Concrete Slab Poured Dry | Tips & Tricks
Вставка
- Опубліковано 15 сер 2021
- UPDATE VIDEO A YEAR AND A HALF LATER CLICK BELOW!
• How To DRY POUR CONCRE...
Ever heard of an alternative to pouring mixed concrete? No? Well, after you see this video you won't be able to say that. Not only will you see a technique of finishing concrete that you have never seen before, you will see just how easy and inexpensive it is to complete any concrete needs you may have.
Merchandise: cajuncountrylivin.squarespace...
Business Inquiry: cajuncountrylivin@thestation.io - Розваги
Brilliant vid, game-changing. I've had bags of dry cement turn to stone just sitting there, in a sheltered place, from the humidity in the air. Never occurred to me to actually use this effect for practical purposes! Great job, both of you.
I am 54, and I have never heard of a DRY POUR 😳 It is crazy what you can learn from UA-cam 😂 I love this idea. The chicken feet are a perfect accent for this project !!
I only heard of it for fence posts, didn’t think you could do an actual slab with it.
All you have to do is wet each cement particle, if you can do that it’ll harden no matter how dry it is. I’ve done fast set fence post concrete like that, it works well.
It also works for small natural stone patios/walk ways. Lay them dry & just soak it down.
New to concrete diys...but i left a bag of quick crete outside and it got rained on and yes i came to brick🙄
But lesson learned... put bag up even if there will be no rain in the forecast😄
Happy adventures 🌈🌈🌈
You and me both. I was so confused while watching😂😂
I'm so glad I came across this video. I'm so glad that you added at the end how you know that the PSI weight would be different and you considered that in all that you poured and all that you usually do to provide for chickens. Also it's wonderful to see husbands and wives work together to build things I just love it. May you all be blessed in your efforts and everything else
yes - lucky guy!! your wife does all the heavy lifting!!!
why is the psi lower?
@@charlesabbethy490 because it's not mixed with recommend normal water amount to achieve the regular PSI.
@charlesabbethy490 You would actually never know the psi unless it was tested in a lab. Why would we assume it would be lower. The chemical reaction caused by water is all that is needed. The mixing should not add any additional strength. The chemical reaction (curing) actually keeps happening tofor 28 days. You could keep wetting it for those 28 days which would add more strength.
We live along the gulf coast. Dig one to three feet deep and you hit water, depending on the time of year. We installed 500 feet of privacy fence. For every post hole we poured a couple inches of pea gavel (just to level the bottom), inserted the post then dry poured quick drying post cement. We just watered the top so it would set enough to hold the post plum. Waited 2 weeks and then started the rails and pickets. We let the natural rains harden the concrete. One year later we had a direct hit from a cat 4 hurricane. The fence held up. So, I think the cement hardened just fine on it's own. Since then, we have had 2 more hurricanes and the fence is still standing. As we get so much rain here, I just do not see wasting water on projects if not needed. We simply do not rush the job and let nature work for us. Concrete will draw water into it and all that very wet dew we get every morning fed that post concrete. We did a dry pour slab for a rabbit pen, years ago. Maybe half the size of the one in the video. Since our ground hold so much water, we did dig a 6" wide x 6" deep trench all around the perimeter and we used regular drying concrete no the quick drying. 10 years later we needed to remove that slab, and it was helllll to break apart. We ended up covering it with dirt and let the grass grow over it. No digging there!
So glad I found this video. I have been planning on pouring 4'x4' cement 'pavers' in my greenhouse for the section where my workbench will go. I think I can handle a dry pour by myself much easier. Planning on 3" deep, so will take more watering, but should work. Might even just go for it and do the whole 4'x12' strip in one 'pour'.
I’m an old man with a bad back from carrying too many heavy things. Back the truck closer! 🤣🤣🤣🤣
Good Point
100% agree
work smarter not harder!
And hire a neighbor kids for the day to do the lifting.
Back the truck and then don’t make the little wife lift all the bags, big guy.
This is a game-changer for me! Thank you for sharing this. And, you guys are such a beautiful and precious family! Love ya'll!
i... had no idea you could do this for a slab. This really, REALLY makes concrete work much simpler.
I agree I need to pour a slab for a standby generator this will make it much easier.
HELPFUL WATERING INSTRUCTIONS:
First lightly mist your slab. Make sure you mist the entire slab corners to corners.
Wait an hour to an hour and a half,
Then lightly shower once an hour for 6 to 8 hours. Concrete is porous and the moisture will slowly wick through. UPDATE VIDEO HERE⬇️
ua-cam.com/video/GC0j2Ey5NNk/v-deo.html
That’s awesome and nice job
Great job
New subbed when I seen this video! This is too cool! I would've never thought this was possible for a slab of any kind. Now I'm thinking a project I want done is more possible! Thanks!
This is super cool. Looks so much easier than hauling buckets of wet concrete and shoveling it! Blech!
Amazing
I used this method on a crawl space where I could only drag the dry bags in it made less mess and worked fine . I have told others about doing it this way and they always give me that look like I may not be wright in the head lol . Thanks for sharing .
I have a dirt crawlspace and I might do the very same around the furnace to keep the dust down! I've always hated that they left it dirt 70 years ago..
I've done three pours in the last 5 days to finish up a sidewalk going up to a new backdoor entry, a slightly elevated reinforced concrete slab that I tiled with terra cotta 6x6 tiles to eliminate the old step up entry, this at my own house to help my wife get in and out of the back door. I actually considered doing a dry pour but decided against it. I worked more on mixing ( wheel barrow, grubbing hoe, added extra type S mortar mix to up the strength and an aching back before it was over... We are both over 70 and it doesn't get easier with age, but it needed to be done.) and pouring than I did finishing it but it turned out well. Dry pouring is great for some jobs but I was especially impressed with your calculations for the strength as well as using a paint roller to make a very smooth surface. Great job on your chicken palace! Gotta keep the hens happy!
It sounds like you completed quite the project! And yes sir, this is the third small slab that we poured and they really turn out good. When we first started working on our place we poured a small patio mixing the concrete then pouring it. That slab is now full of cracks, but the dry pour doesn’t have even a hairline crack yet! Thank you for the nice comment and thank you for watching sir!
@@CajunCountryLivin I just have a question or two. Y'all being in LA, we're up in much cooler coastal VA. Do you think that our propensity for freeze/ thaw cycling up here in the winter makes it more advantageous for you to not have worry about, noting your thinner slabs? Also, what do you consider to be the maximum top end of thickness that you can reasonably do with dry pour? The minimum of the 4 inch pour per code ( example: for sidewalks) can be achieved with 2x4, 2x6, 1x6 w good backing, dimensional lumber if you trench the outsides for what is commonly called "keyways". A four inch thick slab around here is usually strong enough for a patio, landing, using reinforcement wire. My back step/ landing project was poured over a re-bar reinforced footing below grade and it was propped up on the existing house footing, but not tied in, as I might have to raise the house in anticipation of sea level rise around here. The slab for the landing is tied back to the footing with additional re-bar and reinforcement wire. Though not massive by any means, it was modeled after what I did back in the 90s for a deep end in the pool, the subsoil around here is sand, as we are on an estuary creek. Would you use wire and re-bar in your dry pouring over the thickness of the projects you are currently doing? I guess my question is at what point of thickness?? Thanks. Count me now as a subscriber, too.
@Mike Grant We don’t have the frost line issues down here that y’all have. So generally speaking there isn’t any heaving or shifting as long as you are flat ground. We only pour the thin slabs like the one in the video to make a good solid surface to set things on, or temporary walkways. However, the thickest that we have poured using this technique is 6 inches. For a permanent thicker slab, I would remove the topsoil, install plastic sheeting to prevent moisture from rising up into the concrete and put reimbursement wire in it. When you buy the concrete in bags it is already premixed and you just add water and mix what is already premixed. Same concept as pouring it dry and just adding water, just a little different technique. Thank you very much for subscribing and thank you for the interesting conversation! Hope that you have a great day!
@@CajunCountryLivin Thank you for reply. Today, I've finished pouring the very last of two 56 bag pallets and have two bags left (Sakcrete... I prefer Quickcrete but Lowes changed vendors) The last 17 bags of pallet 2 were finishing up my backyard shed's overhead door landing. A project that I started in 2003 with a small pour and ten 6x6 terracotta tiles. When I dug it out yesterday and formed it up, I committed 7 bags to a dry pour and covered the rebar and wire after flooding it then letting the water recede. Then, I walked it and tamped it and by the time I was ready to mix the underlying dry poured stuff was setting up nicely. I mixed and added some type S mortar and sand mix to each bag of Sakcrete and brought it up above grade and mated it to the existing slab floor using the form as the lowest point outside of the structure as the apron. Then I mixed up some mortar and set two rows of 5 tiles. Because it was getting so late, I broke for an hour, went in and ate some Thanksgiving dinner, then went out with a flashlight and worked the joints and wiped off the tiles. Today, it was an easy day. I finished the last pour, didn't set tiles, but it'll be another easy day tomorrow by just setting the last ten tiles on a nice sloping apron instead of trying to finish well after dark. I have two bags of Sakcrete left and will still have some type S mix left. Surely I can find some little spot that needs a nice dry pour slab, but instead, I will probably commit to a little oyster pyramid for the creek behind the shed. Oysters seem to do better with a bit of structure instead of sinking down into our muddy creek and the little oyster pyramids seem to do the trick from what the research indicates. Good luck with all your projects. I look forward to seeing your videos. Thanks again for giving me ideas for the versatility of light duty dry pouring.
@@CajunCountryLivin Now that[!] (cracks in the wet pour...not in the dry) is very interesting!!!
I’ve never heard of dry pour…and I need to replace my walkway. Thank you! And the clarity of you video is amazing!
Used this technique setting post. Always moistened hole before adding dry mix. The psi rating for the slab is good as long as the concrete cured correctly. No mess for small jobs. Cracks may be an issue but you probably already know that.
Awesome. We were fixing to spend over $1500 on already made cement blocks and stones to create a patio. Now I am thinking we can make our patio this way. Thanks for an awesome video.
I was thinking the same thing... I’m like hmmm it won’t hurt to try this out
Same here! Thx for showing us this cheaper easier way!
Ditto...I love this idea
Us as well. We are making an area just large enough for a swing bench and another area for a picnic table area on our land!
If you are going to do this, please for all that is holy and good, add a layer of chicken wire fencing; think thin layer concrete, chicken wire, concrete. Or just lay the chicken wire down n suspend, so it’s inside the concrete n not just on bottom. That will keep your concrete from crumbling apart. On big projects they use rebar reinforcement. But small slabs, like sheds n sidewalks n such some wire mesh is adequate
I'm a guy on oxygen who has seen this method before with soil cement but the first time seeing a slab done this way. Always knew it was possible so I'm glad I came across your video. My yard is fairly large and hilly with rocks. Nothing I have has to have something at 4000 psi . So I don't care if I make a parking space and the concrete crumbles into rock over time. That's what I have now lol! But I will be using this method for future projects! Thanks so much!
First off I’m impressed that you and your wife can work together and have a sense of humor. You are a blessed man.
Secondly, I was stationed at Guantanamo for a while when I was in the Navy. On one of the roads leading to Cuba there were old gun emplacements that had full bags of dry mix stacked like sand bags. Those bags hardened up like stacked rocks. You could still see remnants of the bags in the joints between the layers. Also as hard as I’ve tried to save 1/2/ full bags of concrete left over from other projects they always hardened up even with no water. Just the moisture in the air was all it took to harden up the left over concrete mix. I have no doubts about the strength of your slab.
Nexttime keep them in the garage in a trashbag. One of those black garden bags does fine. Ive had a bag here for almost 4 years now that hasnt gotten hard
P
Thank You for Your Sacrifice and Service!!
I haul and pour concrete in a mixer truck every day, never knew this was a thing. Nice video.
I have never ever seen a dry poured concert pad, amazing what you learn these days. Thanks for the info. God bless to you and your family .
It works really well on these smaller slabs for sure! We haven’t finished any bigger ones this way yet. We have some that are 6 month old and no cracks so far. Thank you for the supportive comment and thank you so much for joining us!
@@CajunCountryLivin could you do this for a garage in 4x4 sections I wonder.
@@brandonlewis5045 I wouldn't attempt that method on something you'd be driving a vehicle on.
We do dry mix concrete in africa often. We use water on the top and steel float it, then cover in plastic to finish the hydration process of the concrete/cement.
I'm not trying to pick on you, but noticed you wrote "concert pad" when you meant concrete pad. Years ago, when I bought my first house, I decided I wanted to make a concrete patio in back. I had to get it approved at the town board meeting. The next week, the local newspaper printed the minutes from the board meeting. They wrote I had received approval for building a concert patio. LOL
I read most of the comments. One piece of rebar in concrete increases the strength of the concrete by a huge amount. Using dry pour technique, I would put down a piece of heavy wire the size of the pad and raised up maybe half the height of the finished pad thickness. Add the dry concrete just enough to cover the wire and wet it down misting it with water maybe 3 or 4 times in an hour. Now add the rest on the dry concrete to the height you desired, smooth out the surface and the start to mist this final layer over the next couple of hours. A 2x4 thickness pad will turn out quite strong. The wire added to the concrete increases the ability to resist cracking and will make the pad quite strong same as adding rebar but easier to do.
Doesnt it depend on soil and cement psi? So if you have caliche dirt and use 5000 psi cement?
that's what I was thinking ...
Is it just concrete being poured or are they a mix of sand and cement. (Here in Australia you can get sand and cement mix. You can also get instant concrete, which has aggregate in it...) I am keen to do something similar as need a small slab to pour soon. Any tips and tricks would be appreciated.
@@DougieL stones just make it cheaper to produce. A mix with only sand and cement is the same strength, but cost more. Both 4000 psi.
If you have a huge pad to do, use the cheap stuff with stones at the bottom 3/4 of the thickness and use stoneless, more expensive concrete on the top 1/4. This way when you screed it, there aren't any stones in the way. Will be a prefect finish
Man will the way he poured it work for putting a dog house on or not?
Very impressive. For sure going to try on a few small projects. I would use a mask of some sort as that loose concrete dust can be very dangerous when you breath it in.
I'm inspired thanks! I searched for ideas for a small patio and this came up. After mixing many bags for a shed by myself I had been putting it off but this gives me motivation. Great work on video big thanks!
How did it come out!?
@lauriehaley8591 yes please update
That turned out great. I will be trying this soon for my backyard mini patio. Just enough space for 2 chairs and a small table to hold my lemonade
This is the first time I’ve ever seen concrete poured dry I guess I would call it🤔🤔. What a great idea and I’ll guarantee you I am going to pour one just like y’all just did. Thank you for sharing your knowledge !!♥️💫🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸
I thought this had to the craziest idea I had ever heard. I watched just to see you fail. But it turned out great! I’m shocked. I learned something today. Great job!
Thank you so much! It really makes smaller projects easy to manage. Thank you for watching!
I thought the same thing!! I’m gonna do this on the side of my house for a small shed. Maybe add some wire to help strengthen it. This made my day!!!
Omgosh. This was so great. I'm going to experiment and see if I can do a piece of curbing between the lawn and my flower bed. If anyone else has given that a try, please share! Thanks for posting this!!!
i did this about that same size to my drive way after a pine tree root demolished it...20 pound sledge and a pick axe and occasionally a chain attached to my hummer got the roots out....then i just dumped dry bags of concrete in and used a water hose to wet it...worked like a charm
Literally the ONLY video on UA-cam about this. I was certain this was an April Fools prank. Can’t be that easy.. but man I gotta give this a shot. Thank y’all for the inspiration 💪🏾
I have been thinking about doing this for a small area at my back door that never lets grass grow and is a muddy mess sometimes. now I'm sure it's what I need to do Thanks for sharing 😊
I’d figure out how to divert water away from your house before it causes bigger problems?
@@I_discovered_civilization how? French drains?
Thank you for this. Been needing to redo dog pen and wanting to add a few inches of concrete on each side to allow mowing and keep weeds/grass off fence. this looks like the ticket.
I admit I was skeptical, it sounded goofy, but now I'm surprised. You really got it smooth with the paint roller, too. Well done.
Have you seen the videos where people take entire bags of cement and lay them dry to form a retaining wall? When the bags of cement get wet, they set in place and make a cheap and solid retaining wall. Pretty kool application.
@@jill-of-all-trades They topple over!
Wow! 🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉
I would be crying
AND laughing thanking you in person right now!
I've watched all your dry cement video's twice!!#
Your can do attitude
is amazing 🎉
I too believe we all can do far more ourselves and save $
Thank you AND
bright blessings
to you & your family.
We are mid move and I have been in a panic as our new home has
no back patio, deck or sidewalks of any kind on the side or back of the new for us-
older home.
My wife has MS and we are both disabled.
Cement walkways are a necessity for both of us in stability.
Now I know,
a bad back
and very little $
I can still do THIS🎉
I may need a little help but
I tell you both🎉
You gave me hope
and re installed MY CAN DO!!!🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉
Awesome videos!!
This is a powerful contribution!
Thank you🎉
Thank you so much! We are very happy that our videos helped!
Easy enough to make the slab under the post a little extra thick, which creates monolithic footings poured with the slab. Great job
Love that you all make it a family project. ❤❤
Genios!! Never seen anything like it before! You have given me some ideas for a project in my back yard. Thank you and many blessings to you and your wife for a job well done!!
Thank you Tanya!
Yeah, I just watched this with my dad. That was real cool work. Gives you all kinds of ideas. Thanks! Fun to watch video!
This is how i was planning to do my driveway. Dry pour, ive never heard anyone talk about it. Big ups on this vid.
this is interesting. i used to pour pads for heat/air units many years ago and have used dry mix with post setting but never thought to do a dry pad pour.
Never thought that would turn out. Saves a lot of labor. Great job
This is awesome! Was researching how to concrete a shed floor and came across this gem! Thanks so much!!
I'm also researching a shed floor. My shed is going to be 10 x 12 and will store shelves packed with tools and equipment. My guess is that most sheds will eventually store so much weight that it will crack this kind of slab.
wow .. never seen this before. I may try it. Love the cuteness overload at the start.
I loved this..best part was your baby girl in the middle of it all..she's learning everyday seeing mom and dad working together ❤
Your baby girls approval is good enough, too adorable. Great job and team work 👏 👍 💪
you are not really adding water. the water crusts the surface right after the first misting. by that time the cement has begun absorbing moisture from the air and the soil underneath it. the later spraying will add some moisture but really helps the concrete cool a bit so it can cure properly. this method was used a lot on the early frontier days in Oklahoma where water was not plentiful. my grandfather said they often covered the slab with green grass and that helped ket the surface wet.
Thank you for VDO.
It's a good idea and very helpful for me ( a little senior women).
That dry pour is something I’m going to try. Thank you.
Outstanding - I never knew it was possible to construct a foundation using a dry pour. I've been trying to think of alternatives to covering the dirt floor in a storage space under my enclosed breezeway (~8'x8'). This may be just the ticket - or maybe stonedust and pavers. Thanks so much for demonstrating and videoing.
BTW- unrelated, during a 2020 cross-country trip, my wife and I camped in two of the most beautiful state parks (Fontainebleau & Fairview-Riverside) we've ever visited. Louisianans are among the nicest-friendliest people encountered.
Thank you for this thank you thank you wow!!!!!
I can’t contest. 1 week after Hurricane Ida hit Louisiana in 2021 I visited for the first time for work. I only stayed a week and me and my colleague were fascinated by how nice people were, I really couldn’t get over it. Such great people!✌️
I agree! I married one
Make sure you put down a piece of plastic first so it doesn’t sweat through the concrete 👍
No mixing I'm shocked it's dry
Dry laid a small slab once. Turned out very well. It has never cracked in over 20 years!
Love to hear it!!
Pics or it didn't happen
Is rebar required on small slabs ? I’m doing a small pouring tmmrw just wondering I don’t really do concrete jobs
How thick?
Did you use a base of gravel or any wire mesh?
This is about the size I need. Thanks for sharing this.
Best UA-cam video I've ever watched..thank you!
that is the cutest little face ever. So nice to see a real family doing stuff together. Also, I never would thought that would have come out that nice as a dry pour. Nicely done.
I wanted to do a pathway through the backyard so my grandma can get through in her chair, wasn't looking forward to getting a cement mixer. This look s like a great alternative
Interesting, I spent many years in concrete industry, both precast and ready Mix. Never seen anyone make a 1.5 inch thick slab that was expected to hold up any length of time. Then the fact that dry poured wouldn’t hydrate evenly enough to expect final strength to be even close to properly hydrated mix. Glad to see it’s working out for you guys. I have personally done a lot of things in life, including DIY construction projects, where the “experts” or even engineers or the manufacturers guidelines would say it wouldn’t work
Learn something new everyday. Never saw this method before. Thanks.
Ive done this for a small patio area(as taught by my dad) but with 6 inch spaced REBAR laying legnth wise across the longest expanse ..still solid and thats been 5 yrs ago
how many inches thick was it? i am looking to pour some walk ways at my house this way
@@sheliaharrison7988 about 2.5 / 2.75 inches thick
Nice
Heavy gage wire also works
Concrete, regardless , is gonna crack !
Wire / rebar keeps it bond together and from crumbling apart.
23 years in the concrete business. I can give you some info
1) concrete is a absorbent and isn't mixed like a cake but mixed to speed up the saturation.
2) The less water you use the stronger the concrete
Iiiiiinteresting!
So does that mean the dry pour would be even stronger than a mix with very minimal water? Or do you still need to mix for strength?
That's what I was thinking. I used to do quite a bit of concrete when I was young, I was usually just a grunt. That's exactly what the old boys I helped always said. They also said the slower it cured the better so we used to spray it down a few times a day for a few days. I used dry concrete when setting posts but have never tried anything like this, interesting. I've got a couple of small projects I think I'll give it a try.
@@richc9503 I'm an Architect builder here in Ireland and I agree, that less water and a slow curing time make strong concrete. People often add too much water to floor slabs etc. to make it easier to level but it weakens it a bit.
I just found your channel ..you guys did a good job on that slab ..I know someone else who got rid of their flowerbeds like that using the dry technique..Thanks for sharing🥰
Thank you!! Glad you found the channel Aquila! 😄😁
I have never heard or seen the dry technique. I am blown away by that.
It works really well! It is the perfect solution for smaller or hard to get to projects.
I poured a slab yesterday and worked so hard to get it smooth. LOL I woke up this morning looked at it and saw little foot prints where a bird landed on it.
I've done fence posts this but never a slab. Interesting project, might try this for the next chicken coop floor when we expand the flock from 50 to 100 chickens. Great job!
Good luck on the pour! Let us know how it goes 😁
I've done posts the opposite way. Filled the hole with water, then dumped concrete.
one of the coolest videos I've seen yet thanks yall
Just done a dry pour came out perfect.Thanks a million for sharing your so wonderful video .Gods Blessings to you and wonderful Family
Thank you, I did not know about the dry pour until now. The chicken foot prints.... adorable. Your little daughter beautiful. Great job. 👍🏻🇺🇸
I would have let the child put her hand prints in before it set. That way you would've had a permanent memory and story to the property. ✋🤚 UA-cam works too!
I would have taken off the topsoil as it's soft and gone down to sub-soil. The slab will only be as strong as what's underneath it. I would also add some fibre mesh for extra strength. I'd mix sand, gravel and cement on-site to save money and dampen the earth before starting or after rain so the moisture soaks in from the bottom too.
Yeah, I was concerned with the grass underneath the slab at first side as well.
Sound advice
Leave the grass, it acts as fiber reinforcement.
This was awesome and baby girl is so adorable. Can’t wait for me and my husband to try it!!
Thank you for sharing. I need to try this for my outdoor kitchen area. Its gonna be fabulous
Stumbled across this by accident. This is awesome. It's exactly what I needed to know for my own chicken houses and runs.
Without reinforcement and a one and a half inch thickness I’m wondering about an update down the road on how well it holds up. I was taught to alway have a footer around any slab as well as reinforcement in the form .
It’s almost a year old at this point and has no cracks or chips.
@@CajunCountryLivin
Thanks I will use the same method for an outdoor kitchen floor 👍
@@jayamburn1959 Southeast NC here.
Concrete does 2 things... gets hard and cracks. If you're worried about cracks down the road that are inevitable, use a couple of control joints cut partway through the slab. Footers aren't needed unless it's going to be supporting a load bearing wall or you're worried about erosion and undermining. They did such a great job that there slab probably will remain intact for a long time! The bagged concrete seems to be stronger than concrete from a plant or ready-mix, and it's much more consistent. You don't have a many factors that will affect the strength. How long it's in the truck before getting poured, being contaminated by any other thing that might get mixed in from the plant to the job, the control (or lack thereof) of the person who made the batch and mixed the different components of concrete together, the size of the aggregate, etc. Concrete is actually a very interesting and complicated material when you get into it! I find it fascinating and it's like science and art mixed together! How cool is that? But for your application, I would suggest using fiber mesh additive if possible. It's what is used nowadays vs. Rebar for strength and reinforcement. If there's no load bearing walls on top of slab, this will hold up great. If there is, just use 2 #5 rebar drilled about 6"into the existing foundation, that run continuously along the footer and epoxy them in. That will keep anything from settling or shifting if your earth moves like it tends to! For an outdoor kitchen, the consideration would be on how heavy your grill or cooking equipment will be. 4 inches thick supports tonnage... like vehicles etc. Also, what really makes a difference in how long it will be before your concrete cracks is the cutting and curing after the pour. Too much water during the pour weakens the slab, as does uneven dissipation of the water inside the slab as it cures. Once hard, it's very important to keep the slab watered down and in doing so, you'll increase the strength of the slab exponentially, and at a much faster speed. There's a lot of good info in Facebook groups for concrete. They're a hard bunch but they typically are pretty nice and will be glad to give you any info you're looking for to help you diy like this awesome, innovative minded power couple did here! Good luck with your kitchen though!
@@sanmiguelterritoriodeldogo742 I was thinking of making a 10×16 shed. Would this method work if I put either rebar or the mesh in the middle? This seems like it would be easier on my back than muxing concrete. Thank you!
Good golly, that little Ladly just warms my heart! 💜
Smiles forever 😁
Wish I thought.about 2yrs ago. Thanks for keeping the video clean. God bless.
That's a new one for me.......dry pour, never seen that before. I was wondering about rebar during the vlog, I must have missed it at the start that ye were relocating the coop but then when I saw ye move the coop it made total sense. Nice job!
Not needed for a coop pad, and I doubt rebar is going to help with the much lower PSI this has. Would be interesting to see what the actual PSI is.
Do you think this would suffice for a garden shed/small workshop? Cheers from England
@@AB-C1
If he's right and it comes in at about half strength, it should be fine. Sheds are nowhere near the density of homes so you're not putting much stress on it. I just am unsure of how much water is getting into the deeper concrete. As long as it all gets evenly wet after the pour, it should be fine but I'm not 100% that it happened here. It's an interesting thought experiment though and i might consider it for some of my smaller projects
They don’t need rebar its only an overlay . For a coop
If you wanted to you could lay any kind of reinforcement in it though . Plastic fencing wiorks too . Cute baby
I learned something new today. I'm definitely going to try this technique out for a small patio.
Ty for posting this video! It is the answer to a big problem in trying to pour a concrete slab ourselves. The only thing we have to account for in making the frame is that our yard is on a slope and we will need additional wood framing to make the slab level.
I’ve had two estimates for over $3k for a 300ft job. I found this video and I’m intrigued that I could probably do this myself. My yard is also on a slope and I have to account for this
You could dig the high side down and use the ground as your framing, just frame the downhill side
@@stevescuba1978 Thank you for the suggestion. I went back and read my comment over and realized that what I meant to say was that the slab would have to be thicker at the bottom of the slope.
Thank you this really helps me. I finally found easy slabs to do. I am Lil older so I am so happy I came about your video. God Bless You and Your Family.
We are very happy that you found our video! We hope you are having a great week!
Thank for this video. It was interesting. Plus you showed me I could lay a slab of concrete in my front yard by myself. I've been wanting to put a slab in this particular part for a few years now. But, I've been decorating it in a different way. Wow to find out I can do it with dry concrete this is going to be interesting 🤭 Again thank you.
Do yourself a favor and pull up the sod first, then add a layer of crush gravel. That slab will be a cinder slab in a few years time.
In W Palm Beach FL, I have seen unopened bags of cement stacked around driveway culverts and they cured fine for driving over. Eventually the paper bag cover disintegrates and all you see are nice shaped cement rock walls. I always wonder why I didn’t see this more often cause it works fine.
Boy I got a lot of ideas from just watching this. Thanks for posting
I just had to send you guys a quick note my wife and I just finished doing our third dry poor on our property none of it would have been possible if I didn't see your original video about a year ago thank you so much for showing me this technique I built a 15 by 8 shed on top of a slab we are about to add an 8 by 8 slab next to it as a work area we also poured a 8 X 4 extension to our patio and this past weekend we just did a 6 by 4 underneath a chair swing that we have had for a while our backyard looks so beautiful neat and professional all thanks to your Technique I love dry poor it's the best way to go thank you thank you thank you all the best to the two of you and your family I hope you get this message from Howie and Robin.
Good evening Howie and Robin! We are so very happy that we were able to help y’all achieve some of the projects! The comment that you left was the sole purpose that we decided to share our technique with the world. Thank you for sharing your experience with us!😊😊
Hi Howie and Robin, are you following this 2" inch recipe or thicker?
Just curious :-)
I was actually laughing at you at first and then I kept watching like wait a damn minute, I think it’s going to work lmao!! I’m going to do this exact same thing to set my utility trailer on.
I think you guys just saved me a ton of work and $$$$. Thank You!
@Mark D hope it helps you. We love the way the dry pour method works! It’s so easy and you end up with a great product!
@@CajunCountryLivin 👍
Oh wow thank you for sharing this great idea, now I can “hopefully” do this to my back patio “hopefully” y’all did make it look easy but thx
Never thought of a dry pour before, thanks for the tip.
I have one for you to. not sure why I noticed it. But since I did, I wanted to share it .you both have nice rocks! but when working might be good to take them off for safety and also might get damaged. Be safe and have a good day! and Thanks again for the tip!
Great idea. I like your idea of using a paint roller to make the stop smooth. I use this method 23 years ago on my driveway for my heavy work truck I added rebar and it's still there today and no cracks anywhere over 25 ft, I just added sidewalks all around my house how did everything with dry poor and misting it works great and it's better than all that work do you do on your mixing
Yes sir! We like this method because you don’t have to be in a huge rush to get your slab finished. Thank you for watching sir!
@@CajunCountryLivin
Translation: much less stress, easier, and interruptions can be taken care of!
My brothers house had a culvert across the entrance to the driveway. They put a big pipe in and installed unopened bags of concrete around it to construct a bridge over the culvert that could be driven on by the strength of the dry, bags of concrete. They never wet it or anything. It cured fine. Eventually.
I just finished doing the same thing 4months ago
Game changer! :)
I tried with a couple of mods (wanted as smooth as possible)
1. Top dry pour with mortar mix (while everything is all dry)
2. Used a stiff push broom to flatten out cement (prior to mortar add) - makes leveling very simple
3. Use an edge tool and magnesium float on that last layer of mortar mix while dry and work it till it’s glassy smooth (comes out more finished than the paint roller). It’s not difficult to do - think of it as “playing” lol. The mortar mix is very easy to smooth out. In the end will almost mirror a pro finish :)
Thanks for bringing this technique to light!
Greetings from Tejas. I enjoyed your video. I'll be working on a couple of slabs using your steps. Thanks for sharing, much appreciated.
I've done many dry pours, its the best method for smaller projects from my point of view.
I was taught by an old retired civil engineer about the dry pour technique. The way he taught me was to form it, pour your sack-crete, finish it off, cover it with something, and wait. Without a moisture barrier on the ground, the concrete will pull moisture from the ground, and the air. It takes a week or so to harden, but his thought was being that the more water you add to concrete, the less strength you have in the end. If this logic holds true you should have all 3000 psi.
Unless he was incorrect in his assumption, but considering throughout his career he had engineered no telling how many huge industrial pours, and projects, I figure he wouldn't lead me to far astray
You do need water for concrete, it only effects strength if you use too much. This is the first time I’ve seen anybody do concrete this way.
Do you think you should just cover it with a tarp?
Glenn when you say 'form it's, do you mean build a frame around it?
So what about the inside of this thing? Is it as tough as with water inside? Or dry?
@@kathlynbarnes8236 Yes, to build the form around the area you intend to pour the concrete. Or in this case, dump the sacks.
After watching this video I just had to sub and like! I'll be doing this to have a foundation for my rubbish cans, currently there's just gravel on the ground. So glad I stumbled upon your video, never knew you could set concrete like this. Now how did you get your wife to help you out with lifting those 80lb bags while you raked/spread the concrete...she's a winner and you now need to complete that never ending honey do list...LOL! Loved the marks from the chickens too, they just needed to get involved I guess.
I noticed you did not wet the ground first or lay any plastic down, is that ok for the long haul of the concrete pad?
Also, would this work if tying it in with an existing concrete slab? Would I need to drill holes into the existing slab and use rebars?
Thank you for sharing your dry concrete pour and getting your family and pets involved with the job....it made this video that much better!
You are genius. Never ever seen anything like this. Amazing
I’m going to try this! I’ve watched all your videos about it!! Thank you so much!!!
I’m doing a 12x12 ft section. Planning on doing 4 separate dry pours! Wish me luck!
You’ve got this! Let us know how it turns out!
I am currently in the process of doing this right now. I am making a front yard patio space and currently making 4ft concrete blocks for a total of 9. I am currently on my 5th block and I can tell you that its getting easier and easier once I got used to the process. Each one is also getting better looking as I adjust the process and might have to replace the 2nd one I made because I rushed it and it didnt come out as good. It takes me about 1 hour to do one 4ft block from start to finish and the rest of the time is for spraying every couple hours or so. Its coming along.
We are happy this process is working for you. You are 100% correct, once you get the hang of it, the process gets more and more easy.
How many time do you water the 4 feet block? I am about to pour the fence footing with sono tube and it’s 2 feet and was looking up to see how many time should I water the footing?
i need a small slab for my bbq grill, and wasnt wanting anything big or bulky.. this is my solution. Thank you for posting.
i had to watch this twice, cuz the first time i went straight to the comments to see how many "experts" were going to rip this video apart, but was pleasantly surprised with the lack of hate lol. great video!
Outstanding
I sit posts like that but didn’t know you could do walks and slabs. Thanks for posting ❤️
Interesting. Never seen this done before.
I'd have immediately thought to throw down a base panel of steel reo' (a 4mm square bar welded mesh), but am so impressed these slabs don't crack! Thank you for the lesson. I have to build a 180 kg (~390LB) generator pad and was busily getting ready over engineering the thing.
Over engineer it, it is not just the mass you have to contend with, a generator produces a significant amount of vibration. Use re-bar for additional support, my suggestion is a slab 5-6 inches thick with the re-bar 2-3 inches from the top.
And the fact that you're speaking in metric tells me you're likely in Canada. Which means you will encounter concrete's worst natural enemy; frost!
Build it to last!
@@tomnovak7731 Australia.
@@matterofrights2344 Back to plan A then... Thanks for the advice.
@@richardmillership3002 sorry, my mistake. I just didn't pick up any of the typical Ausie dialect.
You may be fine then, but I would rather err on the side of caution the first time than have to tear it out and rework it after it fails.
Nice tip for people that don't have a certain timeline or are in a rush. Nice video. 👍
omg i was thinking this in my head but never saw anyone do it so now i no it works to Lowe's i go. thank you
Just happened to run across this video. Enjoyed so I’m gonna go look at some more after I subscribe.
We are glad to have you!
Very cool! Thanks for making this video!
Awesome !
@@amirashudel8225 nice 👌
hi brian, just saw your vid of the HH A10 couple days ago. i'm a huge fan
I’ve never heard of a dry pour but I like it….but how do I know when it has enough water
I’m glad I saw your current video first, I don’t think I’d feel as confident if I only had this one to watch!
I swept dry thin set in between 3/16 paver grout joints then wet. 3 years later I removed a row of pavers to add gas line underneath and I had to cut thin set with a grinder. Ive installed tile for over twenty years and the thin set bonded just as well as if mixed with water prior to installarion.