Ordering Concrete

[kmacht]

I have a question for those of you who have done your own concrete work in the past. When you order concrete, what happens if you have concrete left over in the truck when you are done with your pour? I did the calculations and it came to 7.8 yards of concrete for what I need. If I order just 8 yards it will be a little too close for comfort with spillage and waste. If I order 8.5 or 9 yards I have a good chance of having concrete left over. I don't mind paying for extra concrete that I don't use but I don't really have a place to put it. Will the concrete company typically make you take the full load or will they dispose of the extra concrete back at their plant? Also, do they require you to have a place to wash out their barrell and cutes? Any suggestions on where to do this if so? I have washed out portable mixers before and wherever the water/concrete spilled it created a dead spot where no grass would grow. In the past I have used the mobile mix trucks so none of this has been an issue. This pour requires more concrete than the mobile mix guys can deliver so I am stuck with readymix. Any advise you can provide is appreciated.

Keith

 

[55chevy]

In my experience, they will keep whats left and dispose of it. Washing the shute does kill grass, but it will grow back.

I have a dumb question. What is mobile mix? Not familiar with that term.

 

[wakeboarder311]

yeah they will take the left over. they use it for big concrete blocks and dividers.

 

[nate379]

When I did a pour about a month ago we just dumped the extra in the woods.

 

[Dmaxman]

I have a dumb question. What is mobile mix? Not familiar with that term.

These are the turcks that mix the concrete on the spot so you only pay for what you need.

 

[Cuda]

I guess it must change with the area or the concrete provider. Everyone I have dealt with makes you take everything you order.
You could ask the supplier when ordering about it.

 

[kmacht]

Ok, thanks for the replies. I just wanted to get an idea of what the norm was before I call and place the order. I will of course confirm everything with the supplier.

Mobile Mix is a different type of truck. Instead of having a big round barrell where everything is dumped in and mixed at the plant they have a truck that carries the dry stuff in one tank and water in the other. When they get to your site the stuff gets mixed in a much smaller barrell on the truck and then sent down the chute. There is a meter on the chute so you only pay for what you actually use. It is a great way to order concrete if you have a small job. You can vary the ammount of water they add to suit your needs and the concrete that is coming out the chute is fresh. It hasn't been being mixed for the past hour while the truck sits in traffic. The disadvantage of the mobile mix machines is that they are usually limited to either 3 or 5 cubic yards and most places only have one or two trucks. If you have a larger job you either have to pour it in sections or pay for two trucks.

Keith

 

[tdkkart]

One of the cement contractors I know used to carry about 50 oil drain pans in his truck, used them to take the extra if needed, making concrete footing pads that he then sold back to the concrete company's block division.

I know a guy that worked for many years for one of the concrete companies. For years he constantly had a form set up at his place to catch extra concrete, all the drivers knew about it and knew where his finishing tools were at. He ended up with probably 250yards worth of driveway and sidewalks that looks amazingly well done for being pieced together.

 

[kmacht]

Ok, one more question. Do you tip your concrete truck driver and if so, how much?

Keith

 

[nate379]

Maybe if he had some crazy area to get the truck into or helped you out maybe, but otherwise no.

 

[bazzateer]

These are the turcks that mix the concrete on the spot so you only pay for what you need.

In the interests of political correctness and so as not to offend anyone perhaps we should add that other nationalities are also involved in the concrete mixing business.

 

[wantedabiggergarage]

In parts of my city (my area, at least), the road is asphalt, but there is gravel, in front of peoples houses (back from the day when the streets were). Several people had extra, dumped there, where they walk (parking/sidewalk).

A deceased neighbor, set up some tarps, and made some wood forms, this could even be a kids step project. (keep them out of your hair until done)

 

[Ray-CA]

In our area, the driver will take the concrete back to the plant, but you pay for all you ordered. We've always had extra forms set up for stepping stones etc. just in case we needed someplace to put the extra.

Ray

 

[beelsr]

For extra, i've made up some forms to make bench supports or pedestals or paving blocks. Once, I had some parking curbs made up. You could also fill in the cores of your block walls. Here in NEPA, you pay for what you order, whether you use it or not so I'd rather have it turned into something (potentially) useful other than a pile of concrete I'm just going to end up sledging apart a few years from now.

And you tip the driver a cold soda. And help him with the wash out if he's cool. Being prepared for the pour and on the ball is really the best way to be nice to the driver.

The grass died because all the lime in the concrete makes the ph way off for grass, etc... It will grow back eventually but if you don't have any other place to wash out, soak it really good once the truck leaves.

 

[OccupantRJ]

I always have a form or two for a trashcan pad or something similar, and use plastic sheet to let the driver wash out onto. Put some lumber around the edges of the plastic underneath to create a kind of pool, and the next day, bust up the thin, weak concrete into small chunks and haul it off. Best way I have found yet. Here you pay for what you order, and let him wash out somewhere. They take back overage.

RJ

 

[gatchel]

Ok, one more question. Do you tip your concrete truck driver and if so, how much?

Keith

We'll that's depends. We just did a pour and filled concrete block. If not for the skill of the driver we would have been shoveling a hell of a lot more wet concrete than we ended up doing. He kept the chute moving almost perfectly based on our direction and controlled the flow very nicely. It made our lives much much easier. I threw him a 20 for about an hour's worth of work.

If they guy was new and not very experienced than there would have been little to no tip, and probably concrete all over the place...

 

[Zeke]

Unless the truck is pretty far away from the batch plant, he will water down the mix and take it back. I don't know about today, but they used to put more mix in on top of the old. As the day wore on, the mix got hotter which actually benefited late starters.

With today's computers I bet they can add a small amount of retarder and keep the mix going all day until it's time to wash out for the night. That's when they need to dump any left over mix. You'll see various molds and forms at batch plants for this purpose.

Bottom line, don't worry about sending some back. But if you use a pumper, he will wash out some back into the truck if the truck is still there. Then he will flush out on your property. Nice to have some old trash cans around for this that you can put in the dumpster.

 

[JamieK]

I've never used them, but we have a local concrete place that has 2 cubic yard trucks. Its just a small mixer on a full size truck chassis. It would be handy for small amount of concrete, or if you needed concrete a regular truck couldn't get into.

http://www.concreteexp.com/truck/index.php


http://minimaxconcrete.com/

 

[lupinsea]

The custom up in the NW is to have a place to dump the excess concrete on site. Ideally, as others have mentioned, you'll have other things you can make with concrete ready to go: stepping stones, curbs, etc. Other wise you get charged an armload if they have to clean out the truck because the concrete hardened up on the way back to the plant. I think the clean-up fee is about $175 or so around here.

Also, rule of thumb for ordering concrete is to order 10% more than you "need" or than what you calculate the form will hold. So, if you need 7.8 cu yd, you'll want to order a little over 8.5 cu yd. Excess concrete can be dealt with, but not having enough would **** as you'd have low spots or cold joints.

If you do need to dump excess on site, spread it thin over a bed of dirt (preferably) or grass. By keeping it thin (~2" or so) it makes it easier to break up and dispose of later.

Make sure the concrete truck can access your formwork. I figured the truck I ordered would be able to reach all my footings, but despite having what I thought was a very low sloped yard the driver was nervous about reaching the far formwork. As a result we had a hastily arranged bucket brigade to place about 1.5 cubic yard.

When we came back to pour the walls a couple weeks later I hired a concrete pump truck for the second pour. Didn't like the fact I had to spend more money but it was a wise expenditure. The pump guys did an awesome job and everthing went quickly and without incident.

Also, make sure the concrete truck will be well supported on the access route to the formwork. Not sure exactly how you're set up but those trucks can weight 30+ tons. The one that came to my place sunk in about 8" into the "lawn". . . and that was a lawn that had grown up over a long ago abandoned gravel driveway.

Oh, and be prepared. Have all your tools ready, have your crew of helpers ready, have the formwork ready, and have the site prepped and ready to go.

 

[Chuckw]

I always had some forms made up for some side walk with a mobile end on it for the left over. You pay for it all and take it all in Illinois when I was doing work. I did tip the driver, mainly because he was out of the truck helping float what I had screated off of the form. He did a great job and kept the mix wet for me to allow my sidewalk pour later on. No more than $20 and a cool one in the yard!

chuck

 

[kmacht]

Thanks for all the advise. The concrete truck is coming on Friday. I talked with them about overage and they said that they have no problem taking it back. I just have to pay for what I order. I need somewhere between 6.5 and 7.5 yards so I ordered 8. I think 7.5 is on the very high side so I should be fine.

Access shouldn't be a problem. He should be able to drive straight up the driveway. They driveway is in pretty rough shape so I'm not sure he would be able to do any damage worse than is already there. We will have to do a wheelbarrow run for the very back of the form. His chute is only 20' long and it is about 25' to the furthest place. Fortunatly it is a very level area and should be easy enough to have one or two people with wheelbarrows move it back and forth.

Keith

 

[nirion]

If you don't mind, how much are you paying per yard? I know it varies by area, but I was just curious. I paid a concrete company to come out and pour and finish about 1440 sq ft for a little over $3/sq ft and was wondering how much of that was concrete and how much was time and labor.

Thanks

 

[kmacht]

I am paying $97 per yard and will need about 8 yards. That is for 4000 psi concrete (yes I ended up going higher) with fibers and 1/2" stone. If you figure a 6" pad that comes out to about $1.80 per square foot. At your price of $3 a square foot I would say that isn't too bad depending on what was included. Is that just for the pour or does it include other things such as the rebar, base stone, forms, etc? If all they did was show up, dump the concrete and trowel it smooth I would say it is a little steep. If they also did the forms and rebar I would say it is probably just about right. If that price also included the base prep then I would say you got a really good deal.

I did not have to do a complete slab as there was already one there from an existing garage. I just had to do a L-shaped extension for the new bigger garage. It was about 350 square feet. As for other costs, the rebar was about $180 (combination of rebar and mesh, stands, ties, epoxy, etc). The stone was $320 ($100 delivery and $15.50 a ton times 12 tons). The walkbehind bobcat was $155, the jumping jack tamper was $50. I had to put in some 6x6's as a short retaining wall on one side so that was another $170. That puts me at about $1655 for the slab extension or about $4.72 per square foot total cost.

Keith

 

[Justanoldguy]

When I did a pour about a month ago we just dumped the extra in the woods.

Stirrer .. lol ..

 

[Tman]

Why pay for mud you dont get to keep? Form up a small pad in front of a door, downspout diverters ANYTHING that lets you use all the mud you paid for!!!!!!!!!!!!!