Cement question

[mike2402]

hi all, newbie here.

question for you all.
in my house we have this little store room under the stairs which the last owner had put a fake floor in. that has rotted so i have pulled it all out. im filling it with cement because its about 4 inches deep before it meets the floor in the hall and my mum is bound to trip on it at some point.

room is about 5Ft x 3Ft and the ditch is about 4inches deep.

how long roughly will it take to dry to be strong enough to take the weight of the freezer that lives in there????

 

[^woody^]

Are you using just cement or do you plan on mixing in some sand and gravel?

Might take just over a week to dry with a door open, or several weeks with the door closed.

It will support your freezer after two days, but all the moisture evaporating wont do it much good

 

[mike2402]

ok, i been told longer the better and keep it moist, and only using cement. all in there now. door is closed because of dogs stepping on it during night, but will be open all day.

it only has the freezers weight to carry.

 

[mike2402]

oh and laminate floor going over the cement if that makes any difference.
not now!!!!

once it has dried.

 

[studips]

a nice 1 to 6 mix of ballast and cement, not overmixed, nicely runny and tamped to remove excess entrained air.

also ensure damp will not make it's way up, if necessary lay a membrane & return it up the walls.

the old timber rotted for a reason......

 

[^woody^]

ok, i been told longer the better and keep it moist, and only using cement.

Seriously, you can't just use cement!

 

[studips]

ok, i been told longer the better and keep it moist, and only using cement.

Seriously, you can't just use cement!

woody has a point. you need to fire your technical advisor.

cement is the glue that permanently makes concrete of the sands and gravels that form ballast.

you can go for A STRONG 1:3 mix or a lean 1:10 mix, or a middling 5 or 6:1 mix, but you will need around a dozen 25kg bags of ballast and 2 bags of cement.

and a shovel

 

[mike2402]

ok thanks for that last post, will no now for the futre, advised by shop worker that just cement to fill the hole will be ok, so i did.

its not like it going to be walked on all day, its in a downstairs under stair cuboard. only the freezzer on it. its all good.

 

[^woody^]

advised by shop worker that just cement to fill the hole will be ok, so i did.

Sadly, that's the trouble with Tesco's nowadays

 

[noseall]

The only thing you can use neat cement for (mixed with water) is a kind of crack-filling grout. Even then i would advise using some sand.

Otherwise using neat cement is totally bonkers!

 

[mike2402]

not that it matters much now but why cant you use cement on its own.

whats the difference between neat and with sand??

 

[noseall]

Cement is an ADDitive.

Geddit!

Cement is too brittle and will dry out too quickly on its own.

Cement needs water. It needs to be kept wet until the curing process has run its course. Aggregate or sand will facilitate this process.

 

[mointainwalker]

Why can't you make a cake with just flour ?

Because it needs other ingredients or it doesn't work.