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.

Yeah that's the point of the video. He's purposely not mixing with water, as the instructions specify. His point being that "dry pour" concrete is trash. pretty common knowledge.

Did he intentionally do the wrong😂😂😂

@@djboomizbad 🤣🤣🤣looks like it

But another end he made perfect square😂3/8th X 3/8th. Who cares?😂

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

And he lostval credibility.

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.

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.

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 🤔🤪

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.

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.

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.

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. 😄

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

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

100%

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! =)

“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.

Sledgehammer no.Destructive tests though? Thousands of them are done every day on every large commercial job with engineered mixes. I dont deal with it very much on residential and light commercial. But engineered mixes have cylinders broken after the first day and then on a schedule afterwards to make sure its gaining strength at an appropriate rate. A sledgehammer may not be as precise of a test but proves a point. A good mix will get dented the next day by a hammer, but shouldn’t crumble apart easily.

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.

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.

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

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!

@@markostrowski-sm5uo Joke went over your head lil bro. It's ok.

Yep. Need the paint roller! Or the alagator stamp. Lol

Maybe he’s just jealous

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?) ??

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

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.

Agree. I did about 80 feet by 40 feet area with road base #2, and you have to pay attention to how you work it. You can end up with rocks and no "fill" gravel/sand to smoothen it out.

Y'all are being nice, he knows that and not one dry pour video made the mistake of not pointing that out. It was the essential to getting the powder to the surface.

@@eyeswideshut2800 Its not nice its being respectful. I don't know if he dropped the ball on purpose or out of ignorance but I can share what I know and not be a twat. I think you are trying to say using a screed will push down the rock but even that gets harder when its a clump of rocks so be mindful about over-agitating the mix.

For dry pour, the paint roller is the key to a smooth finish after getting rid rocks on surface... see Cajun County Living channel

@Leah Rowe my dry pour finish wasn't the issue, I did use the paint roller....my issue was getting a smooth finish with the wet pour.

JSYK, he did this all wrong almost from start to finish... go watch Cajun County Livng & see how it's really done. They have real videos documenting the process & reviewing the slabs a yr later... just saying!

You should have made a video of your project! How do you get the bag off the concrete after it has hardened? It would look pretty trashy after a few weeks if the part of the bags that are showing are left to weather away.

@onebrightflash IDK how he did it, but I believe you wet them down & once hardened/cured, you just cut the bag away. In drought wrought areas, they build walls this way & don't wet them, but rather let them absorb humidity & during wet season absorb rain, so they'll stay in the bag for a long cure time. If you're worried about the anesthetics of the wall before paper removal while concrete cures, you could always just paint the paper bags with water-based paint for a different look. 😉

I watered the bags over a two day period. Then the last step was power washing the bags off.

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