A Concrete Bag Mix is Great for a Small (<20 bag) DIY Project Because Ordering Small Quantities of Ready-Mixed Concrete is Neither Covenient nor Cost Effective .Therefore, Let's create a perfect concrete bag mix for your project. We are talking about pure hand-mixing here and we will get into the use of cement mixers at a later time. Tools Needed For Your Concrete Bag Mix:Proper number of 60 or 80lb. concrete bags (keep in mind, mortar or cement are not concrete) Sturdy wheelbarrow Tarp or plastic mat for deposit of wastes Garden hoe ( a shovel will do, but a garden hoe is best- as you will see) Bucket for carefully adding mixing water to the mix Garden hose to clean the tools and fill the bucket Stiff-bristle brush to clean the tools Mixing by hand- Step 1Set the bagged concrete mix (flatly) in the far end of the wheelbarrow. Slice it open with your garden hoe. Let the concrete mix settle in the far end of the wheelbarrow. Remove the bag paper and set it out of the way on your tarp. Mixing by hand- Step 2Refer to the water recommendations on the 60lb. or 80lb. concrete bag. Add the recommended amount of water to the bucket and pour into the near end of the wheelbarrow (opposite to the far end that the concrete is settled in.) Mixing by hand- Step 3Begin pulling small portions of the dry concrete mix into the water at the near end of the wheelbarrow. Keep pulling the mix into the water in small amounts until it all sits in the near end of the wheelbarrow. Note: The cutting of the bag and the pulling motion involved in a concrete bag mix are the reasons we chose to use a garden hoe over a shovel. The perpendicular blade of the garden hoe does an outstanding job when performing a hand mix. Mixing by hand- Step 4With the garden hoe, form a couple of high ridges in the mix- sort of like making a little canyon. If the edges of the ridges crumble apart in large pieces- it means the concrete mix is slightly dry and stiff... add a cup of water, mix a bit more, then re-test. If results have not improved, add another cup of water and repeat again. Please remember that this is a process of small, incremental water content adjustments (one cup at a time,max!) Mixing by hand- Step 5Conversely to Step 4, if your concrete appears too loose and the garden hoe produced ridges cannot be sustained, add more dry mix (one cup at a time!) Mixing by hand- Step 6How will you know when your concrete bag mix is just right? Similarly to Step 4 above, you will be able to form a "canyon" in the concrete and the sides (ridges) will stay in-place and will not crumble apart. This is a visual indication that you have achieved both acceptable slump and workability... congrats!! Mixing by hand- Step 7This is where your tarp or plastic you kept waste on will save you a great deal of headache. Rinse all of the tools and the wheelbarrow thoroughly and scrub all metal surfaces vigorously with a stiff-bristle brush... and don't wait! The quicker you attend to clean-up, the easier it will be since your mixed concrete will harden with time. If you kept all of the waste material on your tarp- just pick it up and dispose of the waste sensibly. If you follow those 7 steps, you should end up with a high quality batch of concrete. If you would like help with your concrete bag mix, please feel free to shoot me an email. Return From Concrete Bag Mix to Mixing Concrete
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