Cement

[Cryogenic]

Looking to raise a basement floor by 10cm, bought a few bags of 25KG readymix cement (sand and cement in the right quantities), it says just add water but it doesn't say how much

 

[Ben M]

until it's a cementy sort of consistency...

 

[Zefan]

It should say "Mix X part cement with Y parts water" or something like that.

 

[Tomsk]

Take 1kg of readymix, add water until it looks and feels OK.
Do some maths.

 

[Cryogenic]

until it's a cementy sort of consistency...

That's what I read on the net but I wanted to be accurate to however many parts of water, as I am sure I will have a tendency to add to much to make it go the distance

 

[Realist]

Why just 10cm?

 

[Cryogenic]

It should say "Mix X part cement with Y parts water" or something like that.

That's what I was expecting, find me a bag that says that and I owe you a fiver

 

[Tomsk]

Why just 10cm?

burying a lobster?

 

[Cryogenic]

Why just 10cm?

Just a guesstimation between my ruler and my spirit level

 

[Amp34]

Doesn't really matter TBH, as long as it's not soup and it's reasonably wet it'll be fine. Just the more water the longer it will take to dry.

 

[Cryogenic]

Doesn't really matter TBH, as long as it's not soup and it's reasonably wet it'll be fine. Just the more water the longer it will take to dry.

Cool, apart from that it won't weaken the micture I take it (even if it takes longer to dry)

 

[Ben M]

Cool, apart from that it won't weaken the micture I take it (even if it takes longer to dry)

if you have X area of ground to cover, and you put Y amount of cement mix on it, then the amount of water used won't really make a huge amount of difference. That's the way I see it anyway.

 

[greywolf]

Ive been doing building work for over a year now and generally for floors / bases we use a dryer mix , this allows you to tamp it down easier to get a good level all over, where as a rearly wet mix forms puddles and dips.

 

[Ben M]

also, if you're just trying to level the floor, why don't use use a self levelling screed?

 

[doofer]

If you've bought the ready-mix stuff and it's only a cement/sand mix you'll need some aggregate too like gravel to make concrete which is what you need for a floor. That ready mix stuff is only really good for spot repairs, mortar/rendering and laying slabs.

 

[mrmoose]

the more water, the weaker the cement. my 6months of studying concrete design has taught me this.

 

[Sinque]

Surely the water would just dry out leaving the cement as cement?

 

[djohn]

too much water and the cement powder will rise to the top after laying and weaken the final mix.

 

[Cryogenic]

Plenty of good tips here, I will implement the changes

 

[TaKeN]

If you put in too much water, you can always add more sand / cement mix, thats what I've always done with dad when we " Create Stuff " on the farm