Kneading concrete manually and in a concrete mixer

Instruction how to mix concrete is necessary for anyone who is building or repairing.

Even the most modest construction can not be carried out without a foundation.

The main components of the foundation of the building are concrete and reinforcement.

These components allow the erection of impeccable architectural structures that withstand extreme loads, strong winds and weather whims.

Concrete is made from dry ingredients.

A mixture without water can be stored for a long time in a closed container. But before use, water is added to the concrete components.

The self-made solution hardens for a couple of hours, so it's best to use it immediately. The foundation stone is cured, providing strength to the base.

It is worth producing concrete with your own hands when building the foundation of a frame house and concrete stairs.

Frame structures do not need a massive foundation, since they are not heavy on weight. Only before this you need to know how many and what ingredients you need.

Composition of concrete

The main components of a concrete solution are all components of water and cement. They are complemented by crushed stone with sand.

Powder cement is produced from ground limestone, chalk, gypsum and marl. Cement dust is harmful by inhalation, as it settles in the lungs.

Contact with cement on the skin may cause irritation. Therefore, all construction operations with cement are carried in gloves, wearing a respirator.

Cement grades differ in strength, the higher this index, the higher the figure in the name.

Popular brands - M400, M500.The volume of the components of these mixtures is one to four and one to five - one part of the cement comes with four or five pieces of sand.

Natural natural raw material - sand, classified according to the degree of granularity, it can fluctuate in the range from 0.5 to 2 millimeters.

Sometimes a little clay is poured into the sand for the viscosity of the future solution. Sand with an excess of clay must be cleaned with water and dried.

Crushed stone is produced by grinding granite to five-millimeter pieces. As a component for a concrete solution, it must be washed, free of clay and earth.

The main condition for water that will go to kneading the mixture is cleanliness. That is, it should not contain salts and acids that can change the characteristics of the solution.

Therefore, it is recommended to prepare it on the basis of water from a water pipe, and not from a well or a spring.

To improve the performance of the concrete, additives are used. Some modifiers affect the ductility and fluidity.

Others slow down the pouring process, which is necessary in hot weather. Still others - provide increased water resistance or protect from low temperatures.

As the fate of the whole future construction depends on the sand concrete, it is important to know how much to use these or those components and in what sequence it is necessary to mix them in order to correctly prepare the liquid composition with your own hands.

Manual preparation of concrete

Concrete for pouring a step foundation is very easy to prepare by hand, if you have a small construction area.

Plants producing building mixtures do not bring the product to the object less than one cube of concrete.

The best solution is to make concrete by hand, if the pouring occurs periodically, as happens when forming the pile-and-girder foundation.

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You can also go in the conditions of great distance from the manufacturer and inaccessibility of travel to the construction site of the car mixer.

The process of making concrete for a foundation or other purposes with your own hands is not easy, so it must be done in parts, alternately mixing the necessary ingredients.

To properly produce manually kneaded, you must first make a "ballast".It is important to calculate how much to take the ingredients.

Ballast is prepared from stone crumb and sand in a 3: 1 ratio. For one serving, you can take a bucket.

For batch prepare a deep container and shovel. In the old bath, which is available in all the suburban areas, it accommodates less than one cube, about 0.3.

But if the size of construction is small, there will be enough pelvis and trowel.

1 part of cement and 5 parts of ballast are combined in a container, diligently mixing and achieving homogeneity of the mass. Basically, these proportions are observed, but sometimes only cement is used.

For concrete to be the most durable, take cement grade M500.Of course, the higher the brand of cement, the more expensive it costs.

If we talk about how much cement is more expedient to buy, then a bag weighing 50 kg is the most optimal option.

I make a hole in the center of the resulting mixture, a little water is poured into it. Stirring is carried out from the walls of the container to the middle, where the water is.

When connecting the dry mixture with water, it is necessary to reach the bottom in order to thoroughly mix the components.

After making the composition by hand, pay attention to its consistency. If the proportions are matched correctly, the solution will be liquid, but not flowable.

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Too excess liquid will lose its strength properties. Excessive density will also negatively affect the quality of construction.

The consistency check is simple. The blade of the shovel in the concrete cut out a small section of a square shape. Then follow its edges. If they crumble, then little water is added.

If through the concrete structure made by own hands, water oozes, then it is too much. It is necessary to additionally mix concrete and add it to the previously prepared composition, again thoroughly mixing.

Note: the water is poured into the prepared powder mixture. This sequence of actions during the mixing of peskobetona with their own hands prevents the appearance of lumps.

Concrete of the right consistency should easily be lifted from the container by a shovel, and not uprooted with the use of great effort.

In the end, how much is needed to improve the properties, plasticizers and crushed stone. A self-made concrete mortar is delivered to the construction site in buckets.

In the case of large-scale construction, the manufacture of sand concrete by hand will become a debilitating process.

Quickly, without wasting strength, you can get concrete in a concrete mixer.

Concrete manufacturing in the concrete mixer

Now there are many machines that can facilitate the production of concrete. It is easier to prepare the composition in a concrete mixer than to produce it in parts with large amounts of construction.

How much material will be needed? If you translate the proportions into kilograms, then the cube of sand concrete will need 300-350 kilograms of cement.

Also on the cube of popular building materials, sand - 600-700 kg, gravel - 1100-1200 kg, and water - 150-180 liters.

The difference in each proportion is due to the unequal quality of the ingredients. For example, gravel crushed stone is characterized by a higher strength index than limestone.

Therefore, it is accepted to use in a smaller proportion.

To make a cube of building materials, it's easier to use buckets. If you pour components buckets, you need to know that they have not the same weight.

For example, cement in one bucket weighs about 16 kg, and gravel - about 17 kg. So, measuring the proportions in buckets, proceed from the ratio: 9 parts of gravel, 5 - sand, 2 - cement.

The solution is prepared correctly in a concrete mixer as follows. The pear of this apparatus is set at a 45-degree angle. We pour the sand inside.

Cement is loaded into the concrete mixer gradually, including the stirring mechanism after the next addition.

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After mixing sand and cement in a concrete mixer, water is poured in portions. Adding a little bit of water, scroll the concrete mixer.

The next component that you need to add to the mass in the concrete mixer is rubble. It also needs to be introduced in small batches for uniform mixing.

Although in the manufacture of a building product in a concrete mixer, you can depart a little from the strict consecutive procedure of kneading, as when working with your own hands, but always keeping all proportions.

It is allowed to put all the components into the device at once: half a bucket of water, four buckets of gravel mixture and one bucket of cement.

Do not stop the progress of the batch, add two more buckets of water. The solution must be scrolled in a concrete mixer for a couple of minutes. The consistency of the prepared concrete is compared with a liquid clay.

Other variants of

If you understand that you will not be able to prepare the foundation for laying the foundation of a frame house or other small structures with your own hands, then resort to the help of professionals.

Do not worry about how much to take components and how to mix them, you can buy a cube of concrete, which should be enough for a small building.

The cube of this building product costs from 2400 rubles. This figure refers to the lowest grade. The medium-strength cube( M400) costs from 3200 rubles. The most expensive and reliable brand is the M600.

The cube of such concrete will cost 4 thousand.