My Concrete Path Has A Problem

[thaibeachlovers]

Hi,

I made a concrete path the other day, and the surface has lots of tiny holes in it. Where have I gone wrong?

I used a mix of three parts sand to 1 part cement 1 part stones, and it smoothed out quite nicely at the time.

I think it's strong enough, but it looks a bit unsightly.

Thanks in advance.

[sezze]

My 1st guess , air . Airbubbles are normal when concrete is poured . To avoid them you need to vibrate the concrete . This is best by a mechanical vibrator , but for smaller projects you can use anything which can shake the liquid concrete ( like a stick to pound on the rebar , or a hammer on the formwork ) .

[cdmtdm]

better to trowel it off an hour or two after u laid it , just air pockets working there way out ....

[thaibeachlovers]

Thanks for those explanations.

[jombom]

Yep --- air bubbles --- the surface dried out too quickly --- you need to keep setting concrete as moist as possible for a couple of days ---- by spraying water on it.

[bankruatsteve]

Just curious... in a country where maybe 1/2 the population is experienced in concrete work and will do that for 250B for a days work, why in the hell would you want to take on the project if you don't know what your're doing? Duh.

[canuckamuck]

Just curious... in a country where maybe 1/2 the population is experienced in concrete work and will do that for 250B for a days work, why in the hell would you want to take on the project if you don't know what your're doing? Duh.

I take on projects all the time that I do not have any experience in. The result: I learn how to do it and I get to do it the way I want without the stress of watching locals doing it their way. Now I can weld, pour concrete, make structures, tile, roof, plumb and do the electrical work too.

If it doesn't turn out right, I gain valuable experience from the errors, and I am free to do it over if I wish

[sirineou]

Just curious... in a country where maybe 1/2 the population is experienced in concrete work and will do that for 250B for a days work, why in the hell would you want to take on the project if you don't know what your're doing? Duh.

I take on projects all the time that I do not have any experience in. The result: I learn how to do it and I get to do it the way I want without the stress of watching locals doing it their way. Now I can weld, pour concrete, make structures, tile, roof, plumb and do the electrical work too.

If it doesn't turn out right, I gain valuable experience from the errors, and I am free to do it over if I wish

Well said canuckamuck,

.life is all about learning new things, and the satisfaction of doing something your self.

If we all did only what we know, how would we ever learn anything new.And if we never practiced, how we will ever master anything?

I also, enter in to projects that I am not a master of, They dont always come out 100% but I learn from them, keep my self busy and entertained while doing them, and enjoy the satisfaction of having done something my self .Duh.

Edited May 26, 2012 by sirineou

[Daffy D]

Just curious... in a country where maybe 1/2 the population is experienced in concrete work and will do that for 250B for a days work, why in the hell would you want to take on the project if you don't know what your're doing? Duh.

I take on projects all the time that I do not have any experience in. The result: I learn how to do it and I get to do it the way I want without the stress of watching locals doing it their way. Now I can weld, pour concrete, make structures, tile, roof, plumb and do the electrical work too.

If it doesn't turn out right, I gain valuable experience from the errors, and I am free to do it over if I wish

Well said canuckamuck,

.life is all about learning new things, and the satisfaction of doing something your self.

If we all did only what we know, how would we ever learn anything new.And if we never practiced, how we will ever master anything?

I also, enter in to projects that I am not a master of, They dont always come out 100% but I learn from them, keep my self busy and entertained while doing them, and enjoy the satisfaction of having done something my self .Duh.

Well Said

[thaibeachlovers]

Just curious... in a country where maybe 1/2 the population is experienced in concrete work and will do that for 250B for a days work, why in the hell would you want to take on the project if you don't know what your're doing? Duh.

Are you being devil's advocate?

There may be a lot of people that DO concrete, but they're pants at it. Thailand, land of bad concrete!

FYI I have done lots of concrete work before, it's just the first time that I have had this particular problem.

Actually, my wife just contracted someone to do the floor of our new bathroom ( for reasons I'm not going into here, I won't do it ), and they leveled it so the water goes away from the floor drain and out the door. So why on earth would I actually PAY someone to botch a job worse than what I would?

[thaibeachlovers]

Just curious... in a country where maybe 1/2 the population is experienced in concrete work and will do that for 250B for a days work, why in the hell would you want to take on the project if you don't know what your're doing? Duh.

I take on projects all the time that I do not have any experience in. The result: I learn how to do it and I get to do it the way I want without the stress of watching locals doing it their way. Now I can weld, pour concrete, make structures, tile, roof, plumb and do the electrical work too.

If it doesn't turn out right, I gain valuable experience from the errors, and I am free to do it over if I wish

Well said. I couldn't put it better.

I learned all my practical skills that way.

It's a sad fact of life that almost every time I contracted the "professionals" to do a job ( back home ), I ended up redoing it myself because they mostly did it so badly! I had to learn how to plaster interior walls because the plasterer left such a horrid mess, and I had to completely rebuild my kitchen extension.

[bankruatsteve]

OK OK. I humbly retract my statement. Not something I'll ever take on though. My back starts hurting just thinking about it. Cheers.

[thaibeachlovers]

OK OK. I humbly retract my statement. Not something I'll ever take on though. My back starts hurting just thinking about it. Cheers.

<My back starts hurting just thinking about it>

Which is why they invented knee pads, LOL.

Anyway, I get a lot of satisfaction when I do something that DOES go well and looks good on completion. "I did that"!

[jombom]

To try and partially correct your problem, you could try a light brushing of the surface with sand. This will partially fill the holes. A few days later, you could repeat the process. Eventually, when you are satisfied with the filling results, you could try a weak mix of cement and water. Depending on your earlier results , you may decide to add some more sand to the mix. Make sure the surface is moist before appling the mix, by brushing again. It will not look perfect, but will look much better, than it does now.