DRY POURING CONCRETE over EXISTING PATIO…What You Need To Know 

In the west we build swimming pools using Shotcrete/ Gunite method. Cement mix is pumped dry through a pressurized 4 -6 inch hose under high pressure and shot out of the hose. There is a water sprayer on the top end of the nozzle. that sprays water on the dry mix in the air as it is shot against the rebar and wall of the pool. once complete the curing stage is to wait a day and water it 4 times a day for 7 days. This makes a concrete that is 10 times stronger than mixed concrete. The Gunite mix does have a higher concentration of cement in it. But what gives it the most strength is the fact that you are not diluting the cement with so much water and you are only giving it as much water as it absorbs during curing this results in a tighter stronger compaction of cement. this is very much similar to your method and explains the strength and lack of cracking you get with your method.

I have always dry poured my fence posts. It works great. Dig the hole, plumb up the post to desired height, usually place gravel in the bottom so the post is not wicking up water, pour in your concrete, water and cover with dirt. Works great.

Y'all have started a full on revolution in the DIY concrete world!! Kudos

If you want a good bond to old concrete wet it down good take straight Portland cement make a paint out of it in a bucket and paint it on over wet slab best bonding agent their is old school trick

Looks amazing guys. Thank you so much for sharing. This is a game changer for me. Can’t wait to get started. Most importantly, I love how the two of you work together as a team! You rock!

I did my first dry pour last week. It was my test for an area where my trash cans and firewood holder sitls by my shed. I came out better than expected. I'm in north west Florida and we had rain. Kept it covered for most of the week. Now that I kinda figured it out on to redoing my patio. Thank You'll for posting these videos.

Love the way ya'll explain how you do these things and why. Most people leave out the reason why, which is the most important thing in any instruction. Keep doing what you are doing. GREAT VIDEOS!

I cant wait for this stamping technique! I'll be able to get my super patio project going once I learn this. 🤠

I hired someone to pour concrete in my backyard for my hot tub, and it's not level. I wanted to level it myself, but I've been afraid to, and wondered if I could redo the concrete this way. I"M GOING TO DO IT! Thank you guys! I'm excited to see your next video!

Awesome job as always!! Y'all keep raising the bar and finding new ways to keep this dry pour relevant. Thanx again for teaching us your specifics and congratulations on the explosion of followers, y'all deserve it. Be Safe!!

Yes delamination between pours is a major problem that most lay people wouldnt have knowledge of, man thats got to be an expensive way of doing it, when compared to using raw materials and mixing them, but its always fun watching y'all.

Thank you both so much for doing this video. I have learned a lot from all of your dry pour concrete tutorials..

Great tutorial this gives me a solution to my old crack patio that everyone wanted to charge me thousands of dollars to make new again. I’ll just pay someone to make me the forms and I’ll try doing it the dry pour way you show here. Thanks you might have just saved me a bunch of money.

Thank you! Love your videos... fun, positive, and educational! We've got a sidewalk that needs some repair but haven't been able to do it because of the cost, but now we can finally get it done on our own!

Great job guys. Me and the wife tried it for a slanted slab outside the shed and it came out better than we thought.

I love this I am planning on doing this next month and wondered if I could go over the existing concrete. I’ve been looking for info on this I’m so happy you guys did this video!!

Love watching you two work together! Thank you for showing us what is possible!

Great video Captain Croc & Lydia I was so impressed with the chemistry lesson at the start of the video. It was nerd worthy Big Jim lol I like to pick and carry on with folks. God bless y'all I learn something new every episode. I really like this dry pour method thanks for sharing the do's and don'ts.

Just did my first 4x5 dry pour yesterday it looks great I'm waiting a couple days to remove the forms thank you Cajun

Very good point on the PH. I work in the Oilfield Cementing wells. We prefer the water to be closer to 7 and lower because downhole temperature and pressure already has an impact on drying or set up time of Cement. We don't use an aggregate such as gravel or sand so it can't set up fast. Chlorinated water from a city water system can accelerate the drying process, so making sure it's not really high on the alkaline side is probably a good thing for concrete pour as well.

I was going to attempt this at work to fix a broken sidewalk. The bleach sets me at ease with adhesion! Thanks guys

Love what you are teaching all of us. Dry poor rules. ❤️🦋👍🇦🇺

This is so cool. I had no idea you could pour concrete like this. I learned something new. Awesome, thank you sharing this.

Great job! Thanks for editing in the Information on watering and times based in concrete thickness! Awesome Possums!

I'm watching all your videos, currently on #33. I really appreciate you guys showing the product labels that you use, your great attention to detail and common-sense explanations. I'll be using these techniques to repair my walkway in the front yard.

Very well explained and illustrated video! Your professionalism in Concrete is Nothing compared to the talent you have in Video production, and your talent in construction is Boss!

Once again you guys are so great with educational advice . Nice job Captain crocks and the princess at the dry pour games !!! Love it have a great week .

You do justice to do it yourselfers. Watching and hearing your process will make my decision to concrete projects `s i have around my home. Great lookin couple with a bright future wish you all the best.

Y’all are saving my bacon! Starting a renovation on an old house stuck in the 70’s (literally) trying to do as much myself and save some money while also a learning experience

Thanks for all the information you've provided, I still haven't seen anyone pouring concrete over existing pavers which I thought about trying because I didn't want to pull them up not to mention having to throw them away

We are about ready to do our dry pour thanks for doing another video on the subject. Jill and I will be reviewing your videos on dry pour. We have finished the drywall taping in the garage looks pretty good. Even though we are fairly old we are still learning new ways of doing things, thanks to your RU-vid channel, looking forward to Wednesday 😊.

Thank you for all your clear info. I will try a dry pour around my fire pit and then redo my back porch. It's small but can't wait to try it. Thanks again

Absolutely lov'n these videos... I'm looking forward to the updates as I'm learning so much b4 I do my own!!

Thank you guys I am wet pouring a 200 square ft slab and it’s kicking my rear 😣 it’s so much work. But I have 3 more projects so I’ll follow your advice for the rest of my projects, God bless you.

I had things come up and couldn't get to this week's videos until today. That's probably why I was bummed earlier in the week. I've decided from now on if Jim and Lydia can do it I can. You explain it in such simple terms. I like when someone steps outside the box and says let's see if there's another way to do this. Many people don't have the resources whether it man power, equipment, and the finances to do it the way we're told it should be done. To know that I can make a concrete slab by myself with just buying the concrete and using tools I already have. That blows my mind. The fact that you could do a new top over the old slab. How cool is that. Well I've got to get over to the next video to see the end of this project As always wishing you the best Stay safe Love you guys

Well done Thanks for the clarification on the concrete mix that you use

God bless y'all, folks. I gotta say, y'all really helped me out big time. I sure do appreciate it.

this straight up has to be one of the best kept secrets...but now the secret's out. and we all thank you. VIVA LA DRY POUR!!

This is something I've pondered recently as we want to raise the walk from the porch to the driveway that been ponding. The adhesion question info was very helpful. But the "honeycomb" prevention had eluded me in the past. Wonderful job ya'll.

Hi Cajun family. After seeing your video for the 5 by 5 dry pour slab, I tried it out in our shed where I laid some electricity, to cover it up. Seemed like a good opportunity to try it out. I actually figured that using a tube like the ones you used for the vent lines (a little wider diameter perhaps) gives a nice and easy finish without having to shake back and forth like with the board. Always so nice to see your video's. Have a great day!

Thanks so much for your videos! Very helpful

You guys are so awesome. I love how well you explain things and demo everything. I have watched a ton of dry pour videos (more seem to be popping up every day since you guys started this amazing trend) and in one of them the guy rolls a piece of pipe (forward and back) over the surface for the skreeting process, which looks like it's less work than moving a board back and forth, and also may allow for skreeting if you have obstructions along side of where you are pouring that would make it difficult to impossible to do the back and forth motion of the board. (The same guy also did a video where he took a large glass bowl and filled it with concrete, then added water over time to show how the water gradually fully penetrated the concrete, which I found very instructional.) Maybe you could give that a try and see how it works. Would love to see your take on that method.

Looks great!! Yall have inspired me! I have done a few dry pour slabs myself! Live in WA state. Planning to do my garage 20x19 slab dry pour eventually but wanted to try out a few small ones first.

Thank you both , you got a fan here in 🇬🇧 who’s going to give this a try. I am envious of the land you guys have in the USA and Good luck with the house building, I’ll be watching 👍🏻

I have a small project for a landing, will definitely do this method. Thanks so much, love this channel. Oh, total respect for Lydia lifting those 80 lb bags. 💪 Way to go.

I am a 66 year old woman and I am building a pad for our trash cans! I will hire some friend’s muscles to get the bags here and to dig out the base. I am not stupid! LOL. Your video is fantastic! This method solves my issues!! I have watched all your videos!!

Hey Professor Chox, thanks for the chemistry lesson. Nice toss, L. Good catch JW. Good tip using palm sander. I like it!

Another great with a lot more information, nice work guys👍

You guys blow my mind!!! This is sooo cool!

you guys are so awesome at the dry concrete pour you make it look easy and the weather looks great there thanks for sharing watching from canada Eh

Yay! Stamped concrete is what I've been waiting for. Thanks!

I have always dry poured fence posts, but never tried it on slabs, but I saw one of your videos and that's how I found your channel. I am going to have to pour a sidewalk that will need to be handicapped compliant before the arthritis takes over my body and will definitely be dry poured. Btw I spent many years as a concrete finisher. Also btw, I saw your video about your dad's pizza restaurant and I will try it next time I get to Springfield, but how did a girl from central IL end up in southwest Louisiana. Y'all are too funny and get along so good working together.

so pleased to see captain crocks had his rubber shoes on when applying that bleach solution😉

Lady, you are really strong!!! I wish I could pick up the 80bl concrete like that

You two are awesome!! Exactly what I was looking to do and the first vid I found on YT is your vid!! Thank you!!

Getting ready to do exactly what you did. Glad you did it first 😊

Thank you and kudos to both of you for all the cheerful and great videos👏👏👏. After seeing this particular video I am ready to repair and extend an existing slab using your techniques. I will really appreciate it if you can advise (1) what should be the minimum thickness of additional layer of concrete on existing slab and (2) are rebars needed to make the extended portion stick better with the old slab? Many thanks in advance🙏🏾

Thanks for the info, I am using this method to pave my BBQ area,. I'm having fun with it. greetings from down under.

We've been watching and amazed. Y'all are awesome

Great info as always, now all I have to do is wait for the standing water to leave. Suppose to have dry sunny weather for the next 7 days, so maybe I will get my slab for side-by-side put in, just have to wait and see. Have a great week y'all. 👍👍

Great job! Very helpful for us DIYers

dats a lot of screeding. I really like this process, I only heard of it for the first time last year. Now I am sold as it being one of the only ways to do this for house size projects. Great info on the prep process. - Many thanks - cheers.

I want to pour a 15x30. Can I use a magnesium or aluminum screed or would it be too smooth? I ask because I imagine the longer the wood the more bowed it is. Bigger pads would seem to be more difficult to screed smooth and level. I want a very long and straight screed.

Thankyou for the extra information & how well you explain everything

glad i stumbled to this video, now i am go try to do this on my driveway. Cheerssss

Thank you so much for your excellent videos and explanations! By the way, your video and sound quality are top notch! Like another fellow in the comments below, I, too, am considering a large pad, and like him, I'll be working by myself. You suggested that he divide the pad in half - two pours to make the screeding easier for one person. I think this would be a good idea for me too, but it does raise some questions: 1. How long should I let the first half sit/cure before pouring the second half? 2. I assume that I will be using the first pad as one of my screeding edges for the second half. Do I need to do anything to the first pad to keep the screeding board from scratching up or otherwise damaging the surface of the first pad? 3. Is it OK for the concrete of the second half of the pad to touch the concrete from the first pad, or do I need to leave some sort of gap/expansion joint between them? 4. If I do need to leave a gap, should there be some sort of expansion material between the two pads?

Great Videos! I've always wondered about dry-pouring concrete since it gets hard in the bag if left in high humidity long enough. I didn't know dry-pouring is a "Thing" until I saw your video. I am 71 years old, and I have a few projects that I thought were too large for me to do by myself. I was going to hire someone experienced in concrete work, who recommended I get a cement truck to pour them. This was going to cost several thousand dollars. The first project was pouring a 12-foot by 12-foot slab for a shed. It will be made of concrete & rebar-reinforced walls. I live in South Florida and it has to withstand a Cat 5 Hurricane. The second project...I have an enclosed 10' X 14' back porch with a concrete floor. But the floor is 4 inches lower than the floor inside the house, so I wanted to pour 4 inches of concrete in there to make them level. I was going to ask you how do you screed a floor when there are walls? But I found the answer on the internet. You make a frame along two parallel walls an inch or two from the walls. Then you can screed. After the concrete has set you can fill in the two gaps. So now my question is.. I have many 20 in. x 20 in. Concrete Step Stones, can I use them as fill? I don't need 4 inches of solid concrete on top of an existing concrete floor. I can lay the stones like floor tile with an inch gap around them. And fill between them with dry concrete. I would put 1 to 2 inches of dry concrete above them. I don't think it will crack. What do you think? It doesn't freeze in South Florida. It can't move since the side walls are concrete. And the floor will be covered with a lamenet.

You two are amazing... What a blessing that you work so well together. I like hearing your reasoning process. I love that you are working to free us from concrete mixers. You are excellent teachers. AND you are cute as can be! I'm going to seal my chicken coop floor - slanted slightly to the east for drainage - to save my chickens (& their eggs) from snakes. Since I'll be working in very cramped quarters, wish me luck. :)

Everyone loves your dry pour now lol... So many other channels have jumped onboard. Well done 👍👍

Fantastic information, thanks.

That one's larger size likely contributed to the cracking. Ive always done dry for posts and small spots to get rid of excess. Am gonna try your dry pour method to fill a purchased decorative plastic form for stones to set pots on. Thanks!

This is so cool. Another advantage,... the top of this fresh new dry pour, is that its farther away from the wet ground.

Well, I'm going to try a dry pour back yard path. Hope it works as well as yours does

I drypoured my walkway yesterday!! It looks great. However, I did not have the tools to round the edges out. I am worried the edges may chip. I am praying it holds up as it really looks GREAT!!!! I had to do it in stages cause the heat in the New Orleans Metro area was sweltering. It was 95 degrees. It took 7 - 60 lb bags 2" deep. I spent most of the time leveling it out and finished it off with the paint roller (which made a world of difference in the finish). If you ignore my poorly constructed frame you would not think it drypoured!!!! Thanks ever so much. Really saved me a lot of money!!!!

Thanks for the thorough information

Have never seen such clean bags of ready mix

You guys are amazing…thank you so much !!!! Subscribed and shared :)

Very interested to see this outcome as I have a large area of concrete that was cracked and chipped from a tornado debris. Good luck 🤞🤞🤞

I always wanted to do this for my driveway n yard.

You guys are my heros! Any tips for a dry pour inside a small cinder brick building? The floor is sand and only about 7 x 6 room! With it already having sides, how would I level out the concrete mix? Thanks for any help!

I like the sander tip. The pros use a vibrating probe to do the same thing on thick wet poured concrete. Fills any voids. I would seal the slab so it doesn’t stain and stays clean 😊Thanks for sharing.

First time watching you guys and I can't wait to try this out😂

Nothing better than working and learning🎉

Hey guys, love what y'all are doing and I'm planning a small slab in my backyard soon. Just as an FYI for future vids the promo came out really quiet.

I just built a 20'x8' shed on a dry poured reinforced slab 2 expansion joints 4" thick with 6" footings. 9'x8' high shed roof, 2 skylights, lp smart side, fully insulate, 36" steel door, standing seam roof. On one exterior wall is a wood accent wall, with tv for our jacuzzi installed on battons over pressure treated plywood. 5 rows of shelving inside, camping gear, tools, 2 dirtbikes parked in it right now, just withstood the CO storms that came through. No issues. Entire shed is built out of leftover material from job sites, i only purchased $250 in wood and the $600 in concrete. Metal supplier hooked up the metal panels for a 6 pack of beer. (I'm a sheet metal roofer) Yall made this project possible. Withstood some freezing temperatures also 👍

You guys are the best thank you❤

Thanks for sharing, that was another great video...I'm thinking I could use that dry pour method for some stepping stones.... Love & Peace Cajun Family

Thank you both so much I have learned so much. you are both adorable.

Loved your videos. Thank you. I just dry poured a slab on side of my house for trash cans. I live in NE so we do have extreme temperature changes. I used expansion gap material along the house. I also laid down about 3in of quickrete then on top of that I poured about 1in of mortar to help with the smooth texture on the top. What are your thoughts on that? It’s still curing as I just poured it yesterday. So far so good. Do I think it will hold up? Or crack and get ruined?

Thanks for the great tutorial. I'm planning my first dry pour. What is your recommendation for thickness of a patio stab that will house a garden shed for lawn mower and garden tools?

Just brilliant idea👍🏼 Thank you for sharing. I have problems with uneven lawn. Any brilliant idea to level it without too much hassle? TIA.

love your video's, can't wait to do my project .Thanks

Great video. Gave me confidence to do my pad.

I'm gonna try this I hope it works

Have you tried or know anyone who has done this over a brick walkway? I would guess this would work the same way. Love the videos on this.

I recently dry poured concrete as well. The concrete I purchased was the same brand but weighed 60 lbs a bag. But I realized that I can't operate like you guys because it contains too much stone. Whereas in the concrete you guys purchased, the stones don't seem to be as much. So when smoothing out the surface, it will work well.

Thank you for all the grest content, I'm learning so much! What's the best way to extend an existing slab with the dry pour method ? Is it best to create a new slab on top and extend so it's all unisen or just have them connect side by side?

You sir, are the luckiest guy on earth. Well done folks

This is exactly what I need for this original driveway at the house we bought last year! Question for you: Have you done anything with existing sheds and foundations? The house came with a 2 story shed, bottom is the weight room, top is for jiu-jitsu, but the ground wasn't prepped, and I would like to know how hard it would be to make little slabs for deck blocks to sit on.

Ive learned something new today. Did not know you could dry pour concrete. In Cajun spelling. Thanx