Bulding question - concrete pad

Lopéz

Lopéz

Lopéz

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Ottakring, Vienna.
I have a patch of land at the end of the drive. It's currently covered in junk and has badly laid slabs covering parts of it (unevenly!)

Land.jpg


That's about the only pic I have of the area. As you can see it's seperated from the drive.

I want to concrete it just to give it a uniform flat surface. It doesn't need to look nice, I just want to stop it turning into a debris field. It may occasionally have a car parked on it for short periods, but nothing regular.

What's the most economical way of sorting this out? Make a wooden form and just pour in? Get rid of the slabs or leave them there and just concrete over it? Or would it be advisable to reinforce with steel as well? Most of the guides online are for a proper garage base which is a lot more heavy duty than I need it to be.
 
Depends on how solid the ground under it is whether you can just pour it like you want to, if it's laid thin then putting a car on it will break it up really fast too, if you want it level with the floor then a bit of digging out will be needed, why not just clear it and gravel it?
 
Bust up the slabs to make "hardcore" and spread evenly through the area so make sure you aint spending needlessly on materials. You need to be careful with laying a screed ( concrete floor ) to thinly as it can curl. We never lay a screed less than 40mm unless it is bonded. A bonded screed basically has an addative in which strengthens the concrete.

Best bet is to add ballast to bulk out and strengthen the concrete.

Basically just do your wooden form and pour your the concrete in and use a straightedge to tamper it. If you make a complete pigs ear of it you can lay a self levelling compound to even it up.

EDIT: With the car going on top maybe a bit of reinforcing wouldnt be a bad idea.
 
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I would use a well compacted base then either lay some more slabs over the top or as previously mentioned use some timber as some formwork and fill with concrete using a straight edge to level it off.

As long as you have a well compacted sub-base you should be alright.

Aero
 
Aero said:
I would use a well compacted base then either lay some more slabs over the top or as previously mentioned use some timber as some formwork and fill with concrete using a straight edge to level it off.

As long as you have a well compacted sub-base you should be alright.

Aero
Click to expand...

Along with this I'd probably put a layer of compacted gravel there, so broken slabs and gravel compacted down to give a flatish surface, then make a frame and pour in concrete then level off before it sets.
 
My dilemma is - if I remove the slabs first it's hard work plus I've got to get rid of them, but if I leave them in place or break them up, the screed might be too thin and crack.
 
You either dig 'em out and smash 'em up as hardcore ...... = quite a bit of work, or you build the frame/shuttering up higher, leaving the majority where they are ... = easier but then you have a step up from the drive.

Pays your money and takes your chance but as someone said, you'll need at least a couple of inches thickness, more if poss'.
 
I am totally un-qualified, and have never done any such work myself...

However, if i was to do it! I would dig it out a couple more inches, lay in some sand then hardcore. and just go for it with the cement mixer!

You said yourself its not got to be perfect. Just solid and practical :)
 
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