Sharp Sand Or Builders For Drive

[gibbsy09]

Hi I did a slab the other day, 2 feet wide around 10 feet long, I used ballast 20mm, was only for my bins, however still wanted it tidy never went well, at it for ages stones came to top, kept catching them with the float, back breaking trying to sort out pit marks, can I still salvage this project by going over the rough patches with a sand cement mix. either sharp or builders?

Now I've got parts of my drive now, majority is already slabbed, not sure how to go about this now, looks easy on YouTube lol, however I don't have an expensive bull float, I'd like to make this less painful, still loads of ballast so I'm using that again, however if I use half buckets of ballest, then fill rest with sharp sand as I've tonnes of that, could I get a smoother less back breaking finish, also would getting a tamper help to push the stones under the surface.

This question is to tie in with my title, it's hypothetical, cause I've none, however just curious, if I went about my drive project differently, and had got 20mm aggregate, and builders sand, would that have still created a strong concrete finish for my drive, I just feel it would have been easier smoothing out, as sharp sand is still gritty and catches the float as well, EG all hypothetical, as I need to use material I have.

Apologies it is long, however still got more concrete after my drive, and would really appreciate some help to make my projects less arduous.
Tools used magnesium float, bought from Amazon not sure if it's best for job, should I use a square steel trowel instead, plank of wood for screeding to best of my ability.

 

[noseall]

Hi I did a slab the other day, 2 feet wide around 10 feet long, I used ballast 20mm, was only for my bins, however still wanted it tidy never went well, at it for ages stones came to top, kept catching them with the float, back breaking trying to sort out pit marks, can I still salvage this project by going over the rough patches with a sand cement mix. either sharp or builders?

Now I've got parts of my drive now, majority is already slabbed, not sure how to go about this now, looks easy on YouTube lol, however I don't have an expensive bull float, I'd like to make this less painful, still loads of ballast so I'm using that again, however if I use half buckets of ballest, then fill rest with sharp sand as I've tonnes of that, could I get a smoother less back breaking finish, also would getting a tamper help to push the stones under the surface.

This question is to tie in with my title, it's hypothetical, cause I've none, however just curious, if I went about my drive project differently, and had got 20mm aggregate, and builders sand, would that have still created a strong concrete finish for my drive, I just feel it would have been easier smoothing out, as sharp sand is still gritty and catches the float as well, EG all hypothetical, as I need to use material I have.

Apologies it is long, however still got more concrete after my drive, and would really appreciate some help to make my projects less arduous.
Tools used magnesium float, bought from Amazon not sure if it's best for job, should I use a square steel trowel instead, plank of wood for screeding to best of my ability.

Using excessive amounts of sharp sand in a concrete mix, will weaken the concrete considerably. Builders sand - NO.

We add say a heaped shovel of sharp sand to a 12/2 (12 ballast 2 cement), along with a wee bit more cement, if we need a fattier mix.

 

[SFK]

Cement and ballast makes concrete.
And this should have made the finish you wanted (and the concrete itself stronger).
Was your mix a bit dry?

 

[^woody^]

Building sand for spotting the backs of slabs or mixing with sharp sand for joints, otherwise sharp sand - concreting or plastering, for anything that is on the surface and exposed.

You need to compact and trowel the surface to give it a tough weathering face.

Larger areas need to have ballast - pebbles or fine stone chippings in the mix, otherwise it will crack.

 

[gibbsy09]

Cement and ballast makes concrete.
And this should have made the finish you wanted (and the concrete itself stronger).
Was your mix a bit dry?

I had crushed rocks for a base as well, maybe that's why the mix wasn't as easy to move around, was trying to save on ballast for other jobs, I think I got one mix wrong, cause the stones in the ballast seemed stuck when I was trying to move them around, I was screeding with wood maybe I should have used a hoe or spade to shift the mix around, and one side was nearly level, I think in hindsight I should have definitely moved the mix so it was the same level all across, it just got stiff quick and I think I panicked a little, do you think the crushed rocks were a bad idea also?

 

[gibbsy09]

Using excessive amounts of sharp sand in a concrete mix, will weaken the concrete considerably. Builders sand - NO.

We add say a heaped shovel of sharp sand to a 12/2 (12 ballast 2 cement), along with a wee bit more cement, if we need a fattier mix.

Hi is that 12 heaped shovels, to two heaped cement, are you doing slabs concrete bases and stuff?

 

[gibbsy09]

If the stones do come to the surface how do you push them back down, cause I've not done alot if this I think I get a bit anxious and trowel the mix too early could that be the issue also? could I go about it different this time for my drive, I've used crushed rocks again, for a base, could I do it in two layers, eg use a mix let it set flush just above the rocks let it set, then do a second flush to the top level, would it just be as strong, Thanks.