2' out pasted the point of where the concrete ends. Now that you have a string line up that is about 4' longer then the size of your concrete slab, set a stake where your first corner will be measure down your string and set the other end stake. Then its time to square up your box the basic rule of square is: 6-8-10 that example tells you that with 6" of run and 8" of rise your measurement across is 10" our example slab is 10'x10' so my across measurement is 14'1-5/8" after getting both the first corner stakes in you will need two tape measures. Hook the tape measures one to each of the first two stakes that are set, take one measurement out to the width of the concrete slab and the other to your square number. So for the example on my tape measures one would be set to 10' and the other would be set to 14'1-5/8", where the two measurements meet that is your perfectly square corner set a stake. Now there is 3 of your corner stakes set going off the first two stakes that was set measure over the width of the slab on both ends and set two more stakes, at this point all you should see is both your side lines and 3 corner stakes. All that is left for layout is to pull the one last measurement to set the 4th corner run a string line where needed and the shape of the soon to be concrete slab should be showing.
-
Step 4
I'm sure most of you dont have a $1000.00 lazer laying around to set grade marks for the top of the form and the easiest why for a DIY is to buy nice straight 2x4s and use a level. Pick the side that you want to be the fall point meaning the side you want the water to run away from, set two stakes on the outside of the line keeping them 1-1/2" away from the string line, also holding them back about a foot or so from the corner. Set your first 2x4 form board level it and screw it in going through the stake into the form, ( dont nail on the inside of the form and use screws because hammering a nail will knock the stake out of place.) repeat that till all forms are up and you have a stake every 3' and making sure that your boards are running with the string line.
-
Step 5
Now your forms are up its time to smooth out the sand that is inside of the froms, the easist way to do this is get a 2x4 cut to the width of the slab and have a person on each end to work the sand till the 2x4 is setting 1/2 lower then your form and the sand is smooth.
-
Step 6
adding in steel will help it last a lot longer but if it is a small project I would just pass on the steel and focus on your ground being flat and level, but adding in wire mesh is simple just cut it to size and lay it on the ground inside your forms.
-
Step 7
Pouring concrete, think of it how it really is, your putting mud on the ground. Knowing how much concrete you need you would multiple your measurements like this example: 10'x10'x4"=33.3 CU FT or 1.2 CU YRDS concrete is self leveling you would fill the forms up with concrete take your hand trowel smoothing out any air bubles of rocks poking up. After about 45 minutes the concrete should be ok to walk on, if all your going for is a rough standard finsh take a normal house broom and start brooming the top to give it the rough finsh that you see on most all concrete driveways or sidewalks. let concrete dry for 2 more days and your all set.
