[Jagshund]

Today I laid v1 of my poured-in-place concrete counter . . . yes, that means there will be a v2, which will require me to shovel the 400 lbs of ruined Quickrete from v1into a bucket and carry it off somewhere . . . probably throw it over the fence to rest with the bunny. If the concrete had cost more than $20 I'd be really angry at myself.

I consider myself to be proficient with concrete work, but 'architectural concrete' is a new one. It seems as if there was WAY too much large aggregate in the mix (bagged 4000 psi Quickrete) and I had to beat it just to get any cream to float- and there wasn't much at all when it did; in some spots the piece resembles a rock pile. Ended up using 5 gallons of water for 5 bags, which is about 1.25 gallons more than the minumum recommendations. The counter is 37" x 84" with a depth of 2.5" at the front lip (1" all the way across the face) and an average depth of 2" all across the remainder. There is a 14.5" sq plug for the sink (not perfectly square due to the 1" radius corners but close enough).

I figured it would take 5 80 lbs. bags. I mixed 5 80 lbs. bags and ended up putting nearly all of it in due to some really low spots following the screed. One hour after mixing, the piece still hadn't set up but, like I said, I didn't use much water so I don't think it was over hydrated. So my question is:

Did I happen upon a bad batch of concrete, or did I just try to shove too much material into the form? Any suggestions would be appreciated.