r/Concrete

Air lock removed. Concrete trucks have been difficult to get on site due to demand before the long weekend. Shifting to on site mixing to finish out the job.

Sand finish driveway. 53 yards in one go and washed the same day

Dji drones for the win

GFRC, W/C = 0.31
Cast into 3D-printed mold hence the little details

Our home previously had artificial turf on the porch, and after taking it off we were left with a really ugly cement covered with liquid nails. This stuff is a pain to get off, what would be the best tools to use to properly remove it?

Poured about a year ago to date. He already fixed a couple sections already after 6 months. Now I fixed the pics below on a section he repoured.

Edit: we checked our code and removing this window is acceptable as we have four other egresses and this room is not considered a bedroom.

So we had a window that was leaking and caused some water damage inside. We decided we wanted to completely remove the window and patch the foundation with concrete because we want to build a deck over it and it goes to our theater room (more reasons too but no need to explain them all).

So we had a contractor come out to patch the window. The 4th photo shows the tar they came and put on the patch for waterproofing. You can see the 5-6 inches on the top of the patch they did not put that tar. They said they put some kind of plaster over that part and that it didn’t need the tar. My question is do you think that’s acceptable or should I have them throw some tar on it?

Additionally, I’d like to put some kind of peel and stick waterproof membrane over the seams but I need to make sure it can go on top of the tar that’s already there. Anyone have any products they’d recommend or maybe a different way of sealing it better? I was also thinking about doing a dimple board over the whole thing too before backfilling, thoughts?

Lastly there are some pretty big voids on the inside as you can see in the photos. Do you think that’s fine so long as I really water proof the outside well or should something be done on the inside too?

I've done two other concrete projects in the course of my handyman work. One was a lot simpler than this and involved a bit of demolition, and I feel I came out mostly okay on that, except for how much I needed to spend on tools. The other was last week, and I got hosed on the price I quoted. But that was partly as a favor to a friend, so I'm okay with it.

Someone else has asked for a price on these two small sidewalks at his house. The customer thought a 3-ft wide sidewalk in both locations would be good. That feels inadequate to me, so I'm pricing it at both 3' and 3.5', and will give them a choice.

I'm pricing it with 3-in of compacted #57 gravel, remesh and #4 rebar, 5.5 inches of 4000-psi concrete, and a broom finish. Likely overkill, but it's the way my mentor showed me how concrete should be done. Unfortunately he isn't around anymore to bounce ideas off of.

All my non-labor costs come to $1808 and $2007 respectively. Assuming 35 and 37 man-hours for each width, at $60/hr, that brings my totals to $3908 and $4227.

The man-hour estimate is assuming I'm doing everything, and hiring a skilled friend to help for a couple hours with pouring and finishing. His hours are included in the 35/37 total.

Is this in the ballpark for a rural part of north-central Virginia?

With clean ground and no challenging elevation issues, are my man-hours appropriate for mostly hand labor? I'm sure if I had a mini-ex available this would go faster; but I'd be charging more per hour too, so it would end up about the same.

Currently targeting completion of shotcrete, troweling, and primed by Friday, so the crew can enjoy the fourth. Exactly where we were two years ago for the garage dome.

Pouring a 11x11 pad for a hot tub, next to existing patio (under deck). Wanted to resurface the old section too to make it look fairly uniform.

Quote 1: $5k for new pad only. Guy said he can’t/won‘t touch the old patio.

Quote 2: $1,300 for new pad and resurfacing. this guy wants to drill rebar into the foundation too, which the other contractor doesn’t.

Both planning 6-8” crushed stone under, and 12” of concrete. cost includes materials and labor.

My questions: drill rebar into foundation or no? Is resurfacing the old patio with 2” of fresh concrete doable? guy mentioned a binding agent he called ‘milk’. How come the other guy won’t touch that? $5k feels high and $1,300 feels low. Hot tub supplier said pads typically $20-$30/sq foot. That about right?

A small cattle barn and manure storage we're nearly done with. A few more pours and its wrapped up.