Triassic Posted April 30, 2018 Share Posted April 30, 2018 (edited) I’ve just concreted the foundations for my new build. I’d calculate the volume to be 23m3. I got a second person to check my calculations and they came to the same figure. I talked to the concrete pump guy and he said I should order a little extra and some would be lost within the pump and pipe work, so I ordered and extra 1/2m3. The pump guy guy turned up today having never seen the job, one of his other guys had been on site to check access and had said to him it would be fine. So he set up as best he could, as a result the rear end of the pump truck was stuck out into the road. Becauses of the distances of involved We had to carry extra lengths of 4” rubber and steel hose up onto site and couple these to the end of the boom. Four concrete wagons turned up at half hour intervals and the pumping went smoothly, with only two blockages caused by hard lumps of cement within the concrete mix. However we were about 2m3 short. So I ring the concrete company and ask for an extra load. It turns out I should have ordered “23.5m3 PLUS.”The PLUS means that your not exactly sure about the volume required, by saying PLUS you’re staking a claim in the pecking order, so if you ring up for extra, you get The next load out of the batch plant. If you don’t say PLUS and you ring up for extra, it’s like placing a new order and you could get it as the last load out of the batch plant or maybe first load tomorrow. Having finished pumping we had to uncouple and empty each additional length of hose of concrete. The pump guy then inserts a foam ball into the end of the pipe and sucks this back to his truck, filling the pump hopper with any concrete left in the delivery lines. This has to be discharged onto site, in my case onto the stone driveway. I then had to barrow 10 loads up a steep drive and dispose of it into a canvenient hole (I’d estimate there was about 1m3 within the concrete pump and hoses) in my case, a freshly dug foundation. Whilist your doing this the pump guy is power washing the hoses, equipment and pump truck all over your drive. One final thing, you also need two bags of cement to prime the concrete pump. Luckily I had two bags on site as the pump guy expected me to supply it. Edited April 30, 2018 by Triassic 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jack Posted April 30, 2018 Share Posted April 30, 2018 Fantastic real-world info, thanks. We heard about the pump priming thing on the day too, and had to run out and buy some cement while waiting for the first concrete truck to arrive. Why they can't factor that into the price or at least tell you in advance is beyond me. We also told the guy with the pump exactly where to put the excess from the pump at the end of the day, and that he needed to avoid the area around the trees due to TPOs. At the end of the day, he moved the truck 2m forward while we were distracted elsewhere and dumped the concrete exactly where we said he couldn't. If he'd moved 10m forward he'd have avoided the trees and given himself more space to clean up, but you could tell he just didn't give a stuff. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ferdinand Posted April 30, 2018 Share Posted April 30, 2018 (edited) 35 minutes ago, Triassic said: I’ve just concreted the foundations for my new build. I’d calculate the volume to be 23m3. I got a second person to check my calculations and they came to the same figure. I talked to the concrete pump guy and he said I should order a little extra and some would be lost within the pump and pipe work, so I ordered and extra 1/2m3. The pump guy guy turned up today having never seen the job, one of his other guys had been on site to check access and had said to him it would be fine. So he set up as best he could, as a result the rear end of the pump truck was stuck out into the road. Becauses of the distances of involved We had to carry extra lengths of 4” rubber and steel hose up onto site and couple these to the end of the boom. Four concrete wagons turned up at half hour intervals and the pumping went smoothly, with only two blockages caused by hard lumps of cement within the concrete mix. However we were about 2m3 short. So I ring the concrete company and ask for an extra load. It turns out I should have ordered “23.5m3 PLUS.”The PLUS means that your not exactly sure about the volume required, by saying PLUS you’re staking a claim in the pecking order, so if you ring up for extra, you get The next load out of the batch plant. If you don’t say PLUS and you ring up for extra, it’s like placing a new order and you could get it as the last load out of the batch plant or maybe first load tomorrow. Having finished pumping we had to uncouple and empty each additional length of hose of concrete. The pump guy then inserts a foam ball into the end of the pipe and sucks this back to his truck, filling the pump hopper with any concrete left in the delivery lines. This has to be discharged onto site, in my case onto the stone driveway. I then had to barrow 10 loads up a steep drive and dispose of it into a canvenient hole (I’d estimate there was about 1m3 within the concrete pump and hoses) in my case, a freshly dug foundation. Whilist your doing this the pump guy is power washing the hoses, equipment and pump truck all over your drive. One final thing, you also need two bags of cement to prime the concrete pump. Luckily I had two bags on site as the pump guy expected me to supply it. Moral: Do not build any more of your drive than is absolutely necessary until later ? I am sure no one here does that anyway. Edited April 30, 2018 by Ferdinand Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteamyTea Posted April 30, 2018 Share Posted April 30, 2018 Sound like those two examples are shitehouse companies and should not be dealt with. There really is no need for bad customer service these days. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ProDave Posted April 30, 2018 Share Posted April 30, 2018 Even a conventional straight from the wagon pour, you need somewhere for them to wash out. It's a messy business. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Triassic Posted April 30, 2018 Author Share Posted April 30, 2018 Oh they’ll take it away at £100 per m3, customer service is not free!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jack Posted April 30, 2018 Share Posted April 30, 2018 24 minutes ago, SteamyTea said: Sound like those two examples are shitehouse companies and should not be dealt with. There really is no need for bad customer service these days. I agree, and yet we had it again and again. Sometimes, it's a result of people not caring. Others, it's more a case of them not listening properly, or not remembering. We had the latter several times, where we'd discuss something at length with a contractor ahead of time, then come back a day or three later to find that they'd got to this particular job and done it exactly the way they'd always done it. I had a couple of them try and say that they thought my instructions were just me "talking generally" (whatever that means). Others said that they'd forgotten when they actually went to do it, but in any event it didn't matter because my way was no better than theirs. And then we had those who insisted they didn't recall the conversation, even though it may only have been a day or two beforehand. It was difficult to tell whether any particular person was lying, forgetful, incompetent, stupid, or indifferent. ? If I were doing this again, I'd have a site diary, note every conversation, and get it initialed (or at least email a copy of my understanding of what had been agreed). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ToughButterCup Posted April 30, 2018 Share Posted April 30, 2018 I was lucky enough to remember @TerryE's advice to have a 'flushing-pit' ready for the wash out: the proceeds of three wash-outs made a nice little flat, hard work area in front of the house. Need a 16 tonner to dig it out , but Hell, that'll be a relief because the house'll be finished by then..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteamyTea Posted April 30, 2018 Share Posted April 30, 2018 2 minutes ago, recoveringacademic said: 'flushing-pit' Anything with your best mates, the Great Crested Newts, in it would do surely. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ToughButterCup Posted April 30, 2018 Share Posted April 30, 2018 1 minute ago, jack said: [...] And then we had those who insisted they didn't recall the conversation, even though it may only have been a day or two beforehand. It was difficult to tell whether any particular person was lying, forgetful, incompetent, stupid, or indifferent. ? They're builders, not communicators: so the norm is that they do all of the above all the time, and they know they're doing it, they don't care that they do it . I never now believe a trades person until he or she delivers on time on budget. So far just one tradesman (in three years) has done what he said he'd do when he said he'd do it, charged what he said he would charge, supplied an invoice and kept us informed while planning to do the job. The exception that proves the local rule. It never happens in South Wales for example (?) 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chrisb Posted April 30, 2018 Share Posted April 30, 2018 Our mix-and-pump-in-one-wagon put the ball in at the mixer end and fired it out of the pipe in the same direction as the rest of the concrete. Nothing to dump anywhere after that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DreamingTheBuild Posted April 30, 2018 Share Posted April 30, 2018 Next door I saw them wash the chute out into the skip, guess a pump is a different ball game though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Construction Channel Posted April 30, 2018 Share Posted April 30, 2018 Strangely for my pump they brought some "pump primer" with them, 2x 1litre milk cartons with some special stuff in them, labelled up as pump primer, every other job has asked for bags of cement? I wonder why they don't all just buy the primer and put it on the price of the job... FWIW the pump guys I used were very helpful, on site at 7:20, called 2 days before to check I still wanted it, did all the lumping and pouring and were generally good fun to work with. considering I was expecting just the pump to turn up without any staff I was pleasantly surprised Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Construction Channel Posted April 30, 2018 Share Posted April 30, 2018 11 minutes ago, DreamingTheBuild said: Next door I saw them wash the chute out into the skip, guess a pump is a different ball game though. there is a difference between cleaning the chute and emptying the rest of the load. Skip companies dont like you emptying the rest of the load into their skips, especially if its the best part of 2m3, AMHIK ? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Triassic Posted April 30, 2018 Author Share Posted April 30, 2018 19 minutes ago, chrisb said: Our mix-and-pump-in-one-wagon put the ball in at the mixer end and fired it out of the pipe in the same direction as the rest of the concrete. Nothing to dump anywhere after that. I ask why he didn’t put it in at the pump end, elf and safety, apparently, someone might cop the lot at hundred mph! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chrisb Posted April 30, 2018 Share Posted April 30, 2018 2 hours ago, Triassic said: I ask why he didn’t put it in at the pump end, elf and safety, apparently, someone might cop the lot at hundred mph! Mine had a builder stood on the end of the pipe, which was wedged firmly into a large bucket. Still made an almighty pop though! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mvincentd Posted May 1, 2018 Share Posted May 1, 2018 On 30/04/2018 at 16:57, Triassic said: Oh they’ll take it away at £100 per m3, customer service is not free!! Not a crazy option though. I had 4 pumps and 4 dumps on my build, of which 3 dumped with little regard for instructions.....they’re just intent on getting cleaned and home at that stage in the day. If you can’t spread it around thinly you’ll easily spend £100/m3 hiring a man and kango to bust it up. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Triassic Posted May 2, 2018 Author Share Posted May 2, 2018 5 hours ago, mvincentd said: a man and kango to bust it up. I am the man and Kango. The more I DIY the more I save for later in the build. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mvincentd Posted May 2, 2018 Share Posted May 2, 2018 4 hours ago, Triassic said: I am the man and Kango. The more I DIY the more I save for later in the build. ...i'm too puny to spend more than 5 minutes on a Kango and not be shaken to dust myself. Don't underestimate the task if they fail to spread it thin....breaking 6" is a bit different to breaking 2"...i watched a tough labourer sweat over 1/2 cube for several hours. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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