Concrete Booked - First Ever Pour - Final Words of Advice?

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I'll be honest, I'm feeling a bit nervous (weirdly more than when I knocked down a usable part of my house). First time DIY build and the BCO has signed off my dig, just got to wrap some lead pipe and box out for my drainage.

Concrete is booked in for Monday - I'm getting it pumped as it's trench fill and I'm going to be by myself (Yay!).

So, final check of dimensions, drop in wooden stakes to my level (Measured down in courses from DPM/Finished Floor Level).

Concrete gets pumped (They're doing all that, apparently - I was told I'd not be touching anything!)

Tamp it with a wooden board, and smooth and level to my marks?

Anything else? Any tips? Feels like there's no going back :D
 
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Yes:

Make sure you got the space on the road or driveway: volumetric concrete truck plus pumping truck takes 20metres space when parked back to back.

When the pump is cleaned out they need a couple of bags of cement and sonewhere to dump the excess: skip or a bit of waste ground.

Keep an eye on the levels: Ive had a few occasions where the driver has misjudged the amount in the line resulting in ending to high in the trench -which can entail digging it out and putting in a skip, a right pain.

Tip: never stand near the end of the pipe when it being cleaned: the cleaning ball comes out a bit quick, Ive known a few labourers getting covered head to foot :ROFLMAO:
 
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There is no better sight than watching the conc' get pumped in. Have a few short scaffold boards ready to support both you and the pump tube, that you can lay across the trenches. We use a kind of inverted 'T' for tamping the conc. Its about 6' long and saves scratching about on the edges of friable trenches.

 
There is no better sight than watching the conc' get pumped in. Have a few short scaffold boards ready to support both you and the pump tube, that you can lay across the trenches. We use a kind of inverted 'T' for tamping the conc. Its about 6' long and saves scratching about on the edges of friable trenches.

WTF?

Stakes, line paint, tools stacked, a tidy site and even planks across the trench FFS. Your giving builders a bad name. :mad:
 
Yes:

Make sure you got the space on the road or driveway: volumetric concrete truck plus pumping truck takes 20metres space when parked back to back.

When the pump is cleaned out they need a couple of bags of cement and sonewhere to dump the excess: skip or a bit of waste ground.

Keep an eye on the levels: Ive had a few occasions where the driver has misjudged the amount in the line resulting in ending to high in the trench -which can entail digging it out and putting in a skip, a right pain.

Tip: never stand near the end of the pipe when it being cleaned: the cleaning ball comes out a bit quick, Ive known a few labourers getting covered head to foot :ROFLMAO:

Haha, thank you - solid tips. The closest I've got to a concrete pump is walking near a building site, so well worth knowing!

Good luck Dan,

post pictures of the trench and the filling, we all like to see DIY work.

Andy

Cheers Andy - plenty of pics and such incoming! I have a Build Thread in the other forum which I'll update.

Replace the Lead pipe.

You've stumbled upon a multi-year saga there, I'm afraid Ian. Incredibly long and dull story cut short - it's a shared supply pipe via next door. I did indeed put in a new MDPE mains pipe, which was eventually connected up by Severn Trent after a number of lies and missed dates - unfortunately, I've had major issues getting anybody out to sort out the link with next door, so for now, the pipe remains as a To-Do item.

There is no better sight than watching the conc' get pumped in. Have a few short scaffold boards ready to support both you and the pump tube, that you can lay across the trenches. We use a kind of inverted 'T' for tamping the conc. Its about 6' long and saves scratching about on the edges of friable trenches.

Nice one, thank you very much

Make sure any clay drain runs that the digger smashed through aren’t going anywhere.... I speak from experience and have never jumped down a manhole so fast. :whistle:

Hah! Funnily enough we "knew" there was no drainage, but my digger did manage to scoop up a piece of perfectly intact clay pipe that had been dumped. I won't lie, my heart sank.
 
Just looking at those pics - I was going to put stakes in TO the level I wanted to pour, but it looks like they're higher and presumably marked?

Do you remove them after, or just cut them down?
 
I did mine to the level, as there’s no danger of any marks getting hidden by concrete splashes, and yes you leave them there after (not much choice in the matter...)
 
I did mine to the level, as there’s no danger of any marks getting hidden by concrete splashes, and yes you leave them there after (not much choice in the matter...)

Sweet, yeah that was my plan - BC have confirmed it's okay to leave them be. Lovely!
 

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