Great write up, covers it all pretty well. Another thing I discovered in
my very limited concrete pouring experience is one way to do exposed
aggregate. We were pouring a landing for the stairs coming off my buddy's
back deck. We used my Harbor Freight mixer and bagged ready mix and poured
the slab, and after we trowelled it off he sprayed it with a saturated
sugar solution with a Hudson sprayer. He put a gallon of water on the
stove and kept adding sugar until no more would dissolve, then sprayed a
good wet layer on top. Several hours later he hosed the top layer of
concrete off, exposing the aggregate. The sugar keeps the concrete on top
from setting up. You want to keep sugar and pop far away from your mixing
operation, as if you get any sugar in the main mix it will never set
up. My brother also told me you can use muriatic acid to dissolve the top
layer of concrete, but the sugar seems a little safer.
I did a garden pathway for my wife a couple of years ago that worked very
well and was really simple. The technique came from Sunset magazine. I
laid out the path, then dug the sod up and leveled the path bed with some
sand. The top of the sand was about 3" below grade. I then spread dry
bagged ready mix on the path with a rake, getting it smooth and level, then
sprayed it with a garden hose. I didn't use a steady stream, just a light
spray that displaced a little of the portland cement in the top layer and
exposed the rock. Between the moisture in the soil and the water I sprayed
on top it hydrated up just fine and make a very nice rustic looking path
along the side of the house. I wouldn't want to drive the big tractor on
it, but it supports a big wheelbarrow full of firewood just fine and
provides good traction.
Dave C
At 10:03 AM 1/28/2005 -0500, Mark Andy wrote:
>While I'm quite sure there's a _ton_ of stuff I don't know and mistakes
>I'll make when I do my floor, I now see concrete as something that's not
>too hard to do a decent job with.
>
>Sorta like if you're a normal person who can do carpentry vs. a
>professional carpenter... :-)
|