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Pouring a concrete floor yourself

More and more people are opting for a concrete floor. If you’re a frequent DIYer, save money and learn how to pour concrete yourself in this article.

Use a spirit level

formwork

Use a spirit level before placing the formwork to ensure that it is as horizontal as possible. A formwork ensures that the concrete expands smoothly. It is advisable to allow for a correction of one centimeter. The formwork assures a neat finish because the liquid concrete cannot make its way elsewhere. As concrete is poured in liquid form, it may splash when poured. Where possible, tape off walls or walls adjacent to the pouring location or formwork of the concrete.

Concrete reinforcing

By applying concrete reinforcement, you give the concrete floor just that little bit of extra strength. Concrete reinforcement guarantees that tensile forces are well absorbed so that even with intensive use, no cracks or tears appear on the floor. This prevents you from having to pour a new concrete floor at short notice.

How much concrete should I use?

Measuring is knowing. So, before a project, measure carefully how much concrete you need. Basically, you calculate this by easy calculation. Calculate the length times the width times the height, with the height determining the desired thickness of the floor. This way, you can easily calculate how many cubic meters of concrete you need using a concrete calculator. You’ll know exactly how much fresh concrete to order, which will be ready to pour as soon as it’s delivered.

Do you already have a lot of experience with concrete and have a concrete mixer at your disposal? Then it may be more economical to make your own concrete.

Pouring concrete

pouring concrete

Pouring concrete is pretty straightforward; you pour it into the formwork or foundation and ensure it is evenly distributed over the surface. You don’t have to do this precisely because the spirit level ensures that the formwork is as horizontal as possible. As a result, the poured concrete will spread itself evenly over the surface. You can pour concrete with a special concrete spreader connected to the cement truck or using wheelbarrows.

After pouring

sanding concrete floor

Once the concrete is laid, it is time to let it dry. Pay close attention during this time because air bubbles may form during drying. You can remove these bubbles using a vibrating needle or a wooden batten.

Once the floor has hardened a little and is walkable, you can sand the floor. Be careful as you should still be able to see your footprints in the concrete. With special machines, such as a butterfly machine, you then rework the concrete.

In principle, fresh concrete is walkable within a few hours. Within 28 days, the concrete is fully cured. However, the drying time of fresh concrete depends on several factors, such as the thickness of the concrete floor. The ratio of water to cement also plays a role in this. If you have purchased concrete ready-mixed, you will find this information in the leaflet.

To conclude

Once the floor is fully cured, you can connect the dots. Think about roughening or sanding the concrete floor. You can also impregnate the concrete floor, by applying a hardened, protective top layer. If you’d also like to paint your concrete floor a special colour, you can use ‘concrete paint’.

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