Concrete Slab Poured Dry | Tips & Tricks 

Good Point

100% agree

work smarter not harder!

And hire a neighbor kids for the day to do the lifting.

Back the truck and then don’t make the little wife lift all the bags, big guy.

I only heard of it for fence posts, didn’t think you could do an actual slab with it.

All you have to do is wet each cement particle, if you can do that it’ll harden no matter how dry it is. I’ve done fast set fence post concrete like that, it works well.

It also works for small natural stone patios/walk ways. Lay them dry & just soak it down.

New to concrete diys...but i left a bag of quick crete outside and it got rained on and yes i came to brick🙄 But lesson learned... put bag up even if there will be no rain in the forecast😄 Happy adventures 🌈🌈🌈

You and me both. I was so confused while watching😂😂

yes - lucky guy!! your wife does all the heavy lifting!!!

why is the psi lower?

@@charlesabbethy490 because it's not mixed with recommend normal water amount to achieve the regular PSI.

@charlesabbethy490 You would actually never know the psi unless it was tested in a lab. Why would we assume it would be lower. The chemical reaction caused by water is all that is needed. The mixing should not add any additional strength. The chemical reaction (curing) actually keeps happening tofor 28 days. You could keep wetting it for those 28 days which would add more strength.

Doesnt it depend on soil and cement psi? So if you have caliche dirt and use 5000 psi cement?

that's what I was thinking ...

Is it just concrete being poured or are they a mix of sand and cement. (Here in Australia you can get sand and cement mix. You can also get instant concrete, which has aggregate in it...) I am keen to do something similar as need a small slab to pour soon. Any tips and tricks would be appreciated.

@@DougieL stones just make it cheaper to produce. A mix with only sand and cement is the same strength, but cost more. Both 4000 psi. If you have a huge pad to do, use the cheap stuff with stones at the bottom 3/4 of the thickness and use stoneless, more expensive concrete on the top 1/4. This way when you screed it, there aren't any stones in the way. Will be a prefect finish

Man will the way he poured it work for putting a dog house on or not?

I have a dirt crawlspace and I might do the very same around the furnace to keep the dust down! I've always hated that they left it dirt 70 years ago..

It sounds like you completed quite the project! And yes sir, this is the third small slab that we poured and they really turn out good. When we first started working on our place we poured a small patio mixing the concrete then pouring it. That slab is now full of cracks, but the dry pour doesn’t have even a hairline crack yet! Thank you for the nice comment and thank you for watching sir!

@@CajunCountryLivin I just have a question or two. Y'all being in LA, we're up in much cooler coastal VA. Do you think that our propensity for freeze/ thaw cycling up here in the winter makes it more advantageous for you to not have worry about, noting your thinner slabs? Also, what do you consider to be the maximum top end of thickness that you can reasonably do with dry pour? The minimum of the 4 inch pour per code ( example: for sidewalks) can be achieved with 2x4, 2x6, 1x6 w good backing, dimensional lumber if you trench the outsides for what is commonly called "keyways". A four inch thick slab around here is usually strong enough for a patio, landing, using reinforcement wire. My back step/ landing project was poured over a re-bar reinforced footing below grade and it was propped up on the existing house footing, but not tied in, as I might have to raise the house in anticipation of sea level rise around here. The slab for the landing is tied back to the footing with additional re-bar and reinforcement wire. Though not massive by any means, it was modeled after what I did back in the 90s for a deep end in the pool, the subsoil around here is sand, as we are on an estuary creek. Would you use wire and re-bar in your dry pouring over the thickness of the projects you are currently doing? I guess my question is at what point of thickness?? Thanks. Count me now as a subscriber, too.

@Mike Grant We don’t have the frost line issues down here that y’all have. So generally speaking there isn’t any heaving or shifting as long as you are flat ground. We only pour the thin slabs like the one in the video to make a good solid surface to set things on, or temporary walkways. However, the thickest that we have poured using this technique is 6 inches. For a permanent thicker slab, I would remove the topsoil, install plastic sheeting to prevent moisture from rising up into the concrete and put reimbursement wire in it. When you buy the concrete in bags it is already premixed and you just add water and mix what is already premixed. Same concept as pouring it dry and just adding water, just a little different technique. Thank you very much for subscribing and thank you for the interesting conversation! Hope that you have a great day!

@@CajunCountryLivin Thank you for reply. Today, I've finished pouring the very last of two 56 bag pallets and have two bags left (Sakcrete... I prefer Quickcrete but Lowes changed vendors) The last 17 bags of pallet 2 were finishing up my backyard shed's overhead door landing. A project that I started in 2003 with a small pour and ten 6x6 terracotta tiles. When I dug it out yesterday and formed it up, I committed 7 bags to a dry pour and covered the rebar and wire after flooding it then letting the water recede. Then, I walked it and tamped it and by the time I was ready to mix the underlying dry poured stuff was setting up nicely. I mixed and added some type S mortar and sand mix to each bag of Sakcrete and brought it up above grade and mated it to the existing slab floor using the form as the lowest point outside of the structure as the apron. Then I mixed up some mortar and set two rows of 5 tiles. Because it was getting so late, I broke for an hour, went in and ate some Thanksgiving dinner, then went out with a flashlight and worked the joints and wiped off the tiles. Today, it was an easy day. I finished the last pour, didn't set tiles, but it'll be another easy day tomorrow by just setting the last ten tiles on a nice sloping apron instead of trying to finish well after dark. I have two bags of Sakcrete left and will still have some type S mix left. Surely I can find some little spot that needs a nice dry pour slab, but instead, I will probably commit to a little oyster pyramid for the creek behind the shed. Oysters seem to do better with a bit of structure instead of sinking down into our muddy creek and the little oyster pyramids seem to do the trick from what the research indicates. Good luck with all your projects. I look forward to seeing your videos. Thanks again for giving me ideas for the versatility of light duty dry pouring.

@@CajunCountryLivin Now that[!] (cracks in the wet pour...not in the dry) is very interesting!!!

I agree I need to pour a slab for a standby generator this will make it much easier.

Nexttime keep them in the garage in a trashbag. One of those black garden bags does fine. Ive had a bag here for almost 4 years now that hasnt gotten hard

P

Thank You for Your Sacrifice and Service!!

I was thinking the same thing... I’m like hmmm it won’t hurt to try this out

Same here! Thx for showing us this cheaper easier way!

Ditto...I love this idea

Us as well. We are making an area just large enough for a swing bench and another area for a picnic table area on our land!

If you are going to do this, please for all that is holy and good, add a layer of chicken wire fencing; think thin layer concrete, chicken wire, concrete. Or just lay the chicken wire down n suspend, so it’s inside the concrete n not just on bottom. That will keep your concrete from crumbling apart. On big projects they use rebar reinforcement. But small slabs, like sheds n sidewalks n such some wire mesh is adequate

That’s awesome and nice job

Great job

New subbed when I seen this video! This is too cool! I would've never thought this was possible for a slab of any kind. Now I'm thinking a project I want done is more possible! Thanks!

This is super cool. Looks so much easier than hauling buckets of wet concrete and shoveling it! Blech!

Amazing

Thank you so much! It really makes smaller projects easy to manage. Thank you for watching!

I thought the same thing!! I’m gonna do this on the side of my house for a small shed. Maybe add some wire to help strengthen it. This made my day!!!

Have you seen the videos where people take entire bags of cement and lay them dry to form a retaining wall? When the bags of cement get wet, they set in place and make a cheap and solid retaining wall. Pretty kool application.

@@jill-of-all-trades They topple over!

It works really well on these smaller slabs for sure! We haven’t finished any bigger ones this way yet. We have some that are 6 month old and no cracks so far. Thank you for the supportive comment and thank you so much for joining us!

@@CajunCountryLivin could you do this for a garage in 4x4 sections I wonder.

@@brandonlewis5045 I wouldn't attempt that method on something you'd be driving a vehicle on.

We do dry mix concrete in africa often. We use water on the top and steel float it, then cover in plastic to finish the hydration process of the concrete/cement.

I'm not trying to pick on you, but noticed you wrote "concert pad" when you meant concrete pad. Years ago, when I bought my first house, I decided I wanted to make a concrete patio in back. I had to get it approved at the town board meeting. The next week, the local newspaper printed the minutes from the board meeting. They wrote I had received approval for building a concert patio. LOL

How did it come out!?

@lauriehaley8591 yes please update

Yeah, I was concerned with the grass underneath the slab at first side as well.

Sound advice

Leave the grass, it acts as fiber reinforcement.

Thank you so much! We are very happy that our videos helped!

Iiiiiinteresting!

So does that mean the dry pour would be even stronger than a mix with very minimal water? Or do you still need to mix for strength?

That's what I was thinking. I used to do quite a bit of concrete when I was young, I was usually just a grunt. That's exactly what the old boys I helped always said. They also said the slower it cured the better so we used to spray it down a few times a day for a few days. I used dry concrete when setting posts but have never tried anything like this, interesting. I've got a couple of small projects I think I'll give it a try.

@@richc9503 I'm an Architect builder here in Ireland and I agree, that less water and a slow curing time make strong concrete. People often add too much water to floor slabs etc. to make it easier to level but it weakens it a bit.

I’d figure out how to divert water away from your house before it causes bigger problems?

@@I_discovered_civilization how? French drains?

Love to hear it!!

Pics or it didn't happen

Is rebar required on small slabs ? I’m doing a small pouring tmmrw just wondering I don’t really do concrete jobs

How thick? Did you use a base of gravel or any wire mesh?

how many inches thick was it? i am looking to pour some walk ways at my house this way

@@sheliaharrison7988 about 2.5 / 2.75 inches thick

Nice

Heavy gage wire also works Concrete, regardless , is gonna crack ! Wire / rebar keeps it bond together and from crumbling apart.

It’s almost a year old at this point and has no cracks or chips.

@@CajunCountryLivin Thanks I will use the same method for an outdoor kitchen floor 👍

@@jayamburn1959 Southeast NC here.

Concrete does 2 things... gets hard and cracks. If you're worried about cracks down the road that are inevitable, use a couple of control joints cut partway through the slab. Footers aren't needed unless it's going to be supporting a load bearing wall or you're worried about erosion and undermining. They did such a great job that there slab probably will remain intact for a long time! The bagged concrete seems to be stronger than concrete from a plant or ready-mix, and it's much more consistent. You don't have a many factors that will affect the strength. How long it's in the truck before getting poured, being contaminated by any other thing that might get mixed in from the plant to the job, the control (or lack thereof) of the person who made the batch and mixed the different components of concrete together, the size of the aggregate, etc. Concrete is actually a very interesting and complicated material when you get into it! I find it fascinating and it's like science and art mixed together! How cool is that? But for your application, I would suggest using fiber mesh additive if possible. It's what is used nowadays vs. Rebar for strength and reinforcement. If there's no load bearing walls on top of slab, this will hold up great. If there is, just use 2 #5 rebar drilled about 6"into the existing foundation, that run continuously along the footer and epoxy them in. That will keep anything from settling or shifting if your earth moves like it tends to! For an outdoor kitchen, the consideration would be on how heavy your grill or cooking equipment will be. 4 inches thick supports tonnage... like vehicles etc. Also, what really makes a difference in how long it will be before your concrete cracks is the cutting and curing after the pour. Too much water during the pour weakens the slab, as does uneven dissipation of the water inside the slab as it cures. Once hard, it's very important to keep the slab watered down and in doing so, you'll increase the strength of the slab exponentially, and at a much faster speed. There's a lot of good info in Facebook groups for concrete. They're a hard bunch but they typically are pretty nice and will be glad to give you any info you're looking for to help you diy like this awesome, innovative minded power couple did here! Good luck with your kitchen though!

@@sanmiguelterritoriodeldogo742 I was thinking of making a 10×16 shed. Would this method work if I put either rebar or the mesh in the middle? This seems like it would be easier on my back than muxing concrete. Thank you!

Thank you Tanya!

You do need water for concrete, it only effects strength if you use too much. This is the first time I’ve seen anybody do concrete this way.

Do you think you should just cover it with a tarp?

Glenn when you say 'form it's, do you mean build a frame around it?

So what about the inside of this thing? Is it as tough as with water inside? Or dry?

@@kathlynbarnes8236 Yes, to build the form around the area you intend to pour the concrete. Or in this case, dump the sacks.

Thank you for this thank you thank you wow!!!!!

I can’t contest. 1 week after Hurricane Ida hit Louisiana in 2021 I visited for the first time for work. I only stayed a week and me and my colleague were fascinated by how nice people were, I really couldn’t get over it. Such great people!✌️

I agree! I married one

Make sure you put down a piece of plastic first so it doesn’t sweat through the concrete 👍

No mixing I'm shocked it's dry

you are not really adding water. the water crusts the surface right after the first misting. by that time the cement has begun absorbing moisture from the air and the soil underneath it. the later spraying will add some moisture but really helps the concrete cool a bit so it can cure properly. this method was used a lot on the early frontier days in Oklahoma where water was not plentiful. my grandfather said they often covered the slab with green grass and that helped ket the surface wet.

I'm also researching a shed floor. My shed is going to be 10 x 12 and will store shelves packed with tools and equipment. My guess is that most sheds will eventually store so much weight that it will crack this kind of slab.

You’ve got this! Let us know how it turns out!

It works really well! It is the perfect solution for smaller or hard to get to projects.

This, but prepare the ground first. At least cut the grass down to the roots (hoe) and tamp the soil first.

Thank you! Very helpful info

I live in Louisiana humidity is high. 1st of all. He spray water...mist I should say. How often was that done? 🤔 How many times say for a 6x6. I want to try this project but I'm uncertain about about of water. Thanks

Good evening Howie and Robin! We are so very happy that we were able to help y’all achieve some of the projects! The comment that you left was the sole purpose that we decided to share our technique with the world. Thank you for sharing your experience with us!😊😊

Hi Howie and Robin, are you following this 2" inch recipe or thicker? Just curious :-)

I just finished doing the same thing 4months ago

Thank you!! Glad you found the channel Aquila! 😄😁

Agreed! I love this advice! Protect your body for your future self!

I just noticed the wood floor of my shed starting to rot. Thanks for the idea!🤙🏼🤙🏼

Great idea!

Glad you had good success! Same boat. Hope mine works out well too.

Any cracks?

We are happy this process is working for you. You are 100% correct, once you get the hang of it, the process gets more and more easy.

How many time do you water the 4 feet block? I am about to pour the fence footing with sono tube and it’s 2 feet and was looking up to see how many time should I water the footing?

I’ve had two estimates for over $3k for a 300ft job. I found this video and I’m intrigued that I could probably do this myself. My yard is also on a slope and I have to account for this

You could dig the high side down and use the ground as your framing, just frame the downhill side

@@stevescuba1978 Thank you for the suggestion. I went back and read my comment over and realized that what I meant to say was that the slab would have to be thicker at the bottom of the slope.

Yes sir! We like this method because you don’t have to be in a huge rush to get your slab finished. Thank you for watching sir!

@@CajunCountryLivin Translation: much less stress, easier, and interruptions can be taken care of!

Awesome !

@@amirashudel8225 nice 👌

hi brian, just saw your vid of the HH A10 couple days ago. i'm a huge fan

I’ve never heard of a dry pour but I like it….but how do I know when it has enough water

Good luck on the pour! Let us know how it goes 😁

I've done posts the opposite way. Filled the hole with water, then dumped concrete.

Post holes are a totally different beast!

I would have let the child put her hand prints in before it set. That way you would've had a permanent memory and story to the property. ✋🤚 RU-vid works too!

Do yourself a favor and pull up the sod first, then add a layer of crush gravel. That slab will be a cinder slab in a few years time.

@Mark D hope it helps you. We love the way the dry pour method works! It’s so easy and you end up with a great product!

@@CajunCountryLivin 👍

I've done dry on post setting and underground drain joints packed with oakum, this is new to me want to try under vinyl storage shed. Thanks for this.

@@rogerdixon8903 same here for the shed. What concrete do we use???

@@michaelastuto8003 I’m also here for the storage shed dry pour idea 😂

Would a dry pour work for a concrete patio? say 15X10 with a mesh? I am also on the gulf coast but in Texas and there is alot of clay

@@michaelhoward1972 i wanna know too

We are happy that it worked well for you! Can’t go wrong with a dry pour, and as a bonus, you can take as long as you need to finish it with no worries about it setting up before you finish! Thank you for sharing!

How many bags did you use for 30X30? I am planning to do the same.

When it comes to termites, a vapor barrier is 1000 times better because they will never be able to get through plastic but the moment a crack appears in concrete, no matter how small, there is now an opening for termites.

Not needed for a coop pad, and I doubt rebar is going to help with the much lower PSI this has. Would be interesting to see what the actual PSI is.

Do you think this would suffice for a garden shed/small workshop? Cheers from England

@@AB-C1 If he's right and it comes in at about half strength, it should be fine. Sheds are nowhere near the density of homes so you're not putting much stress on it. I just am unsure of how much water is getting into the deeper concrete. As long as it all gets evenly wet after the pour, it should be fine but I'm not 100% that it happened here. It's an interesting thought experiment though and i might consider it for some of my smaller projects

They don’t need rebar its only an overlay . For a coop

If you wanted to you could lay any kind of reinforcement in it though . Plastic fencing wiorks too . Cute baby

Great!!