[Diy_efi] ever poured a large slab?

[Mike Frels]

I'd be more leaning toward paying for an experienced contractor and the experienced helpers that they usually come with. A pour that large would quite costly in the event of an "ooops!" for somebody that has no past experience dealing with them. If you were to try to do it by yourself and a few buddies I would want most of them to have at least one or two previous pours experience.

My .02,
Mike

-----Original Message-----
>From: Bernd Felsche <bernie at innovative.iinet.net.au>
>Sent: Jul 19, 2007 10:36 PM
>To: diy_efi at diy-efi.org
>Subject: Re: [Diy_efi] ever poured a large slab?
>
>On Friday 20 July 2007 10:50, Steve Ravet wrote:
>> By large, I mean 25'x45'?  I poured a 10x20 slab last year for a pump
>> house (had only ever done fence posts previously) and was pleasantly
>> surprised at how it turned out, but that size can be screeded with a 12'
>> board, and a hand troweled finish was fine.  I'm building a steel
>> building workshop this summer and am contemplating pouring this slab
>> myself.  I'm OK with the forms and the steel, but not sure if I'll be
>> able to get a good machined finish.  
>
>> Is this too big a project for a DIYer and some friends?
>
>I'd hesitate; not only because I'm lazy but because the size means
>that you'll either have to get a slow-setting mix (i.e. no
>"accelerants" (catalysts)) or work very hard for a couple of hours.
>I recently had a garage-workshop (~3m by 9m) built and the
>professional who did the concrete floor was sweating heavily through
>most of it ... at ambient temperatures below 10 degrees C; wearing a
>light shirt and short trousers.
>
>It's going to take a lot of cold beer to keep your friends cool.
>