It won't hold up to a car... But people walking on it? It should be okay. Though I don't know how well dry pour concrete will hold up in winter climates.
@@ronhanish there has been a few people who tested the dry pour vs wet pour methods. One even cut right through one to see how cured it got. The answer was pretty much as you'd expect. The cure was incomplete in the dry pour. While it did hold it's shape, it was overall brittle. They were able to chip away at it with their bare hands. It'll hold up a person walking on it, but I'd never suggest putting anything over 800 lbs on it.
Sadly it won’t last. Seen multiple tests and this method, the concrete is weak and brittle. Corners will easily chip off and it will not last. Go do a search if you think am lying.
Very true, plenty of RU-vid videos on this very subject. Often in construction these type of quick easy methods are just plain dumb, if the method has worked for years it don't need a reinventing 😂
I agree that wet pour is better, but dry pour does have a place in certain projects. But to say that a working method doesn't need reinventing is somewhat stupid. How do you think things are improved? People change and test current things until they find something better. Then we have a better way. For example: Before someone came up with concrete they used mud. I'm sure glad they decided to try a new method. I'm also glad someone decided to start mixing it with machines and carrying it with trucks.
It's easy. At first, I thought it wouldn't work, but I did it, and it still stands strong. I will give an update soon for those afraid to try or think it will crack or be a joke. The professional gave me an estimated $4000 to do the project, but I risked it, and it worked out great. You must be patient and add design to the edges before watering it down.
Thats perfect. Im always amazed how over engineered walkways are. Its for WALKING but you see pros use steel too! I had to remove a walking pad once and it took me a week bevause of that! This looked far far easier than mixing/pouring.
Don’t trust the dry pour method, its just lazy, take the time to do the job right and you’ll be much happier. Your slab or post will start to chip and crack much sooner than if you just follow simple directions on a bag. This method is the definition of someone who says they don’t need to read directions. Do better guys cmon.
People are sick of corporate agendas. Break the rules the world is garbage. Experiment, at least history will have a record of our Experiments, that religious war dogs won't be able to erase.
Space between top of new slab and bottom of siding too narrow- can lead to prolonged moisture exposure to the sill plate. Not saying this is what he has, but for example, Hardie siding requires minimum 4” gap from bottom edge of siding to any horizontal surface. Also looks like he made slab level when it should slope away from house. Going to have some nice green or brown staining on the siding.
Not the video author, but most people do 1 hour between watering, but I did 30 min on mine and it seems fine to me. (I was in a hurry, and honestly didn't see the need to wait.)
@@d.a.4121 Nope, no problems at all. It's had ladders scraping across it and freezing temps with no issues. I'm about 6 months in. (I also did set-in-place bolts and those have held fine, as well.)
Concretes works by chemical reaction with water. When you dry poor like this it is inherently weaker as not all of the concrete has reacted with the water and hardened
Make sure you do a top layer of cement powder and sand, not the stuff with the gravel in it. When you screed it, the gravel won't cause an issue. Thank me later. I'm going to do a dry pour in the next few weeks
@@jakefriesenjake Thank you! I got this message after the fact. We tried our first paver. I noticed there was a lot of gravel even after screeding the Quikrete mix. My dry pour came out rough on top. My son and I will add mortar (cement and sand) on top tomorrow to smooth it out more. Hopefully it works. It was our 1st try.
@@YvetteR-ep2hc they make specialty concrete resurfacing concrete mix, probably be better off with that. Also, look up "white washing" or "painting with portland". That is also a great way to make old concrete look alot better. Many options. I did a small test sample using dry pour today. It's been like 8 hours already and it is not setting up nearly as good as I would like it too. Maybe it will be better in the morning
@@jakefriesenjake Hi! Thanks for all the advice. After much research, my son and I decided to try the Quikrete sand topping mix to fix our paver. It worked out well. Our paver is now smooth and looks so much better than before. It's totally trial and error. We are dong another paver tomorrow with Quikrete dry pour and we'll see how it turns out. We just have to remember to screed the surface better this time. Hopefully it won't give us the gravel results we had with the 1st one.
It’s weaker than a real pour, but if it’s just people walking on it all the time it will last for a long time. Now if you’re driving a car on it and parking a car… won’t last. But in this situation nothing wrong with it. 😂
Can I do this on a concrete floor that is not leveled? Would I need to put some sort of bonding agent? This is inside a shed so it’s not a problem of wetting the floor.
Last year I did a slab and mixed the cement before pouring it. This year I'll be trying this method because I want to extend the concrete. This method seems to be much more easier.
I need to build a concrete base so that I can put a shed on top of it. I can't afford thousands of dollars to pay someone. Is dry concrete good for what I need to do? I have zero experience with concrete, but I'm a fast learner and I can build stuff, especially working with wood. Thanks in advance. From what I've seen I need to first put gravel underneath before pouring concrete. One other question, if I have some thin metal rods, can I put them half way (depth wise) in the concrete so it can last longer?
Have to make sure your base rock layer is compacted properly for anything that will have weight on it at all. Best to hire someone that knows what they're doing rather than put the money out to have it mess up on you and have to put more money out to have it properly done.
What type of shed a mower shed that weighs a few hundred kgs or a car shed? Watch Cajun country dry poor slab they did a 1yr test on and it's held up better then wet slab as you only add enough water to set the concrete. Much easier to finish dry aswell as your not fighting against the clock and sticky wet Crete. Well compacted gravel layer wood form and enough sacks to fill the hole. Plus some rebar for long life.
I heard something about PSI when working with dry concrete versus wet, I recommend you read the bag of concrete, maybe it will tell you the PSI difference, because it might not be able to withhold the weight of the shed
It's easy. At first, I thought it wouldn't work, but I did it, and it still stands strong. I will give an update soon for those who are afraid to try or think that it will crack or be a joke. The professional gave me an estimated $4000 to do the project, but I risked it, and it worked out great. You have to be patient and add design on the edges before watering it down.
This can be done properly in a mixer or even hand mixed in a large bucket using sand ,cement and chippings at the correct ratio and it'l be solid within 24 hours , this videos way is not going to be as strong plus it takes ages
Start with a light mist twice within 10 minutes and hose it down lightly. Request throughout the day. You'll be fine. I'm afraid to do it first, but hey, it works. Cajun Country got me started on the project, so check them out if you need more help. I'm doing it my way. Both of my sidewalks are awesome, and I have no complaints.
A lot of improvements have gone into the formulations since the requirement of rebar installation. Fiberglass for instance, and pea gravel might not be seen in the mixture. Also, how many overweight (eg earthmoving tractors) vehicles will be driving on it?
@@craigmatheson2736 it doesn't even need to have anything driving over it, dry pouring will always resulted in much much sooner cracking when the soil settled, temperature changes, and water freezing under or inside of the concrete. Back in engineering schools we were thought how laughably bad dry poured concrete is compared to any wet poured concrete. Concrete need water to solidified, not just because you have to make it wet, the water inside the concrete literally become part of the concrete chemically and molecularly. All the water doesn't just evaporated when you think it's dry.
@jimdob6528 it absolutely is otherwise you wouldn't ever see puddles on top of concrete after it cures. It's the mix between the heavy and fine aggregate as well as the Portland that makes cement what it is. If there's air pockets internally then it wasn't done properly.
@@mclovinfuddpucker I did a couple of dry pours last spring. So far they are fine. It’s not like the chemical curing process is any different between a dry pour and wet pour.
No it doesn’t. Rebar isn’t even used on driveways. Wire mesh instead for driveways and nothing is used on sidewalks bc theres no vehicle traffic. They prepped with crusher run & coarse aggregate. Absolutely nothing wrong w this and rebar or wire mesh would have been a total waste
To get the same quality finish takes a lot of skill with wet cement. (I am guessing, never saw dry cement "poured" before "in real life.") On a dry pour you can endlessly keep sweeping and smoothing till it looks perfect. No time limit before it sets up.
@@plethoraOFtrivia not really, you can buy a mixer at harbor freight or use a wheel barrow. An ugly job would be better than dry pour. It's very brittle and half the strength. You can literally break it apart with your fingers. It will look very old easily.
@@plethoraOFtriviaYou can get this finish in wet concrete with a broom and an edger. No hate to the video poster at all, im not trying to talk down about anyones work at all, and its good to see families working together and tackling things themselves. The fact is though that this finish is very sandy and will deteriorate quickly. It looks like something that was bull floated and broomed, meaning it doesnt take a lot of trowel work to get a finish like this. A handy person with a couple hand tools could probably get a finish that looks like this or better, with the benefit of a denser surface and a stronger slab overall. Again, not trying to be mean at all, just speaking from my experience of not only finishing but teaching people how to finish and seeing how these skills are picked up. Some things in concrete are very difficult and take a lot of skill. I wouldnt say this is one of them. A broom finished 3x5 pad like this is about the easiest starter project you can take on to learn basic skills
This is crap that will not last don’t do this dry concrete it will cost you your money to fix later. And if you are selling then the new owner will havto replace it all. This is for people that are intermediated about doing concrete because thy are scared not confident in finishing the concrete off before it drys. Well then don’t do it get a pro or someone that is not scared 😱 anyway this is a junk job don’t do it I am a General contractor licensed for 10 years with 25 years experience. Even when I was a newborn construction worker back in 1999 I still would not do this dry concrete junk. Please don’t do this 😢
Don't do it... it makes a weak, very fragile finished product. I appreciate innovation, but you are simply misusing a product that was never made to be used this way. Pour it wet, but not too wet, and you will have a strong solid product. If you are using pre mixed bag concrete, I'd recommend a little extra Portland cement.
Concrete bags inside a shed will set like a rock from the moisture in the air alone. I got 10 at home that I can barely use without bashing with a sledge hammer first. And concrete mix has dehydrated lime that socks in plenty of mousiture and they are flooding the slab with water as it soaks in. The only reason they mist the top first is to set the texture they want before heavy watering.
