• Welcome Visitor! Please take a few seconds and Register for our forum. Even if you don't want to post, you can still 'Like' and react to posts.

My New House & Workshop


If not parking there... seal/patch up what you have there... build a party deck over it.
 
But with just a little bit more effort, you could transform it from that to this. And that's where we could have the cookout after the roof raising.

8f2266e55180e8ec16de9e8d0f4bab1d.jpg
 
Why bother patching it if I'm building a deck over it?
 
I bet what you have now doesn't have much if any gravel under it. Like someone mentioned before, that is important, especially if it's wet in that area of the yard.
 
I was thinking more ensuring the water runs away from the house and patching what wouldn't be covered by the deck.

I guess you could cover the entire thing... how big is it?
 
At least in Texas you won't have to pour footings below the frost line.
 
I agree with all above you should get rid of the old “slab.” There are a couple easy tricks to make it an inexpensive, easy and durable pour you can do with armatures.

Remove the old, form the new. 3” minimum. Of course level the bottom. Now here’s the trick. Dig the two long sides about 3” deeper about 6” wide, so you end up with two long integrated “beams” for the sides. Put a 4“ rebar in about 1.5-2” clear under the bottom so there is 60% concrete above and 30% below. You can hold it off the bottom with a rock, but make sure it’s a very clean rock, not covered with dirt or clay, that will bond to the concrete. Where ever you have to splice, over lap the rebar at least 18” and triple wire it tight.

Second trick is pour a tic-tac-toe board instead of a slab. Not necessarily 3 rows, can be two, but groove a control joint every 4-5’. Contrary to the side deeper beams, wherever there will be a control joint, about 2” wide, build up a little rise on the base. You can do this by putting a cheap 1/2” or 3/4” pvc pipe across and down the middle, laying on the bottom. The point/purpose is the concrete WILL CRACK, so you pre-arrange for it to crack at the joints grooved above the pvc.

Next trick is the “mix.” Most driveways in the south are 2,500 psi mix. Its usually a “slop” run from the plant with very little control. It’s only a little bit more expensive to get a 3,000 or 4,000 mix. Next trick, when you order it, tell them it’s for a “structural” slab and it’ll be “slump tested” on site. Then I wouldn’t do that, but they don’t know that, and they will be much more careful how they put the mix together in the plant and control the delivery time.

The next trick is to order “fiber-crete” which is simply dumping a bag of fiberglass strands into every yard of concrete at the pour site and mixing it in on the truck. I don’t remember the exact mix (bag per yard?), but this is also fairly inexpensive, AND, if you use fiber-crete above 3000 psi and you keep your control joints no more than about 5 feet, there is no need to put wire in the slab-a lot less work and easier to do.

if you order it that way, it’ll come in pretty stiff and hard to work, but you can add some water when putting in the fibers and loosen it up for easier working. Don’t soup it up too much.

Then it comes down to technique and features. Make sure the sides are level, not necessarily level to gravity, but carefully placed for whatever slope you want. Down the middle of the slab, put in some 1” x 1” stakes at the right elevation to control the slab level. Obviously you want it to crown in the middle and drain to the sides, or you want it to drain from one side to the other. As you’re pouring the concrete and you get the right finish level around the stakes, just take a hammer and pound them down below the surface at least an inch and then finish that spot.

Afterthought, but I would do the “beam” concept across the beginning and across the end as well. Cross the rebar at least 2” and cross tie it tight.

And finally, I would run a 1 1/2 inch PVC pipe/conduit underneath everything from one side to the other side about every 15 feet, let it stick out past the slab a foot or 18 inches, and cap it no glue and bury it, but make sure you map out where they are. Take a penny and put it over the conduit on each side, work it in but the top surface exposed. When the concrete sets, polish it off & you’ll always know where the conduit lies. Then when you build out the TRS Guest Center, it will be very easy to run electric, low-voltage lights, a waterline, whatever wherever.

Finish it flat and smooth, trowel it enough to bring the slurry over the sand and rock like spackling paste/wallboard finish. 30 minutes after the concrete gets hard, lightly drag a hair broom across it to create texture. Don’t broom it hard enough to sweep anything, just enough to draw lines from the hairs across it.

Don’t take off the forms for two days, and have a couple bags of mortar mix ready, so when you do take off the forms, if there are any hollows, mix up the mortar mix and immediately push it in wet and put a board in front of it again for a day.

And, one of the most critical steps most amateurs skip. After three weeks or four weeks, not before, wash it off with a hose, let it dry, and then put a good quality concrete sealer on top of it. Concrete, no matter how strong, is basically porous. If you don’t seal it, water will get in, freeze, and crack the concrete or pop off the finish. You can avoid this by sealing it after it’s fully cured, about 30 days, and then do it again every 7 to 10 years.

My driveway out front was poured this way and it never even chipped from 1998 to now until AT&T (Satan spelled backwards) set up a 16,000 pound boom truck to work on the telephone pole on it. I’m still in a lawsuit about that…

Yeah, yeah, I know take the keyboard away from Rick W, but I hope this helps....
 
Last edited:
just like raising the roof, do it bigger & better than what you think is needed. avoid crying & more money later on .

just my 2 cents.......
 
Man, that's just going to cost more money. I was hoping I could just pour on top of it. I don't want to park on it, just use it as a patio. I'm going to use the area my Ranger is on for a driveway.

Well, since you are not going to park on it and just want a patio, I would build a simple raised Redwood (or vinyl plank) deck with a simple railing raised about 12 inches above the ground.. All Home Depot items and a DIY project. You can later add a picnic table with an umbrella, some cheap solar lights around your railing, an ice chest, a few potted plants and a few plastic lounge chairs (all "cheap" garage sale or thrift store items) and you'll be in heaven. Later as money comes your way, you can add a gazebo type roof if you like. But putting a simple DIY raised deck over that broken slab for now, would make a nice outdoor patio area to relax in. I'm sure many guys here can help you draw up the simple plans and a bill of material for shopping according to your desired dimensions.

Or, you can keep that broken slab as-is and just put a few storage sheds over the slab so you don't see it. (Sometimes you can find cheap or free used storage sheds on Craigslist or Offer-up from people who just want to get rid of them if you are willing to put in the work to dismantle them and truck them home).

Maybe not the answer to your question that you were looking for but just a few creative ideas. Everything doesn't have to be perfect when you first buy a home.
 
Last edited:
Also, Another option, I am on a small lot with a septic system. So when I wanted to put down more “Paving” I did it with bricks. I searched around and found many pallets of seconds at the Cherokee brick plant about 80 miles away. I got utility size bricks (3/sqft). Level the ground and lay them down. If you anticipate heavy traffic, tamp 2” of crusher run under them. Get some extras if you use seconds for the ones that will collapse from water/freezing after a couple years.

seconds are usually 1/3 the cost of new, and negotiable beyond that. If they don’t sell them for something, they end up crushing them and putting them back into new brick, very expensive for them
 
Wow @Rick W that was pretty detailed.

Honestly, I thought you could pour new concrete over old concrete. I saw that done in a neighbors garage. I figured I could remove the loose pieces, clean it off, apply a bonding agent, and poor new concrete over it. Whoever poured this the first time intended to park on it. I figured it would be less maintenance than a deck. You see way more concrete patios here than decks.

Since it's just me I had thought about making smaller forms and mixing the cement myself and just doing sections at a time until it's done. I don't have any to help me pour and level the cement unless I recruit my son in law the gamer.

I feel like it would be costly to bust this up, have it hauled away, and pour a new slab with rebar. May be cheaper to build the deck.
 
I've looked some, there's a local place that rents a mixer trailer with concrete for about the same price as the bags from lowes... I mixed I think 55 80lb bags in a mixer with just me and the wife last year over a weekend, I was worn out after all that...
 

Sponsored Ad


Sponsored Ad

Special Events

Events TRS Was At This Year

TRS Events

Member & Vendor Upgrades

For a small yearly donation, you can support this forum and receive a 'Supporting Member' banner, or become a 'Supporting Vendor' and promote your products here. Click the banner to find out how.

Recently Featured

Want to see your truck here? Share your photos and details in the forum.

TRS Latest Video

TRS Merchandise

Follow TRS On Instagram

TRS Sponsors


Sponsored Ad


Sponsored Ad


Amazon Deals

Sponsored Ad

Back
Top