New garage time!

[fatjay]

I thought about putting plywood strips to wheel, but the risk of falling seems high. Without to much experience I"m not sure, I'm still watching videos and thinking about stuff.

Everything is tied to everything inside. Every single rebar joint is tied and the wire is tied to the rebar about a dozen times per sheet.

I put a chalk line around the outside and a half inch thick foam around the perimeter to where I need to come up to.

 

[ovrszd]

What Eddie and I are concerned about is in the center. What are you going to use to get the center to the right elevation?

As Eddie described in detail, this is brutal work with a time bomb ticking all the while.

Rough dragging of the concrete is a step of it's own. The better that's done the easier screeding will be.

Screeding will determine the flatness of your slab. The better that's done the easier floating will be.

Floating pushes the rocks down and creates a small particular surface to trowel. The better that's done the smoother and flatter your troweled surface will be.

Troweling is you last chance to create the finish you desire. Levelness, flatness and smoothness have already been determined. No do overs.

I can't envision being able to do this from a portable platform in 8' increments. But I'm hoping it all goes well.

Start as early in the morning as daylight permits. You are going to be there many many hours. With insulation and a vapor barrier under your slab all of the moisture has to evaporate out the surface.

As tempting as it will be, as Eddie mentioned, avoid adding a lot of water.

If you are renting equipment it needs to be setting there when you pour the first load. You won't have time to go to the Rental store to get things.

Anxious to see the conclusion of this so you can move forward with your build!!!

 

[fatjay]

I'm renting the power trowel and power screed the day before the pour. I'll figure something out to make sure it's not high or low in the middle. I've poured a lot of concrete before, just never something this big. Last summer I mixed 500 bags with my mixer to do all new concrete around the pool, but those were only 5x8' slabs with expansion joints between.

The pour was going to be saturday, but it's been pushed back due to weather. rain today, tomrrow, and saturday, and the concrete truck needs to drive on the grass. Normally that wouldn't be a problem because of how hard the dirt is. My backhoe with AG tires doesn't even dent it when it's dry, it's like driving on pavement.

 

[ovrszd]

Take some time and think thru this screed process. That's critical to a successful pour. Do whatever you think you have to do to do it right.

How long is the power screed? They are usually 8-10 ft. With your 24ft wide pour you need one 12ft or longer if you can manhandle it. If you are forced to use a shorter one you'll need two rows of screed pins if that's your choice of method.

Hopefully Eddie will come back here and post his thoughts about this. He's got a lot of experience to offer.

 

[dodge man]

I’ve seen where they set form pins or wooden stakes in the middle of a pour for grade then drive them down once you are done with them and just fill in the hole with a little concrete where they were.

 

[dragoneggs]

Richard and Eddie are making me nervous and I am 2842 miles away via I-90. Wishing you good luck on the pour!

 

[ovrszd]

I’ve seen where they set form pins or wooden stakes in the middle of a pour for grade then drive them down once you are done with them and just fill in the hole with a little concrete where they were.

My guy used rebar. No interruption to the concrete. Nothing to fill.

 

[ovrszd]

Richard and Eddie are making me nervous and I am 2842 miles away via I-90. Wishing you good luck on the pour!

Yeah Mark, I think I'm more worried about it than the OP. You get one chance with concrete. And you live with the result the rest of your ownership.

 

[dragoneggs]

Yeah Mark, I think I'm more worried about it than the OP. You get one chance with concrete. And you live with the result the rest of your ownership.

OP is one brave soul... no way I would ever try this.

 

[ovrszd]

OP is one brave soul... no way I would ever try this.

I did once on a 30x50. I wasn't as good as my expectations. Very disappointing. I paid $10 p/square foot for my house and shop.

 

[fatjay]

I'm still researching on the pour, one thing at a time though. Power screed is 14' so i think I'm ok. I've never done any of this before but I'm taking my time and doing a lot of research, and so far I think it's come along ok. In the beginning I was scared to dig the footer, and lay block. But now i've been able to overcome these fears.

Got the pex all laid in and clipped. I need to pick up long turn 90* 1.5" pvc, each run will go 2 in 1 to come out of the concrete and meet up with the manifold. I'm going to leave them long and put the manifold hanging over the back wall while the pour is done, then when the pad is set I'll go back in and trim off the excess. I'll have the tubes pressurized during the pour as well to prevent potential crushing. There's 700 pex clips and ~1600ft of pex tubing totaling only 16.3 gallons of fluid.

The right side was done first. And it's a bit of a mess compared to the left. I may redo it honestly.

 

[ovrszd]

Where your pex turns up things are going to get crowded real quick. It's hard enough when the pex is at the bottom of the pour. With yours within 2" of the top the long turn elbows are going to breach the surface of the slab at an angle with most of the sweep being above the slab. Pex can stand some pretty sharp bends, more than you'd think. Normally pex fitting elbows are used on each individual run. In your case those will still breach the surface. But they might work better than long sweep PVC. Even the horizontal end of the PVC is going to nearly breach the surface.

Here's a couple pics of how I've always saw the uprights done. Not pimping it. Just offering visuals for thought. Rebar is used to hold everything in place and then is cut off flush with the slab when done. I wish I had a better pic of the individual elbows. Maybe you can zoom in.

 

[civilian]

How about this picture of where my pex comes thru some pvc elbows. My pex is plastic stapled to the insulation and ends up on the bottom of the concrete pour.



Jon

 

[747driver]

As others have mentioned this is brutal work with a slab this size and confined side walls to work around ! Set your screed pins based on how wide you screed is. You might need 2 rows of pins. I always just use rebar set with the laser level. Then drive them down when you get the concrete level as you go. As far as moving that platform around....you will be wore out doing all the moving while the concrete is setting up ! If i can't get the truck chute where i need it i have a 16' chute made out of galv. roofing with 2x4 sides it mounts to. Put a couple of legs on the sides to get the height you need for the concrete to flow. Pulling concrete with a rake is ok for a small area or you have a big crew to do it. You know how much time you have to unload each truck ? Some companies only give you so much time to off load , if not done in that time you will get charged by the minute ! I have poured many yards of concrete but when you hear the concrete truck coming down the road a certain fear comes over you !!! Good luck and i think you will be fine. See if you can get more help as 4 guys is minimum.

 

[fatjay]

Love the pex pictures, I'll take as many as I can get for ideas.

We have 2 trucks coming at the same time, one driver is in training and they're down on business so they're not going to charge us time. I'm working with the same company that brought me 2 trucks to pour my foundation, no time on that one either. We know the guys over there.

I thought about making a chute to get the extra 8'. I'm still thinking about it. We have 4 guys with an extra 2 we can call in if we need. 2 on the stand inside, 2 outside. Stand is screed and outside is raking. That's the plan at least right now.

 

[ovrszd]

How about this picture of where my pex comes thru some pvc elbows. My pex is plastic stapled to the insulation and ends up on the bottom of the concrete pour.

View attachment 657620

Jon

Yes, very good pic Jon.

This clearly shows how much space sweep elbows require.

Is that a 5" pour? Hard to tell in a pic.

Good example of a very tidy setup!!!

 

[ovrszd]

Another comment. Totally my personal opinion.

Pressurizing the manifolds. I understand the basic concept. Hypothetically, what happens if the manifold suddenly loses pressure? Are you going to stop pouring and chase the leak? Are you going to re-lay the loop that's leaking? Maybe find the leak and splice it with a coupler? How long will this process take?

I'm afraid you will have no choice but continue the pour. So in the end, after the concrete has hardened, you will have to single out each loop to find the one that's leaking, then block it off. Same procedure that's used when installing manifolds after the pour. Pressure test each one before hooking it to the manifold.

What pressurizing the manifold gains is you will know while you are struggling to get your slab poured that you have a leak. Versus finding out days later. Same end result. A loop is out of the equation.

For me personally, this is why I want my pex on the bottom. Minimizes chances of a leak.

Our weather here has been turbulent. But supposed to calm down over the next ten days or so. Hopefully yours will too so you can get this done. Looking forward to your progress!!!

 

[deezler]

^ understandable logic, but what perspective were you really trying to help him gain here? You definitely want to pressurize your PEX during the pour. You *might* get lucky and see some bubbling up through wet concrete if you did get a leak. You could then box that area out, finish the pour, and do a local pex and concrete repair afterwards.

But more than likely, you will not get a leak. It feels darn good to get through the pour and finishing work, and see full pressure on your gauge still. In my township, it was actually a code and permit requirement to keep the PEX pressurized during the pour.

 

[dodge man]

I’ve poured and finished concrete once, about a 20’ x 20’ area. I was about 26 at the time. There was 3 of us and one guy was in his 50’s and had poured thousand of yards of concrete in his day. The truth is you need one guy with experience and a bunch of grunt workers to de exactly what they are told. I’ve watched a lot of concrete poured through my past work as an inspector and tested a lot of it and it’s pretty amazing to watch a large crew at work.

If you don’t want to wheel barrow get a pump truck in but that’s bucks.

 

[KWentling]

When my 30x50 shop was poured it was done in 2 pours a week apart. That allowed getting the truck close enough that minimal raking was needed and they still snagged my pex. I too think a pump truck would be a good idea in this case with the pex so close to the surface. When I laid the second half down I doubled the number of zip ties holding the pex down because in the first pour raking the concrete was pulling the pex around some and the end loops were wanting to float up. I try to do about anything myself but concrete isn't one of them. I'll do all the prep and forms, rebar, etc. but I pay to have it poured and finished. Not only is that hard work, there is an art to that, and even the experienced can botch a job. I hope this all works out for Fatjay.

I’ve poured and finished concrete once, about a 20’ x 20’ area. I was about 26 at the time. There was 3 of us and one guy was in his 50’s and had poured thousand of yards of concrete in his day. The truth is you need one guy with experience and a bunch of grunt workers to de exactly what they are told. I’ve watched a lot of concrete poured through my past work as an inspector and tested a lot of it and it’s pretty amazing to watch a large crew at work.

If you don’t want to wheel barrow get a pump truck in but that’s bucks.