The Work Of Concrete Contractors

Insight To Preparing For And Ordering A Concrete Ready Mix Delivery

5 November 2020

Jeffery Hayes

When planning to pour a new concrete patio or driveway on your property, it is essential that you plan for all the variables in the project and environment, in addition to ensuring you order enough of the concrete mixture. Here are some tips to help you as you plan to work with ready mix concrete to pour a new concrete slab.

Order the Right Additives

When you are ordering ready mix concrete from a concrete supplier, they will prepare and deliver the concrete right to your property and the concrete site. However, you need to understand the components of ordering to get the right mixture delivered to you in a sufficient amount with the right additives mixed into the wet mix.

If your property is far from the concrete plant, your concrete ready mix will need to include an additive that slows the cure of the concrete, for example. This is also a good additive when the temperature is expected to be higher and the water within the concrete is at risk of evaporation. A higher temperature at the site can cause the concrete to cure too quickly and create a concrete that is not strong enough, but the additive will prevent that. 

However, if you are pouring concrete in an area that will be exposed to freeze-thaw conditions in the winter, you will want to use an air entrapment additive. This will allow tiny bubbles to remain within the concrete mixture and help promote flexibility during temperature swings between cold and hot.

Order the Right Amount and Consistency 

When you place your order you will need to know how much concrete you need for the entire project, then add in a little bit more for a margin of error and to ensure you don't run short on your order. It is better to have a bit too much concrete ready mix than too little. Calculate the dimensions of your project and convert it into square yards.

Your concrete professional will also need to know the application in which you are going to use the concrete mix for. The type of concrete structure or surface you plan to pour the concrete into will make a difference in how the mixture is combined for your order.

The consistency of the concrete will establish its slump, which is the amount of fluidity the concrete has or how much the concrete slumps down when it is poured into a funnel and deposited onto a surface out from the funnel. For a concrete slab, your concrete mix will need a slump of two to three inches, which is less slump than if you were pouring a reinforced foundation wall for your home, which needs a slump of up to five inches.

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