Heating with wood

[cmhyland]

It's time to start moving the firewood around.

I have a woodshed attached to my porch and I need to make new doors for it and pour a concrete floor in there.

The floor is about 10 X 14.... Can this be mixed dome by hand? Or should I call for a truck delivery.

Regards,
Chris

 

[scott_vt]

It's time to start moving the firewood around.

I have a woodshed attached to my porch and I need to make new doors for it and pour a concrete floor in there.

The floor is about 10 X 14.... Can this be mixed dome by hand? Or should I call for a truck delivery.

Regards,
Chris

Afternoon Chris,
Thats a lot of concrete ! People have done that with a good mixer but Im thinking it would be really tough by hand ! Dont forget to put the reinforced mesh down. Im in the process of moving my firewood also, oh what a job, although I do lose a few pounds durring the process!

 

[RobertN]

Assuming a 4" floor, that's 1.7 yards of concrete. Probably be easiest to get two buggy loads from the local yard. That would be a fair amount to mix by hand, but a short load for most concrete trucks...

The floor is about 10 X 14.... Can this be mixed dome by hand? Or should I call for a truck delivery.

 

[cmhyland]

Scott,
If I pour it at 4 inches thats less the 2 yards. I could do it in sections if need be... Don't you have to order a minimum on a truck? 4 yards?

Thanks,
Chris

 

[scott_vt]

Scott,
If I pour it at 4 inches thats less the 2 yards. I could do it in sections if need be... Don't you have to order a minimum on a truck? 4 yards?

Thanks,
Chris

Chris,
Most small loads are 4 yards, even if you only need 2 ! Your going to pay for it one way or the other. Start looking around the homestead for another small concrete project and make it worth while !

 

[VABlue]

If you're going to pour concrete, then you already have it leveled? If so, smooth out 2 yds, or so, of crushed stone base and top that with 2" brick pavers. (One yd of stone will cover 100 sq ft to 1" deep.) Use more stone base if you can (I was staying on the 4" theme) - the key is to put the base into a frame that won't move (which you'll need for the concrete pour anyway). This may be a cheaper option than pouring 4 yds of concrete, and will be much easier than mixing concrete yourself. Besides, you're putting firewood on it, so how good does it need to look?

 

[RobertN]

Would a buggy work? Around here at the rental yards and some landscape/rock supply yards you can get the 1 yard buggies of concrete, for about $100/yd. They'll mix 1/2, 3/4, or 1 yard at a time to fill the buggy. Most require a 3/4 ton truck to tow with...

CMT-100 Concrete Mixing System
Concrete-to-Go Premixed in Towable Trailer

I worked with a contracter buddy of mine for a while. We did lots of small job 1-3 yard pours using buggies/trailers.

In the Placerville, Ca area, There is a guy with a miniture concrete truck; I think he holds max 3 yards. He specializes in small pours like yours.

There is also a concrete truck that mixes on site; only charges for what you use. I don't know what the local minimum is though

Scott,
If I pour it at 4 inches thats less the 2 yards. I could do it in sections if need be... Don't you have to order a minimum on a truck? 4 yards?

Thanks,
Chris

 

[randy41]

concrete seems like overkill for firewood. a gravel pad sounds more like it and will drain better if the floor gets wet.

 

[MikeD74T]

concrete seems like overkill for firewood. a gravel pad sounds more like it and will drain better if the floor gets wet.

I agree with the overkill part, use 4" of 3/4"crushed stone over a properly pitched gravel base. The stone doesn't stick to frozen wood as much as sand from the gravel. MikeD74T

 

[dmccarty]

The only "problem" with using gravel to hold the wood is that eventually the gravel will fill up wood chips, bark, dirt, etc. Its a PITA to try to clean that out of the gravel. We stored pallets full of firewood on gravel under the back porch overhang for two seasons. I stopped due to mice issues so close to the house and the wood gunk getting into the gravel. We still store wood out there but only a wheel barrow full at a time. If you don't care what it looks like, and since its in a building who will see it, gravel would be fine, just hard to clean up compared to concrete.

Later,
Dan

 

[hazmat]

If you do mix it by hand, rent a mixer.

I did three footings in my basement in < 1 day. It was approx 1 yard total. I had 50 ready mix bags delivered by the local lumber yard. I rented a small electric mixer & used that right in the basement.

With better acess, you should be able to mix it pretty quick on site, especially with a larger mixer. Find some young atheletic lad to help you, the 50th bag of concrete felt like it weighed 2X what the first one did.

The local exposed aggregate company seems to mix quite a bit on site per day. I often see their flatbed trucks heading out with 2 or more pallets of mix & the mixer is on the back of the truck. They do patios, walks & pool surrounds.

For some reason the concrete buggies aren't all that popular in NE - I haven't ever seen one & once I searched & didn't find any companies.