This is too funny. I think if I buy a case of beer, some of you will fly in just to help with this concrete job.

I like pavers. Coming from Europe they are a lot more common there than concrete. I think partially due to freezing weather not cracking them like a large concrete surface. I don't like concrete because it is time sensitive and there is no going back if you mess it up.

I will keep you guys posted.

G

Aigel

sent you a PM about something entirely different.

I could have that slab poured and finished before you could unload the pavers from your truck. Pavers require even more careful subgrade prep than concrete. They are also a lot more stable if you confine them at the edges, which you're not going to do. There are other reasons that I don't like them, but I've beat this particular horse quite enough. Good luck in whatever you choose.

Two friends and I poured a 20x30 garage floor out of 10 yard trucks. It was scorching hot that day.

I learned my lesson and I’ve never done it again.

Ahh, that's nothing. The first concrete I ever poured, in the middle of an Oklahoma summer, was a pier hole that took 16 trucks to fill up. On a really bad day, we'd pour a thousand yards of flat slab. No breaks...

Pavers are fun...and you can correct any mistakes as you go. Try that with a poured slab!

Dang it, Vash, don't hold out on us man.

Holy siht. That's a real man's job. I crunch just thinking about it. I have lots of experience watching finisher do their work, and have only done very little or enough to know I dislike doing it. My concrete guys are in their 40s and they look or feel like 65. Its hard work and out in that heat is no fun

CA put up some last minute depredation hog hunts. a lottery.

local to both Aigel and myself. i was giving him a heads-up. :)

Mistakes? why? Set up your form and dump concrete. The only mistake is running out of concrete. Most home owners go cheap and they don't order enough. I love to see em' panic as they run to their truck and haul ass to the hardware store for more bags. Helped a friend once and he cheap out on half a yard and ran short. I didn't want to say, I told you so, but was laughing my ass inside while he's out humping bags into his truck, I was sitting there waiting with my feet in his pool drinking beer.

Man, I am driving up to joint you guys. Sounds like fun.

dont do it..

if you do..bring your concrete finishing tools..just in case :D

he's too big to lug around all the way up there. My finishing tool's name is Jesus.

What mistakes are there to make with a concrete slab? Set, square and level forms, compact base, pour, rake, screed and then finish. Once dry, get a masonry blade for a circular saw and cut. It's not rocket science.

Hey know I'm late to the game here but to beat this to death even more … here is my advice and I was once an Union concrete finisher in the 1970's in one of my former lives …

A truck will charge you a short load fee usually if it is below around 4 yards or so of around $ 60 … most concrete today and depending on your location is around $ 130/yard … and you will be charged standby time as the concrete company will allow around 5 minutes per yard to get it off the truck and anytime after that will be charged as standby time at a rate of about a $ 1 per minute … If you can back the truck hopper right up to the site of your pad then this would be the way to go …
If you have to pour more than a 1/2 yard then this is also the way to go ….

… but If you have to hand mix bags of just a few or many do yourself a big big favor and get yourself the following: 1 - 4 x 8 sheet of 3/4 inch plywood then screw some 2x4's flat side down all along the outside perimeter of the sheet with cheap 2 1/2 inch sheet rock screws .. this serves to keep the water you will be adding and the important cement cream within the mixing area of the 4x8 sheet, then find yourself a square nosed shovel not a pointed shovel and a garden hoe … use 60 lb bags and lay 2 of them on the center of the plywood sheet, then take your square nosed shovel or garden hoe and rip each bag down the center of each and simply lightly lift and flip over the bag and lift the paper up … this serves to keep the dust down to almost zero … then have a water hose with a shut off that you can use to fill up a 5-gallon bucket about 3/4 full, take your hoe and create a quick large donut shaped pile out of the pile of quickcrete while creating a hollow center ... then pour about 1/3rd of the water bucket into the center … a little water goes a long way and you can always add more but too much will weaken the mix into a soup and the resulting cured concrete will be weak and brittle and will crack up … so then simply start by using your hoe to drag the mix into the center on top of the water .. you can then use the shovel to scoop and flip the mix … then if you have to add water use the hose to mist it then once you have this down you can do 2 bags easily and without killing yourself about every 5 minutes … way easier then using a constrictive wheel barrel or a mixer both of which are hard to keep a consistent mix for each batch … if you cannot pour and finish the whole thing in one day no worries, just use a 2x4 as a " shut off" where you want to stop …then come back the next day or whenever and start off where you left off by removing the 2x4 shut off and proceed as before … In fact you can use this method to pour as little as two running feet at a time then come back and repeat on another day .. if you want a structurally sound slap lay out some # 3 rebar
( 3/8 inch dia ) rebar in a 2-foot x 2- foot square pattern as a grid and tie it together using wire .. lay it out onto the pad before pouring and as you pour simply lift up gently on the rebar to get the mixed concrete up and under that area of the rebar to suspend it … that way the rebar will be set into the slap or you can use what are called adobes or blocks as they come in 2 inch , 3 inch , 4 inch etc square sizes and are used to place up under the rebar grid to hold it up prior to placing the concrete …

… one last thing you will know the mix is correct if the mixed concrete in your shovel simply rolls off the shovel not runs off the shovel and when you can quickly take the flat face of your shovel and rub it over an area of the mix on the plywood and a nice creamy shiny dense surface appears where you dragged … that will tell you that you have the correct amount of water in the mix and the cement portion of the mix is coming up to the surface and creating the necessary cream to create proper finished surface ….