Sloped drive/ gates job.

[zoothorn]

@joe90 John i need your help urgently. Just posted 2 replies/ crete gone in. Thanks zoot

[dangti6]

I suspect your residual displaced water is on the top and will soon evaporate and soak in to the ground. You'll probably feel the top of the 'crete if you push a stick in to the water.

 

Only start to worry if your stick sinks down in to 31" of zoot soup. 

 

 

[Onoff]

As Frankie said...

 

Relax!

 

Nowt you can do about it now.

[zoothorn]

12 minutes ago, dangti6 said:

I suspect your residual displaced water is on the top and will soon evaporate and soak in to the ground. You'll probably feel the top of the 'crete if you push a stick in to the water.

 

Only start to worry if your stick sinks down in to 31" of zoot soup. 

 

 

My zoot stick? Where what is this? You mean poke a stick in it?

 

I am reminded of my extension footings.. a similar looking zoot soop. Omg i panic with this damn stuff. Tbh i cant look.

[dangti6]

Go back and have a nosey. Bet most of that water has been absorbed by the powder now. 

 

Yes, I mean poke something in the water and see how deep it is until you hit the sea bed, as it were. I highly suspect you'll soon hit the material which will be the depth it will dry out at. 

 

 

[zoothorn]

14 minutes ago, Onoff said:

As Frankie said...

 

Relax!

 

Nowt you can do about it now.

If i have put 1/2 too much water in, which i suspect i have, will the concrete set below a layer of water sat ontop? In which case couldnt the top water layer be removed.. or just left to evaporate?

[zoothorn]

2 minutes ago, dangti6 said:

Go back and have a nosey. Bet most of that water has been absorbed by the powder now. 

 

Yes, I mean poke something in the water and see how deep it is until you hit the sea bed, as it were. I highly suspect you'll soon hit the material which will be the depth it will dry out at. 

 

 

Danti6 my stick goes pretty much unaided right the way down. It has remained exactly as it was a thin soup, not set whatsoever.

 

Shalli dive into town & buy  2 more bags??? Itll be 30 mins until im back if so. 

[dangti6]

Concrete doesn't set, it cures - even under water.  

[joe90]

Sorry @zoothorn, been away, yes as said above, it  will “cure” underwater, but Chuck another bag in, can’t do any harm.

Edited August 26, 2021 by joe90

[Onoff]

30 minutes ago, zoothorn said:

Danti6 my stick goes pretty much unaided right the way down. It has remained exactly as it was a thin soup, not set whatsoever.

 

Shalli dive into town & buy  2 more bags??? Itll be 30 mins until im back if so. 

 

Does sound like you've made it a bit too wet in that case. If it's that watery it won't set that quick so sling more in I would. 

[Ferdinand]

At this point, have a cup of tea for 20 minutes,

[dangti6]

1 hour ago, zoothorn said:

Well it needed 4 buckets full of water to get my 1/3 rd water level. Then 1 bag.. seemed stupidly thin, so i put a 2 nd bag in... still seems stupidly thin... so ive put a 3 rd bag in.. but it still seems too thin.

 

1 and a 1/3 buckets per 20kg bag is what you have used going on the above. Add water with each bag next time rather than sloshing the lot in.

 

If there's somewhere near that sells blue circle postcrete, I'd go for that for your second post. And to save the stress buy say 6 bags for the next hole and take back a bag or 2 if required. Better to have too much than not enough as you found today. 

Edited August 26, 2021 by dangti6

[zoothorn]

21 minutes ago, Ferdinand said:

At this point, have a cup of tea for 20 minutes,

Youre kidding me.. ive just spent the most stressful 25 mins driving like a madman there & back, 2 bags, forgot my wallet, begged to let me have... shot back //// 2 more bags gone in. I think I might have just caught in time as it was starting to go off i guess somuch water in there cameto my rescue in a way.  I hope to goodness. So ive mixed the damn thing up as best i can. Still im most of a bag short.

 

the directions are hopelessly vague on the packet, postcrete instructions i resd the same. Evaluating how much you might need is nigh on impossible: even on the clips, ive seen loads to prep, i calculated 2 bags max. And its almost 3 x this needed. I couldnt have prepped a job more thourally with so much time i thought. And plus all of your fab help too.
 

And still i come so unstuck. Jesush man my confidence is shot to pieces. Hate to think what that hour did to my health, let alone my poor old car. Anyway..... done for now. At least were beating the ruddyinjuns at cricket.

[zoothorn]

33 minutes ago, dangti6 said:

 

1 and a 1/3 buckets per 20kg bag is what you have used going on the above. Add water with each bag next time rather than sloshing the lot in.

 

If there's somewhere near that sells blue circle postcrete, I'd go for that for your second post. And to save the stress buy say 6 bags for the next hole and take back a bag or 2 if required. Better to have too much than not enough as you found today. 

Yes i forget you can return building stuff simple as. Live & learn. Awful experience that was tho, i could have had a serious accident but luckily so few cars in genetal out here. My car.. so fkn rocks, its smoking at the mo!

 

thanks chaps much appreciated. Z

[zoothorn]

Does it matter if its too 'strong' ? I mean i calculate 4.5 buckets water, to 5 bags postcrete gone in.

 

Why the feck cant they do this buckets of water / bag on instructions.. not hole 1/3 rd full with just vague mention of size makes me angry.

[TonyT]

Vague instructions means it doesn’t matter if you are out a little bit, it’s not like self levelling compound that specify x amount of litres of water per bag.

 

don’t worry it will be fine

[joe90]

It also depends on the water level in your soil, if it’s dry the water will soak up, if wet, well you know now ?

[zoothorn]

30 minutes ago, joe90 said:

It also depends on the water level in your soil, if it’s dry the water will soak up, if wet, well you know now ?

Yes understood.. so its in my favour perhaps the btm was slushy clay. Now, i need more wet! Nuts to postcrete i say. Id have been better off doing my own mix, & saving £25 too, plus a few blood vessels. 

[zoothorn]

4 hours ago, TonyT said:

Vague instructions means it doesn’t matter if you are out a little bit, it’s not like self levelling compound that specify x amount of litres of water per bag.

 

don’t worry it will be fine

Cheers Tony.. i think ive just about got away with it. But a helluva struggle for me.

 

One thing i notice I wasn't expecting, just poked the top with my finger & its still squidgy. Seems odd?

[joe90]

Concrete takes 24 to 48 hrs to set  BUT takes about 28 days to fully cure.

[zoothorn]

1 hour ago, joe90 said:

Concrete takes 24 to 48 hrs to set  BUT takes about 28 days to fully cure.

Ah ok. I was wondering about this rapid set thing you see.. kinda thrown me a curveball, so to speak.

[zoothorn]

9 hours ago, joe90 said:

Concrete takes 24 to 48 hrs to set  BUT takes about 28 days to fully cure.

And Im still not clear on this concrete constitutent aspect: what I mean is, i concreted my cabin pads, mixer/ gravel/ cement/ water/ a ratio to follow/ dash of frostproofer. So i know the consistency for a next time, know the ingredients, how long it sets. Ive read the info given by Onoff if i recall, a sheet of info explaining the differences of the various cement-based "recipes".

 

Here, the postcrete is deemed to be concrete " ..Crete "  in the name too so no cause for confusion as to what it is. So having done concrete, i expect a similarity. But nothing of the sort it seems. Theres no gravel at all ( so isnt this mortar then, not concrete-?), the water ratio aspect is different IE its ok to be vague unlike my mixer concrete job needing care to follow the 4:1:1 ratio + dash ( if i recall my pads' ratio correctly), & theres no frostproofer addition either. 

 

Very confusing. 

[PeterW]

Postcrete does have some aggregate in it - it’s just not that visible and not as much as in a standard 3:2:1 concrete mix. It’s good stuff tbh and does the job well

[zoothorn]

1 hour ago, PeterW said:

Postcrete does have some aggregate in it - it’s just not that visible and not as much as in a standard 3:2:1 concrete mix. It’s good stuff tbh and does the job well

Hi Peter, but it was a solid lump of compacted very fine material. Tipping out there was no aggregate, unless it was finely ground.. in which case if so, its just sand surely.  Sand + cement = mortar. So should this be more accurately called mortar then? Im baffled with this.
 

And the frostproof missing: what a fine grey powder too in with?

[PeterW]

4 minutes ago, zoothorn said:

And the frostproof missing: what a fine grey powder too in with?

You don’t need frost proofer in the mix in August !! Just add it all, Chuck the water in and leave it for 24 hours.