Top Four Ways To Pour Concrete
There are four common ways to get your concrete delivery from our truck to your forms. As a homeowner, you must know what these methods are and the pros and cons of each. Even if you aren’t finishing the concrete yourself, being up to speed on this will help you ask the correct questions of your contractor, ensuring your job is completed promptly with no surprises.
1. Pour Directly From The Truck:
All of our trucks at Rocket Concrete are rear discharge. Meaning the concrete is poured from a chute at the rear of the truck. We have extenders for the chutes that allow us to reach approximately 12 feet. If your job site is in an accessible location and we can safely back the chute into position, we can pour directly from the truck to your forms. This is efficient and best of all adds no extra cost. We pour and you spread it, as simple as that.
There are a few considerations to take when the decision to pour directly out of a truck has been made. Will the truck have to cross a sidewalk or perhaps a concrete driveway to access the pour? Is it a possibility your septic system could be in the path of the truck or even a muddy spot that just never seems to dry out? A fully loaded truck weighs around 66,000 lbs. A loaded truck will likely damage existing driveways, sidewalks, get stuck, or worse, tip over. In all cases, it is the responsibility of the homeowner to provide safe access to the pour and recover the truck if needed. If our professional drivers at Rocket Concrete don’t feel comfortable it is important to heed their warnings and perhaps look for another solution.
2. Pour Into A Wheelbarrow:
Let’s say you looked at your job site and you aren’t comfortable that you can safely get the delivery truck into position without damaging your property. The first option is to get out a wheelbarrow and shuttle the ready-mix from the truck to the forms. This is a fine option if you have a small load of fewer than 3 yards, or more if you have a good crew and a number of wheelbarrows. Like pouring directly from the truck, there is no added cost or set up time. You will avoid the hassle of getting the truck stuck in the mud, or the repair costs of fixing a smashed septic line.
The biggest issue with using a wheelbarrow is the time it could potentially take. There are approximately 10-14 wheelbarrow trips to move one yard of ready-mix concrete. This means if your project requires 5 yards, it would take 50-70 wheelbarrow trips. Whew! That is no small effort! At Rocket, we allow for 10 minutes of unloading time per yard. If it takes longer than that we bill overtime at $120 / hour in 15-minute increments. That added cost would quickly cover the expense of the next option.
3. Use A Georgia Buggy:
A Georgia Buggy is basically a motorized oversized wheelbarrow. You can rent one from any reputable rental company in your area. They are easy to drive (and I have to say fun to drive as well). Costing around $100 for the day, they are relatively inexpensive when compared to the cost of potential damages caused by getting a truck stuck, or getting hit with a two hour overtime charge because it took 70 wheelbarrow trips to empty the truck (again….Whew!). The typical buggy can unload one yard of concrete in two trips. Compare that to the 10-14 for a wheelbarrow and the manual effort saved is obvious.
Georgia Buggies are bigger than a wheelbarrow which makes getting into very tight spaces an issue, like a narrow walkway or fence opening. Normally an experienced operator can fit a Georgia Buggy into an opening of approximately 50 inches. The other real issue with a buggy is that they still aren’t great for a large job. However, you can always rent two or three if needed. Although another consideration when renting is not only the cost of the rental but delivery and pickup as well. Sometimes this can cost as much as the rental itself, escalating the cost quickly. Renting more than two, and you might want to make some phone calls to get prices on option #4.
4. Hire A Concrete Pump:
There are a number of different types of concrete pumps, but to keep things simple we aren’t going to get into the specifics of that. They all work on the same concept, the concrete truck delivers the concrete to a hopper on the pump which then pumps the concrete through a hose to the forms. While there are lots of benefits of using a pump, the biggest is the ease of placement. You can pour your ready-mix anywhere the pump hose will reach. Depending on the type of pump and hose diameter, concrete can be pumped 100’s of feet. This means you can keep the trucks safe from getting stuck, protect your property from damage, and save a lot of effort not pushing wheelbarrows or driving Georgia Buggies back and forth.
Typically the most common complaint about using a pump is the cost. The pump truck and operator will cost on average $500 (depending on the job). On top of the cost of the pump, the concrete mix is also more expensive. Making concrete “pumpable” takes a different mix to keep the pump from clogging or jamming. Most pump mixes are an additional $15 / yard. With that being said, a reputable concrete pumping crew can easily average 40 plus yards per hour. Initially, this sticker shock stops most people from considering it. As a homeowner, you can think of it as insurance. For an extra $600 not only will your concrete be placed EXACTLY where it is intended, but you also run no risk of added expenses for a wrecker to save a stuck truck, or worse, the cost of fixing your cracked driveway.
Hopefully, this gives you a good base while you are planning your concrete project. Like always, even if you are hiring a contractor to handle the job, it pays to be knowledgeable about the process. Comparing how each contractor plans on unloading the ready-mix will not only give you a clear idea of how they will complete the job but also if they care about your property. A smooth project makes for a happy homeowner! When you are ready to get started call Rocket Concrete at (980)281-3131 to schedule a delivery. We proudly deliver ready-mix concrete to the entire Charlotte, NC area.
