Mixing concrete is a basic skill that all DIY enthusiasts need to know how to do. Concrete is one of the most common and inexpensive building materials on the planet, consisting mainly of sand, gravel and cement.
Mixing concrete is similar to baking in that to achieve consistent results it is best to follow a specific recipe. There are many different concrete mixes for different applications, depending on the strength, workability and application of concrete.
Mixing concrete is a science for professionals, but for the average backyard enthusiast, learning the basics of concrete is enough to get you started.
When mixing concrete, you will need to mix aggregates, such as sand and gravel, together with cement powder and water as a catalyst, to begin the chemical process of binding the ingredients together. Mixing concrete is a function of proportions in which you measure the volume of aggregate used for the volume of cement used.
The most common concrete used throughout the world is a 3-2-1 mixture, which uses three parts of gravel, two parts of sand and one cement. Water is added with the thought that you should use as little water as possible to make concrete suitable for what you need. The viscosity of a concrete is measured using a “slip”, which refers to a particular test, in which the amount that a cone applied by concrete loses its shape after removing a cone is measured in inches or mm. A zero draft concrete would be very hard and dry and sloping to hold its shape, where concrete with a slip of six inches or more would be extremely wet and not inclined to hold shape.
A mixture of 3-2-1 is so widely used that you can fill large areas with concrete for relatively cheap. You could only use sand and cement, without gravel, to create a so-called mortar. In a mixture of 3-2-1 gravel serves as a filler, occupying a lot of space, while maintaining a relatively high overall strength. The disadvantage of the 3-2-1 mixture is that a large gravel aggregate will often float on the surface during finishing and is not suitable for thin or detailed specific applications.
The best overall combination for DIY enthusiasts to memorize and use is a simple 3: 1 mix of mortar. 1. Using three pieces of sand and one part of a mortar, you can create the strongest concrete possible, as well as concrete that is easy to finish and detail using designs, patterns or stamps . Without using gravel, the mortar will have a smoother overall texture, but will certainly take up less volume than concrete made with gravel. If you drill very large volumes of concrete, gravel can be cost-effective, but for most DIY projects a 3: 1 mortar mix is offered.
The sand you need to use for a 3: 1 mortar mix should be sharp sand or stone or sand. Each place where you buy sand will use a different term, so when shopping it can be confusing. All you need to remember is to avoid song sand. To play sand with sand that has been washed and sterilized (this is normal) and then fell to soften all the edges of the individual grains of sand (this is bad).
The sharp edges of the sand help hold the concrete mix better than the rounded edges of the fallen sand. Ideally, you would like to find sand from stores for stores that will be sold to you in a cubic yard. With a strong trailer, you can pick up as much sand as you can need with almost nothing - plus the quality of the sand for making cement will be very high.
DIY enthusiast applications for using a 3: 1 mortar mix are huge. Everything, starting with fixing broken exterior steps and stairs, access roads, patios, decks, ponds, waterfalls, artificial rocks, statues and much more, is possible with a simple mixture of sand, cement and water.
Start with small concrete projects to better understand and understand how to work with concrete. Since concrete is so popular all over the world and is a highly developed science, you will never come across interesting concrete applications to learn or try. In combination with the most affordable building material on the planet and easily accessible all over the world — learning how to mix basic concrete recipes is a fundamental DIY project.
