Being from Alaska we have made soil cement for decades. But we sprinkle lightly with water then cover with plastic. The sun bakes the cement and stops debri from falling on the cement. It hardens 3 times faster when covering it with plastic. Just check it each day and add water to keep the surface from crumbling until it it completely cured.
Hey you know what, I could appreciate this, a lot of us don't have thousands of dollars to pay and have the pros do it, wish I did. I'm trying to do a carport all by myself right now and it's not easy. But I want one so bad that I'm just going to keep trying. That's what we got is RU-vid 💪
This is great! I made small garden paths and I love how it looks. On some of my paths I tamped peagravel down into the soilcement. I just love how it looks!
It's called dirtcrete and you would normally till the cement into the top two inches of soil, level, moisten and allow to dry. That way you won't end up with a thin layer of concrete that cracks easily.
@@m.l.miller219 I would have to say it depends on how much concrete you use. You can likely find the directions on line but quanties depend a lot on the soil you're dealing with.
looks good for a small patio, I have used portland for a dirt area of parking and slowly added to it and it has been fine for years and many NY winters!
This is a great foundation for laying down flagstone. Buy a pallet of flagstone. Mix up some mortar in a wheelbarrow. Slap it down. Drop in the stone. Smooth out the joints with a trowel. Done!
I use this dirtcrete as a base for 12×12 pavers at a grade for drainage. It's lasted for 20 years under the pavers. Using broken old cement chunks helps also. Money saver.
I personally think that was nothing more than a waste of time and cement! Soil cement mixed as it should would literally flow and self level and within just hours it would be 100% compacted ( as determined by engineers spec) it would then be possible to build on if desired! I realize it’s just a cheep project but it’s not likely to last longer than a season depending on what climate you have!
Cement stabilised soil has been used for a century or more and is a totally legit low cost and medium strength fill material. Increased maximum dry density, reduces plasticity of clayey soils, and increases the bearing capacity. The trick is to realise what it can and can't be used for. I use it personally as a base for laying pavers (an alternative to digging out my clayey soil and replacing with compacted gravel). Just dig up the clay, mix in 10% cement, and compact it back down. Then sand and pavers as normal. The clay stays hard like weak rock even when saturated with water (becomes essentially non-plastic).
Thanks for this. I'm trying to figure out a cost effective way to do my driveway. I like how you pointed out that it looks like natural rock. I think thats a great look and is pretty much exactly what I'm going for. I'll probably start this project late next summer so still have a year to plan. I might do it in sections. Hows your patio holding up? Follow up vid? Glad you did this video and I'm glad I found it, thank you!!!!!
@@TheBlankman Thats great! Yeah I understand I'll have to do additional things besides this to roll a car over it. Your video made me start thinking of things other than standard driveways though. Thanks again!
did you do a follow up video or can you tell me how it held up. With the low spots do you think you could drill a few holes and level the holes individually? I have similar ideas but i also have to consider i live in central Ontario Canada and we get freeze and thaw cycles all winter.
I know poured concrete is expensive, but I just can't see this holding up well at all, even for a few years. Save your money, watch RU-vid videos, and mix your own concrete a little at a time, maybe a 10 by 10 square. Hard work but not that much more expensive and a thousand times better. Better if you buy washed sand and aggregate, many pre mix companies offer it, and mix with Portland cement 5 to 1 ratio. If you do use sacked concrete, add about a quarter to half shovel of Portland cement to each 80 lb. Sack of concrete mix. Also same amount of fine sand, will finish much nicer.
i get its a experiment .i dont see the point , road crush will pack like cement if you tamp it with a plate compactor when damp . The other thing i think you may have wanted to accomplish is you can rent a machine that blows on cement . like you see at disny land walls. im not bashing you i try things my self all the time and thats how we all learn and or teach our experiences.
I'm fairly new to this concept but I think if you tilled some sand and Portland mix into it sprayed it down with a hose and took a roller to it you could get a super thick layer that wouldn't chip or deteriorate as fast? How has this held up so far?
I’m not sure why anyone would do this it looks pretty bad to me I’ve seen other videos as well it just doesn’t look right it looks very bad to be honest I would just get some quickset and do it that way will look much better and I don’t think it’s gonna cost any more money
I hate to throw cold water on your mud pie surface idea but that was a lot of wasted time and money. Mixing portland cement with dirt and only 1/2" to 3/4" thick it isn't going to take long before that is going to crack into little pieces. The hot and cold expansion/contraction is going to destroy it especially if you live in a place that freezes. This is a prime example of getting what you pay for.