Asshat's Fact of the Day 04-14-2005

Asshat's Fact of the Day 04-14-2005 - Printable Version

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Asshat's Fact of the Day 04-14-2005 - asshat - 04-14-2005

You will be suprised to learn that the strength of concrete is greatest when the ratio of water to cement used to make the wet concrete is as low as possible. The less water used to make the cement hydrate, the stronger the concrete will ultimately get. Obviously there is a limit to the amount of water that you MUST use, but beyond that initial amount of water required to hydrate all of the cement in the mixture, you are jeopardizing strength.

Workers that place concrete, typically like for the concrete to be very wet when they place it. It is more workable. The more water they add, the easier the concrete is to spread, strike off, and finish. But, this is terrible on the ultimate strength of the concrete.

Now, once the concrete is placed and begins to set up, the more water you can add to the surface the stronger it will get. This is because the water along the surface of the concrete will want to evaporate and the surface will get shrinkage cracks. The continuous addition of water during the curing process ensures that every available cement molecule has had a chance to hydrate. If you could submerge the concrete, you would get the best results.

So, the less water when you mix the concrete, and the more water you use to cure the hardened concrete, the stronger your final product.

Asshat's Fact of the Day 04-14-2005 - Anhil8tor - 04-14-2005

Epic!

A+++

Asshat's Fact of the Day 04-14-2005 - Jesse Antarctica - 04-14-2005

does that count for "quick intake cement" ?

Asshat's Fact of the Day 04-14-2005 - Bill - 04-14-2005

Asshat Wrote:You will be suprised to learn that the strength of concrete is greatest when the ratio of water to cement used to make the wet concrete is as low as possible. The less water used to make the cement hydrate, the stronger the concrete will ultimately get. Obviously there is a limit to the amount of water that you MUST use, but beyond that initial amount of water required to hydrate all of the cement in the mixture, you are jeopardizing strength.

Workers that place concrete, typically like for the concrete to be very wet when they place it. It is more workable. The more water they add, the easier the concrete is to spread, strike off, and finish. But, this is terrible on the ultimate strength of the concrete.

Now, once the concrete is placed and begins to set up, the more water you can add to the surface the stronger it will get. This is because the water along the surface of the concrete will want to evaporate and the surface will get shrinkage cracks. The continuous addition of water during the curing process ensures that every available cement molecule has had a chance to hydrate. If you could submerge the concrete, you would get the best results.

So, the less water when you mix the concrete, and the more water you use to cure the hardened concrete, the stronger your final product.

true, but why invent the cofferdam? rack 5000lb psi concrete.

Asshat's Fact of the Day 04-14-2005 - asshat - 04-14-2005

Bill Wrote:true, but why invent the cofferdam? rack 5000lb psi concrete.

For those that don't know, I will explain the cofferdam and its uses later.

Asshat's Fact of the Day 04-14-2005 - Bill - 04-14-2005

Asshat Wrote:For those that don't know, I will explain the cofferdam and its uses later.

see I hooked you up with tomarrows thread already.

Asshat's Fact of the Day 04-14-2005 - Anhil8tor - 04-14-2005

How much stronger does fiberglass make concrete?

Asshat's Fact of the Day 04-14-2005 - Jesse Antarctica - 04-14-2005

Adding glue to concrete make it more solid ?

Asshat's Fact of the Day 04-14-2005 - asshat - 04-14-2005

anhil8tor Wrote:How much stronger does fiberglass make concrete?

Fiberglass does not inherently strengthen the concreteas you would think, but it helps to keep it from cracking under tension.

See concrete has very strong compressive strengths, but it is very weak in tension. Imagine that if you have a concrete beam, and you use it to support a bridge. The top of that beam is in compression. As the beam bends down, the top side of the beam is compressed, which is very strong. The bottom of the beam, however is being stretched and that side of the beam is in tension. That is very weak.

Reinforcing steel is used to counter this problem. The steel is very strong in tension and provides the tension strength to keep the concrete from cracking and failing while in tension.

Fiberglass provides that same service.

So, it does not make the concrete stronger in compression, but it does allow the concrete to take more tension stresses.

Asshat's Fact of the Day 04-14-2005 - Jesse Antarctica - 04-14-2005

ntype Wrote:Adding glue to concrete make it more solid ?

it was real question.

Asshat's Fact of the Day 04-14-2005 - Buttspray - 04-14-2005

I'll rack 'hat for this one. No real reason, but it goes to prove that you can learn something everyday...

Asshat's Fact of the Day 04-14-2005 - cLaY - 04-14-2005

i have a 4' x 4' x 4" square in the middle of my patio I need to fill with concrete. Quickcrete work...and how much of it?

Asshat's Fact of the Day 04-14-2005 - Jesse Antarctica - 04-14-2005

CZA Wrote:i have a 4' x 4' x 4" square in the middle of my patio I need to fill with concrete. Quickcrete work...and how much of it?

try adding glue, tell me what was the result.

Asshat's Fact of the Day 04-14-2005 - asshat - 04-14-2005

ntype Wrote:Adding glue to concrete make it more solid ?

No. But glue is made to bond concrete to other concrete. Go to a Home Depot, or other hardware store and look on the aisle where concrete tools are found. You will find in a one gallon jug a product called a concrete adhesive or concrete bonding agent. Open it and smell it. It is glue.

It is used to patch a place where some concrete has broken loose. Say you have a place in your driveway where a fence post was removed or a forklift gouged a hole in the surface. You would first brush it with that glue, before patching it with wet concrete.

Asshat's Fact of the Day 04-14-2005 - asshat - 04-14-2005

CZA Wrote:i have a 4' x 4' x 4" square in the middle of my patio I need to fill with concrete. Quickcrete work...and how much of it?

One 80 lb bag of quickcrete will make 1 cubic foot of concrete. For that hole you will need 4 x 4 x 4/12 cubic feet = 5.3 bags. So get 6 bags.

Yes, quickcrete will work, but you might want to buy one bag of portland cement to add to each bag of quickcrete (not much, just a little to each mix). Mix them one bag at a time with water (not too much, see above). Pour a bag in and then mix another until all 6 bags are mixed and in place. You might want to have some 3'6" pieces of reinforcing steel to throw in there. Then finish with a trowel and use an edger around the edge to make it look nice.

Another nice touch would be to have a paint brush or other bristled brush to brush the surface when you finish. Most concrete has a broomed finish. Finish it to match the rest of your patio.

Asshat's Fact of the Day 04-14-2005 - Jesse Antarctica - 04-14-2005

Can you add color to cement so that it's colored ?

Asshat's Fact of the Day 04-14-2005 - asshat - 04-14-2005

ntype Wrote:Can you add color to cement so that it's colored ?

Definitely. You can either add a coloring agent to the wet concrete and mix it in the truck (they hate that) but if you have a lot to pour, that is the way to go. Or you can "stain" the concrete after it has been poured. The stains last a long time and they don't peel off like paint does.

http://www.behr.com/behrx/act/view/products_detail?prodGroupId=20&catName=Concrete+Floor+Coatings&catId=16

Asshat's Fact of the Day 04-14-2005 - asshat - 04-14-2005

Note to self: Do not help clay or ntype anymore as they fail to respond to your efforts.

Asshat's Fact of the Day 04-14-2005 - Jesse Antarctica - 04-15-2005

what ??? Sorry but last time I made concrete ...well. no never made concrete. That was a difficult subject for me. Nota as well that we're the only one having participated in that.

Ok now that we know that you're good in cement.

If you want to hide a body in concrete what would be the best method ?

Asshat's Fact of the Day 04-14-2005 - Dr. Lecter - 04-15-2005

Mr. Vila, I was hoping to "level" a floor in my basement before adding tile, so I was going to use a really runny cement and let it level off by itself.
Based on what you said of the h2o weakening the strength, I'm not too concerned because this will go under floor tile when it hardens.
Would you agree this is OK to do?
Holla back, my niggle. Thanks.