Which is better: bagged concrete or mixing it in a concrete mixer on the job site?

Question

The site is inaccesible to concrete trucks and wheelbarrowing is out as well. So which is stronger, bags or mixing it on site? I'm building a foundation (footers, actually) for a two story house. I'll put cinder blocks on top of it later. Mostly, I'm worried about strength.

Answer 1

get readymixed ,and get them to pump it to your footings .You pay for this ,but its worth it ok

Answer 2

When using bagged concrete, you have little control over the strength, as well as other important qualities of the concrete. The single most influential factor affecting concrete strength is the water cement ratio. If you use bagged concrete, you could try reducing the water you mix in to the concrete, but by doing so, you run the risk of harming the workability of the mix, not to mention the fact that using bagged concrete on a project of this scale would be tremendously tedious, time consuming, and expensive. Additionally, you can't control the amount of entrained air that the concrete has, which is important because your concrete will be exposed to severe weather conditions (freezing, assuming you are in an area that gets that cold during the winter). Your best bet is to hire a ready-mix company. Also, they will have many options for placing the concrete on site. As mentioned by other people already, pump trucks are very versatile when placing concrete in hard to access areas. If pump trucks are not available, you can also use conveyor belts (as long as the concrete does not have a high slump). I hope this information helps you.

Answer 3

If it's inaccesible to the concrete truck, won't the gravel truck and the sand truck have the same issue. And if you do bagged mix, will the delivery truck be able to drop the bags close or are you going to have to carry those too?

Several have mentioned a concrete pumper truck, That sounds like the best option if the boom can reach. They are pretty damn long, look into it.

If you are really worried about strength I wouldn't be using cinder blocks. I'd pour the whole foundation.

Answer 4

never pour footers hand mixed. you cannot mix and pour it fast enough. the footer needs to be one solid peice with no dry joints and thats not possible with hand mix unless you pour it very wet, which reduces the strength of he concrete because of the extra water that will be evaporating. Definately get it delivered and pumped. most pumps can push the concrete 200-300 feet. crane pumps 75-150 ft. if you need to push it farther, have an engineer look at the blueprints and see if you can use grout mix instead of ready mix by increasing the concrete psi to 3500 instead of 3000. grout mix is easier to pump and can be pumped farther.

Answer 5

You won't be able to mix large enough batches in a portable mixer. Foundations need to be laid in one pouring.

I have seen concrete pumpers parked half a block away from the worksite.

Answer 6

mixing cement onsite is the only way to go then...pre-mixed bags will cost you a fortune...you will need some sane and gravel to mix with your cement.....

lots of work...someone mentioned pumping it....they can pump using a boom type truck...( over top of the trees even.) I had this done at my cottage...I built on a hill anlood they pumped the cement from the truck using a cement pumper...this is the best way to go....

good luck

Answer 7

Bagged concrete is dry it's intended to be mixed

Answer 8

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Answer 9

Under your circumstances it sounds like mixing it on site is your cheapest and best bet.

Answer 10

get a trunk w\ a concreate pump.it'll cost you more, but it is money well spent