hey ..cement question

[flea.rider]

I have a small back garden shaped like a triangle. base 252cm 2 sides 336cm..
how thick would the cement have to be not to crack ? 6inch ?
and how do I work out how much cement I need ?
thing is I had someone round to give me a quote £1600 I was like wtf
at the moment it has 3 inches of large gravel on top of soil (been like that for 5 yrs) so was gong to add another 2 inch to that and then cement over the top ..
suggestions ?

 

[rhysduck]

Is there anything going on top of it? Hot tub, shed etc?

 

[flea.rider]

no .. with 2 dog's the backyard is starting to smell .. even with bleaching and putting down jeys liquid ..
so it's so I can keep it cleaner easier

 

[andicole0]

You would probably need some reinforcement like steel mesh to help. It really depends on what the underlying ground is like.
Andi.

 

[flea.rider]

compacted soil with gravel on top ..

 

[flea.rider]

the cement will have the plastic fibres in it .. so was hoping that I din't need reinforcement steel rebar

 

[Showboat]

If you want it to last you are going to want to concrete it. I did something similar last summer.
Dig out what you don't want. (4-6 inches min)
Calculate the volume of concrete required.
Order the precise volume! They will offload what you order as they cant re-use it!
Have a couple of mates around with wheel barrows and as they offload it you put it in place, back breaking for 30mins!
Spend time levelling it and raking it for a couple of hours as it sets.
Test out taking a dump on it prior to letting the dogs do it!
Shouldn't cost more than a few hundred for the concrete, possible skip for the waste and beers for mates.

 

[andicole0]

compacted soil with gravel on top ..

I would use some rebar if you don't want it crack easily.
Andi.

 

[kaptainmarc]

Look at getting a volumetric type truck in, normally "pay for what you lay" concrete companies.

they mix the concrete as you are using it not from a concrete batching plant so you don't need to be super accurate on how much concrete you need.

The cost for the rebar is surely worth it to ensure no risk of cracking. try to leave an expansion gap around the concrete as this is often what causes cracking due to no movement room being allowed for.

P.s. its concrete no cement, cement is one of the constituents materials to make concrete.

 

[andicole0]

Lol good point re concrete, cement would be a bit soft and powdery.
Andi.

 

[flea.rider]

Lol good point re concrete, cement would be a bit soft and powdery.
Andi.

and that's how you mix things up .. in Canada it's cement .. same as usa ..
been 35+ yrs since I lived there but dam some things are hard to forget .. unlike others

 

[andicole0]

and that's how you mix things up .. in Canada it's cement .. same as usa ..
been 35+ yrs since I lived there but dam some things are hard to forget .. unlike others

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cement
Andi.