The Brew Cabin

Posted: **Mon May 07, 2007 9:48 pm**

Hi There,
I'm trying to lay a concrete base 3.6m by 1.6m, 100mm thick for a newly purchased dog kennel and run.

According to the concrete calculator I need 0.576m mÂ³ of concrete.

As I'm a newbie to all this I thought I'd better ask for some advice first, before plodding on.

Firstly I'm unsure how to go about getting ample wood shuttering for the job (timber merchant, B&Q?, what thickness?), and where can I to get some decent metal stakes to bash into the rock solid ground to hold the shuttering in place?

I would also like to get the concrete delivered and pumped into place, which is why I'm worried more about the shuttering holding up. Also Is the pumping worth the extra cost, Im suspecting around Â£300. I don't have much time on my hands, and don't have a helping hand, so I'm willing to pay a little extra, but I don't want to be ripped off.

I'm based in Cardiff so any recommendations on suppliers would be much appreciated.

Hope you can help.

Thanks
Stephen.

Posted: **Mon May 07, 2007 10:22 pm**

saltyzip wrote:Firstly I'm unsure how to go about getting ample wood shuttering for the job (timber merchant, B&Q?, what thickness?), and where can I to get some decent metal stakes to bash into the rock solid ground to hold the shuttering in place?

I would also like to get the concrete delivered and pumped into place, which is why I'm worried more about the shuttering holding up. Also Is the pumping worth the extra cost, Im suspecting around Â£300. I don't have much time on my hands, and don't have a helping hand, so I'm willing to pay a little extra, but I don't want to be ripped off.

Stephen,

I too am new to this and am soon to attempt my first concrete slab (about 2.5m3, 4.2 x 5.8 m, 100mm). I'll be getting my shuttering from the timber yard as part of the same order as the rest of the shed.

I was planning on using some 4x2 (sorry, 94 x 47) as the shuttering, one length upright to mark the 'boundry' of the slab, and another, on its face behind it, to provide some lateral support, basically it would show an 'L' shape in cross section but with the upright of the 'L' being 4 inches high, and the 'tail' being 6 inches across...

I'm not advising you to do it this way, and I would ask the experts here to correct this method if it is wrong....

I also enquired about pumping and was told that I would be looking at 300 minimum, there are things like a 4 hour setup and stand time, plus travelling.

Ian

Posted: **Mon May 07, 2007 11:42 pm**

for what you have described i would get a retired builder or handyman in
it is a mornings work for 1 bloke with a mixer a tonne of ballast and 5 bags of dust
a pump is more than excessive for .5 cubed
LLL

Posted: **Tue May 08, 2007 7:26 am**

If you're looking for good steel stakes to secure the shuttering,I use fencing pins,cut into lengths to suit. I got my pins from e-bay

Posted: **Tue May 08, 2007 8:55 am**

B & Q had some mixers in last week @ Â£99.

So at that price, plus ballast, cement and a barrow you would be looking at maybe Â£175 plus your time to do it.

Big difference

Regards:)

Posted: **Wed May 09, 2007 6:40 pm**

For stakes, get some 20mm rebar from your local steel stockholder, and have them saw the 6m bars into, say, 600mm lengths.

Shuttering - use 100x50 timbers, as Ian mentioned.

Pumping - for Â½mÂ³?? That's around 10-12 barrowfuls. Pumping simply isn't cost-effective.

Edited By Tony McC on 1178732463

The Brew Cabin

Dog kennel - Concrete base