Concrete Bag Mix

Concrete bag mix tool & material list

• Correct number of 60 lb. or 80 lb. premix concrete bags
(mortar and cement are not concrete). Learn To Calculate Concrete Bags Properly Here
• Sturdy wheelbarrow
• Tarp or plastic mat for deposit of wastes
• Garden hoe (a shovel is ok)
• Bucketfor carefully adding mixing water to the mix
• Garden hoseto clean the tools and fill the bucket
• Stiff-bristled brush to clean your tools

Slice the concrete bag open with your garden hoe.

Let the concrete mix settle in the far end of your wheelbarrow.

Remove the bag paper and set it out of the way on your tarp.


Add mix water

Refer to the water recommendations on the 60lb. or 80lb. bag.

Add the recommended amount of water to the bucket and pour into the near end of your wheelbarrow, opposite to the far end that the concrete is settled at.


Mix your concrete

Begin 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: Cutting the bag and the pulling motion involved in mixing are the reasons to use a garden hoe over a shovel.

The perpendicular blade of the garden hoe does an outstanding job at mixing a bag mix.


Optimize mix water

With your 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.

Note: This is a process of small, incremental water content adjustments (one cup at a time, max).

Conversely, if your concrete appears too loose and the garden hoe produced ridges cannot be sustained, add more dry mix (one cup at a time)


Test W/C ratio

How will you know when your bag concrete mix is just right?

Just like in 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.

That is a visual indication that you have achieved both acceptable slump and workability. Cleaning up

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, right away.

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 concrete bag mix steps completely, you should end up with a high quality batch of concrete.

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