You need your engineer to specify alternatives, not get ideas as to what may or may not do as a replacement - AFAIK, building inspectors will not accept printouts of DIYnot webpages.
You are unlikely to be able to make your own and make it dense and strong enough and prove it is equivalent to a properly made one
Making a padstone is not like making a cake, where you just add sand and cement give a little stir and voila!Cast in situ padstones cannot be made on site.???
..err what ? there are every day its only 10nmm2 or st2 mix...see https://nhbc-standards.co.uk/6-superstructure-excluding-roofs/6-5-steelwork/6-5-5-padstones/
Simple box poor and tap, st2 is 1 bag cement to 6 bags of all in ballast (25kg)
Calculations for a beam include calculations for the bearing, and sometimes for the wall too.I have never heard of an inspector wanting paperwork for a padstone. He’ll give it a tap and feel good vibes from your top notch installation, give you the thumbs up and crack on with his day.
Myself and my assistant Fanny would beg to differ. As long as you use the correct mix and endeavour to rid the shutter box of air (hammer drill etc) then a domestic padstone is simple to make. Not so easy to manoeuvre and patience (curing time) is essential.Making a padstone is not like making a cake
Which determines the size of the padstone required not its strength. As long as the padstone is strong enough to distribute the load, and a 1 to 6 mix will be 20N/mm² +, it will do the jobCalculations for a beam include calculations for the bearing, and sometimes for the wall too.
And I'm sure you get nice looking blocks of concrete.Myself and my assistant Fanny would beg to differ. As long as you use the correct mix and endeavour to rid the shutter box of air (hammer drill etc) then a domestic padstone is simple to make. Not so easy to manoeuvre and patience (curing time) is essential.
I see, the strength of concrete is based solely on how much sand gravel and cement is randomly mixed together.Which determines the size of the padstone required not its strength. As long as the padstone is strong enough to distribute the load, and a 1 to 6 mix will be 20N/mm² +, it will do the job
Lol. I'm sure the builders of the Hoover dam will be grateful for your advice. Meanwhile back in domestic bliss, Fanny and me....But what you don't get is cube tests, slump tests, controlled and adequate curing and confirmed compressive strength.
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