Why NOT To Do DRY POUR CONCRETE | Dry Pour Concrete Slab Start to Finish 

Well said I’m planning a 30x30 slab using your method have watched all your videos

I think you could make dry pour work under some customized conditions. For example, you make your own custom concrete mix instead of "ReadyMix" by using pure cement, specific size and type of aggregate and sand mixture in order to test, dial in and get a good finished "dry mix concrete" finish and strength. Perhaps improvise and have a bit of wet mortar made to cover bumpy spots?

@@Jason99766 😂 if that’s how he does all his jobs I’m surprised he’s employed

With a dry pour, you have zero control over the w/c ratio or the consistency of the distribution of water. This is the single most important part for concrete strength and durability. Too little water and you can have dry pockets like the video above. Too much and its weak as hell (might even get plastic shrinkage). For example, you say two pours per inch with an hour in between. So a 4" slab needs 8 pours and takes 8hours? Don't you think some of that concrete has started curing from the first "watering" that would inhibit seepage to the cement below? Best case you're creating laminations in your slab. Maybe your adding a retarder to your mix but then how do you do that with a "dry pour". If you're pouring a little 4x4 pad like above, you can live with cracks and whatever when the concrete shrinks. Maybe you live in an area that doesn't have large temperature swings or expansive soils and these issues don't show up significantly. But the bottom line is that its simply wrong to pitch dry pouring as an equivalent method.

Dry pouring concrete slabs is the ultimate form of DYI stupidity.

Did he intentionally do the wrong😂😂😂

@@djboomizbad 🤣🤣🤣looks like it

100%

' A wet concrete guy has problems following the rules on dry concrete method.' Dry poor concrete guy has problems following the rules on the bag to actually make legitimate concrete.

None of the videos show that method.

Cajun country living shows how to sink the rocks for a smooth finish & how often to mist & water the concrete.

@@DJ-WHAT-DA-KUT But the Cajun Country Living finish wasn't smooth at all. The roller finish made it all lumpy.

@@MikeHeath they did a smooth one as well.

I thought the same thing. I’ve watched a few of the dry pours and he didn't do it the same way. I definitely want to see a contractor do it and give their thoughts but only if they are going to do it the way it was explained in the original video. They also had a video of their first pad and what it looked like one year later. I'm pretty disappointed in this video.

A properly poured 3" slab will withstand a sledge hammer blow 24 hours later without breaking into chunks.

Yep, looks like he went out of his way to make it not work.

There's no way he did it that wrong on accident.

@@JC-fj7oo It was like watching the "has this ever happened to you" part of an infomercial. Somebody screwing up a ridiculously easy task.

@@Nozoki My favorite part was when he slammed day old concrete with a sledgehammer and it was totally fine. He was visibly upset that his effort to sabotage it didn't work lol

I do though like some of his suggestions like wetting the ground. I'd be curious though how the rebar would work if done right.

JohnD - Concrete principles are the same regardless of the process used to achieve them. Steel/rebar should have a minimum of 3” of cover with the ground and 1” with the air. If rebar is too close to the surface, the rebar will just creates stress concentration resulting in failure. Rebar also needs to be properly bedded; concrete all the way around it. In this video, the rebar cage is still rocking when he stops tamping. That means there are voids/air pockets around the rebar which are weak spots that will fail.

how thick is your slab

@@kblend7225 3” with chicken wire.. I did keep watering it for a few days to make sure I didn’t have any dry spots

Tell us how great it is in 2 years after a lot of use.

Exactly what we're looking to do. Do you have any pics of the end result??

@@MAGAMAN Not sure WHAT it is, but SOMETHING just tells me that you're the kind of guy that would simply avoid the truth or deny it if you didn't like it.

Its not that simple. Concrete has to have a specific combination or mix of cement vs liquid, too much liquid and the cement thins out and becomes weak, too little and it cant bond and create the proper bond. this is what he was trying to demonstrate in breaking the cement up. Sure he could have sprayed more water over it multiple times over several minutes or hours, but how much? how do you know when to stop or add more? Thats the whole reason you premix cement, to confirm you have the right consistency throughout.

@@gabrielvazquez81 You spray it with water until it absorbs what it needs. Once it sets up it will stop absorbing. Seems to work really well for everyone else... MAYBE he could have just *followed the directions* and done the dry pour method that is working for everyone else instead of doing it wrong on purpose.

@@gabrielvazquez81 You're a clown.

You mean doing it the right way? You people that fall for this dry pour crap are seriously stupid.

It’ll crumble the same way and he knows it.

They would never

It'll be hydrated, but break up just the same.

Unfortunately this is very true. Concrete is not cured in 24 hours lol.

100%. Cajun Country had a beautiful finish prior to misting by screeding it, then rollering it. This guy has gone out of his way to make it look bad.

​@Jon Carson absolutely. LOVE THE OTHER COUPLE. 3 SLABS ALREADY!!! DOING MINE THIS SUMMER

@@michaelastuto8003 I hope you put up a video! I'm watching all of them while I ponder trying my own. And good luck!

Those cajun country people are going to get a lot of people into a pickle. Especially those living somewhere within a municipalities jurisdiction. By no means does dry pouring concrete achieve appropriate building code standards nor would a building permit ever be given for something constructed by these means. I understand most people are not going to even look at a building permit for small concrete pad around their property, but dry pouring does not create concrete. If they want to call it by some other name that's fine....maybe "fancy hardened rock pile" with some nice unbonded rebar wedged in there

@Troyer Ritter total understand what you are saying, I do. However they live in a rural area. And putting a slab for a shed, chicken coupes, etc.... the dry slab is easy. But code violations...thank goodness I don't have to worry about that lol

Dry pouring is not as good

​@@markwilliams4525 profound and deep reply. Lol whatever man

@@markwilliams4525 I don't think anyone that argue that dry pour is superior to conventional methods of pouring concrete, but it's definitely easier and, from all of the videos I've seen, produces acceptable results for small projects. Don't know why concrete guys have to shit on it so much. Don't worry - I don't think Cajun Country Living is looking to topple Big Concrete 😂

Agree, left some concrete out at first, then tried to fix by adding to an already scabbed top, and didn't use enough water, and hammered it right away..I see why he didn't use metal rebar, demo ..So we saw all the things he did wrong and he still tried to under hype it...I'm gonna try this next month because I'm solo and this looks less back breaking..

Cement producers, Quikrete, etc. do not recommend dry pouring and if dry pouring has extra steps where you have to spray or screed multiple times over a period of time, why not just get a dang wheel barrow and mix it as the manufacture recommends. This dry pouring makes no sense, The whole point of premixing is to confirm that the mix has a uniform structure throughout. You can see before pouring if part of the mix to dry or too wet and adjust. However,. with dry pouring you have no idea how wet or dry the slab is in some parts and this creates issues with the overall structure of the cement.

The guy does concrete for a living. He knows a hell of a lot more about it than you do.

@@MAGAMAN Yea he knows how to make something seem a certain way, whether its honest or not...

@@MAGAMAN He doesn't do dry pour for a living, and it shows.

@@dchall8 no one does dry pour for a living.

@@als8518 they do in other countries... LOL

I believe he mention he did water it 3 more times as the overlay says, but probably not enough water as per the results shown. But still, I guess all his knowledge about concrete played against him in this case. But his attitude from the beginning was incorrect, even mentioning that other RU-vid videos "Fool you"

u hav to constantly wet it down also not jus 3-4 times n thats it lol. 24hrs is not even n not close to enough for this to cure

Dude does it all wrong and says it’s not right lol. Maybe watch how to do it before just going in blind

Right...

Exactly!

He did that to a wet slab within 24 hours of pouring it because it looked like crap and he had no intention of keeping it. I wouldn't have kept it either lol.

@Brock Yes it did🤣. But for experimental purposes, he should've let it cure properly.. Either way, he was biased against this method and it showed.

I was able to destroy a wet pour slab within 24 hours too. 😄

I fully agree, I’m looking into this for some hardscape in my backyard. Because of various factors dry pour is intriguing. But I am skeptical. I have watched all the videos and I was very interested in a review by someone who was also skeptical. However this video was 100% biased against the method. The only thing this video answered was if I do crappy job at something will I get crappy results. And the answer is yes. If it was worked until the aggregate was not exposed and the finish was appropriate and then the hydration technique was done correctly and then if it were given time to cure we could expect a suitable answer. Going above and beyond would be to do a wet pour slab next to it and compare the time and results when breaking them up. Sadly, in reality, I felt this video did not accomplish any aspect of its goal.

Agree

I dry poored a 35' long x 4' wide by 4" deep walkway last year and it turned out perfectly. The guy in the video seems like he was purposfuly failing. Its really not that hard of a concept. Keep the forms on for 48 hours and after the crust has formed soak the crap out of the slab. Its gonna suck in all the moisture. Skreeting dry is way easier that skreeting wet and this guy makes it look like an impossible task. Concreat dosmt dry, it cures and requires moisture for the chemical reaction to take place.

Just because they made it look good doesn't mean it's any better inside. Why are you people too lazy to just mix up the concrete? Why risk wasting hundreds or even thousands of dollars, or even worse, injury or death when you can just do it the right way.

@@MAGAMAN I replied to you earlier, so this might be a continuation. Yes, we're lazy and I explained why. But I doubt anyone is going to dry pour hundreds or thousands of $$ worth of concrete when they need it to last forever. My DIY stepping stones are not going to cost hundreds of dollars.

Follow instructions from the pro, not Mike's.

Yeah Just FOLLOW the Dry Pour Instructional Videos By Cajan Country Living Not This Guy Who Can't FOLLOW Instructions 😅😢😂

This was nothing more than an advertisement for his company. If someone hires this guy because of this video they are an idiot. I'm surprised he didn't come back with a jack hammer instead to try and disprove the concrete would not hold.

Curious, how is there a cost difference? Just like man hours i'd like to see a video comparing the 2 processes from a cost standpoint. I hear the DIY couple is going to have a testing video come out in a few weeks so maybe that will answer some questions as they test the 2 methods

Buying concrete by the bag at least in my area is far more expensive than by the yard from a concrete truck as long as you have at least three yards or more it is pretty cheap to get premixed concrete delivered from a concrete truck. The tools are a one shot purchase and if your doing the labor yourself it should be cheaper to call for a truck.

You can buy a 3 or 6 cubic foot mixer for minimal cost and electricity isn't _that_ expensive.

The only people who do not follow directions are the ones who do not read the instructions on the bag. Over 38 years and 1000s of yards of concrete poured and finished this is no surprise whatsoever. Get a wheelbarrow and a hoe and do it right.

And he lostval credibility.

He Didn't FOLLOW THEIR Instructions 1) Skreet the Surface More to Raise the Powder Concrete to the Top BEFORE ADDING WATER 2) MIST TWICE waiting an hour in Between Then WATER 4 More Times on the Shower Setting waiting 1 hour Between each Watering 😉🙃 Simple IF U FOLLOW Instructions 🤔🤪

Recently I've done 1 dry pour and 1 wet, both for the first time in my life. I found the dry pour easier for me even though it was a larger slab than the wet. But I agree, I made sure the dry pour was how I wanted it to look before I misted it. It's just going to be me and my dogs walking on it so it works for now

Better still, wait 48 hours to remove the forms AND, more importantly, NEVER let the water completely evaporate during the curing process. Cover it with fabric of some sort (burlap is popular), and cover that with plastic to keep the moisture in for 5 days.

The original people only misted it a few times b4 really saturating it after that. The misting was to let the top set without messing up the finish. This guy purposely made this fail with only 2 extremely short mists!!

HE MISSED MANY STEPS

That's part of the problem, I couldn't easily bring the powder to the surface in some areas. That's what I wanted to show people.

@@MikeDayConcrete I noticed that. The issue was you needed to add more dry concrete to that area and screed some more before applying water. It may take a minute, but it will go smooth. And when misted properly several times, then watered as well, you would find as the rest of us have that the slab would turn out smooth and complete. Does the psi match the strength of wet mixed concrete? Probably doesn’t I don’t know. But in small home slab projects you don’t have to be able to drive a tank on it. I challenge you to go watch Cajun Country Livin’s video and then do this pour again. Because in all fairness I think you misrepresented an easier diy method for some who don’t have access to the tools necessary for a good wet pour, and in most cases it is for non structural foot traffic areas or similar so it doesn’t matter. Just because “I’ve always done it this way,”doesn’t make it the only way to do things.

“Mixed” is the optimum word. You mix ALL the ingredients, so that the portland, which is the bonding agent was evenly distributed. Dry pouring doesn’t allow for that.

@@Oldcrow77 true , we mixed it dry then added water then wheelbarrowed it into place, a different procedure.

Thus guy did this all wrong... watch Cajun County Living to see how it's supposed to be done with reviews a yr later of the slabs.

Definitely enough water or cure time or keeping wet when curing for days.

Troy, you have to read as you watch. He never showed that he wet it 3 more times, but that text appeared at 24:49 in the video. Still, if he ended up with dry holes in the slab, he did a crrrrrrap job of wetting it.

@@dchall8 I see that. All the videos i've seen, others do a relatively heavy mist with each watering becoming more of a spray than a mist. The mist that this guy shows, is the lightest mist you can do. I'm surprised any of it hardened.

@@troybower9419 He did 3 more sprays off camera, but I fully agree. There is some text over the video at, I believe, somewhere in the 28 minute point of the video. Look for it. But the only way you end up with dry spots is not enough water. Note that in his early part of the demolition he was surprised at how it didn't break. So apparently he got it wet enough in some places and not others.

@@dchall8 I realize that. But after seeing how little water he used on the 1st mist, i have to assume he used very little on the mists off camera as well. All the other videos, they used a fair bit of water each time.

The guy is a clown for sure.

I think this is the BEST, most accurate comment on this joke of a video.

100%

was you "cut and dry" comment a pun?

@@Awed1b not intentionally lol but it works huh

One thing I saw someone do is finish the top with rapid setting mortar. This mix is not full of aggregate but rather mostly powder, so skreeting gives you a smoother surface. For a 4x4 area, it's about 2 50 lb bags.

What does sprinkling the top with sand do? How does this makeba smooth finish as you were saying you desired?

Some batches of sack concrete don't have enough fine sand/cement to be drawn to the surface to create smooth finish with the dry method. Sprinkling sand mix (a mix of sand and Portland cement) provides the extra measure of fine material needed. You will find a bag of sand mix next to the bags of sack concrete mix at your store. @@PhilVerryChannel

Post holes is the only time you could use a dry pour and you still need to use the correct kind of concrete for that

Concrete gains 60-70% of compressive strength (f'c) in 7 days, at 48 hours, unless it is a mix specifically for pavement, (high cement content and low w/c ratio) it is still quite weak as the cement has not had enough time to hydrate and gain sufficient strength. Foot traffic, may be fine, but no heavy loads. Misting the surface of the concrete aids in curing, but truly does nothing to increase hydration below the first 1" or so. If water is penetrating below that, then the surface is cracked and the slab will have maintenance issues for the remainder of its short life. Concrete is not porous, it is permeable depending on what cement and admixtures are present. There are porous concretes available from many suppliers, however, they are for parking lot and low load situations. Personally, if I am spending $6/bag for concrete, I'm going to mix it per the bag, and ACI guidance. All that said, if you are happy with a dry pour result, and are comfortable with the durability, by all means, do it.

If concrete were really that porous, it wouldn't take much rain at all for rebar to rust, expand, and break the concrete.

@@MikeHeath that is why rebar is not placed in pervious concrete. It is amazing how much water can go through pervious concrete, great product.

@@trafficsignalman I agree 100%. The point I was trying to make is that I don't see how repeatedly misting a slab over any length of time is going to properly hydrate a dry packed slab. The outside is going to harden first and once it does, I don't see how it could possibly be "pourous" enough to allow enough water to percolate down to the dry cement. Concrete has pours, yes, but water doesn't pass all the way through a 3.5 inch concrete slab. If it did, any slab with rebar would fall apart after a few rain storms. I am curious now though. Would fiberglass rebar have any utility in pervious concrete? I've only seen pervious concrete used in small sections for drainage.

@@MikeHeath fiberglass rebar would be an interesting application, but since pervious concrete is nonstructural, it would be overkill. I've seen fiberglass used in prestress piles and bridge beams, works great.

I would never hit Factory Wet pour with a sledge 24 hours later.

same materials = same amount of water.

It would stand up far better even though hair-line cracks and minor spalling may be present.

You have obviously never tried to demo any wet pour concrete. Yes 24hours later is a bit soon, but a wet pour still would have performed a good bit better. I have not seen Cajun Country Livin do any comparative strength tests on their method. If iit cracks out a few years later its just a bigger mess to clean up down the road before its done right.

They also don't come back the next day on a wet pour or dry pour and beat the edges with a sledge hammer, it needs 28 days. This video is more of a scam then the spray on hair thickening commercial.

Several weeks after watching several dry pour concrete videos (both PRO and CON) I went ahead and did my own "pour" for a 3' x 7' x 4" pad in front of my wife's she-shed. It was easy to pour and I tamped down the concrete halfway through, added metal mesh, and then filled up the remaining form and repeatedly tamped down that too especially around the edges. I will admit that I did spend considerable time trying to make the surface look good before the first misting spray of water was applied. I misted the concrete about every 30 minutes for two hours and then as luck would have it, it rained pretty hard. Yeah, thank you Florida weather. The rain did a little bit of cosmetic damage to the surface (nothing major) and on one side where a stream of rain flowed off a front roof edge and that of course made a hole against the form that was a couple inches deep and maybe an inch or less wide. No worries as this is all covered by a step platform up to the she shed's porch. I kept spraying water on the block a couple of times a day for about a week. Of course, here in Florida it rained several times during that period. It's now been about two months and I think the pad turned out perfect for an entry to the she-shed. I've had some considerable weight on it (two humans, and a fridge on a dolly) and nothing has cracked or marred the surface beyond what happened from that initial rain storm. I am planning on doing this again for a 4' x 10' floor for an outside garden tools shed that will be attached to the back of my garage. Planning on "pouring" that soon and will let it sit for 5-6 weeks before I build the front and side walls as I want to ensure the concrete is thoroughly hardened prior to sinking some 1/2" redhead bolts into the concrete to make sure the walls are firmly attached to the pad and back of the garage (cinder block wall). If I was planning on doing a large pour for driveway or vehicle parking pads, I might be a little leery and would likely do a traditional wet pour. But for small pads this has worked out fantastic and is easier on the back than mixing each bag and pouring. Hope this helps someone else. Thanks!

People here are missing the point If you fry pour, you are not mixing the portland equally through out. Adding a portland layer on top is called a screat coat. And is okay for very thin but if you have lots of wet freezing in winter it is prone to flaking off. BTW I’m a retired pool builder

YES! Wet pour, Mike is truly a master... dry pour... lol, not even in the same ball park.

@@billsmith9249 absolutely mike is a master of wet pour don't get me wrong..I just did my dry pour and it's perfect too.nothing wrong with dry pour just gotta get it right I guess 👍

@@we-must-we-can what part of the country are you in? Im in NW Ohio, so I have a freeze/thaw cycle I would have to over come for a dry pour. But doesn't mean I'm not gonna try! =)

can you restate your thoughts on the mechanism more explicitly? You may very well be on to something, as my pours have resulted in what's essentially an "always-sandy," however faintly, finish. Are you saying that there are a minimum of three "ingredients" in that quikrete: (1) pebbles; (2) sand; (3) cement binder (glue?) ??

Yeah, I can still hear my wife..."Are you still going to use this solid bag of concrete? Can we throw it away yet?"

Hard is not the same as strong You can’t get uniform consistent strength if the portland isn’t mixed evenly through out. Just common sense

Mister, now take that bag and drop it from about 3’ off ground and it will break in half.. that’s because the water ratio will not be consistent..

Concrete has been around a few hundred years. Don’t you think that if this process worked that well it would have been adopted by professionals. Concrete hundred of years RU-vid 10 Couple doing a pad in back yard is not exactly a expert view. As for cost effective Most concrete trucks have a 3 yard minimum. That’s about 450.00 delivered It’s not easier or less time to do a dry pour. Would you just throw bread ingredients in a pan and wet it down an throw it in the oven. Google wet pour vs dry pour before you go any further. As a retired pool builder, I strongly suggest you do more homework

@@Oldcrow77 I suggest you re read.. I'm not pouring a pool , driveway or foundation for a structure., its a small patio with a BBQ. It will be considerably less especially with these inflated prices. Your just stuck , get over it

@@alreyes4882 I couldn’t care less actually. Good luck with your project

@Oldcrow77 go 2 Cajun County Living channel & read the comments on their dry pour videos... this is done all over the world, just not in America for some reason. Everyone thinks we're backwoods & behind times bc we don't know how to adapt & move forward. Drought wrought places do this bc water is premium, this requires less, & clean-up is nonexistent. It doesn't even require running water. Just saying...

@@Oldcrow77 you seem to be very bitter and do not know history. Although different from our modern day concrete, Rome (and other ancient civilizations) would fill giant ships with DRY concrete and deliberately sink them to form foundations for bridges and damns and other structures. Most of those structures are still around to this day and yet they used a method of 'dry pouring'......

JSYK, this guy is bias AF, & he purposely did this all wrong. Go to Cajun County Living & see how it's really done

And 28 days to full strength for regular, longer for dry pour.

i'm considering doing a dry pour in my well house, it doesn't need strength it just needs to be better than the dirt and keep the pump level........... seems easy enough. I defintly think this guy was trying to fail though

@@johndorian4078 Grade 8 road base is what you want.

This is great!! Can't wait to try it!

I was a jet engine reliability engineer for much of my career, and you could not have said that any better. My predecessors and I created a way for the USAF to save $3 billion on engine maintenance, but because they never did it that way before, they found ways to do it wrong. Except for one reserve unit. They implemented the program to perfection and accepted a 50% funding reduction...two years in a row, and still flew 50% more sorties than any comparable unit.