recommended concrete for pier

[Daniel-K]

hi whats the best way for me to pour my concrete into my pier im planning on using ready mixed stuff

[nmoushon]

I would get some type of funnel. Some stiff card board will do the trick. Mix it together in whatever you got. wheelbarrel or such. Then either use a shovel or a bucket to scoup it up and pour it in. A gallon milk just with the top cut off works well too. Well guess you don't have gallon jugs in the UK...but you know what I mean.

[Daniel-K]

sorry should have rephrased it "what is the best type of concrete to use if using ready mixed stuff?

[Carbon]

Just use any cheap, standard grade, commercially available bagged concrete mix. As long as you're not constructing a 10 story parking structure you're good to go.

[Daniel-K]

Just use any cheap, standard grade, commercially available bagged concrete mix. As long as you're not constructing a 10 story parking structure you're good to go.

great should have the base knocked up this week getting all the wood for the shell at the weekend try and get that up before tuesday

[nmoushon]

OH....well then ya anything should work. Youre just looking for increased regidity and weight. Its not tall enough or has enough load on it for you to be concerned.

[Gina]

I got standard cement in bags and ballast by the tonne from Wickes - the cheapest place I found. Used an electric mixer to mix it then tipped it in the hole(s). I used a trowel to fill the tube for the pier - pouring base and pier in one (long) day.

[Digz]

Gina raises a good point - try and pour all of it in one day to avoid any joints and potential weakness.

[Daniel-K]

That's my plan to pour it in one day there will be 2 of us mixing at the same time so shouldn't be to bad for time it's a 10" diameter pier x 1.5m going to take a fair bit to fill

[Gina]

WOW! Big jobby Good luck Good to have two on the work - with me it was just the one!

[Carbon]

Good luck with the pour.

Just make sure the tube form is not placed deep down into the base footing. The bottom of the tube should be placed at or can be slightly below the top of the footing.

[Daniel-K]

Good luck with the pour.

Just make sure the tube form is not placed deep down into the base footing. The bottom of the tube should be placed at or can be slightly below the top of the footing.

any reason for this?

[yesyes]

So that the concrete forms one piece, not 2 separate pieces inside and outside the tube

[Carbon]

So that the concrete forms one piece, not 2 separate pieces inside and outside the tube

Exactly.

Additionally, it the tube is buried deep inside the footing the tube will eventually deteriorate over time creating a gap between the pier and base footing. You don't want that.

Don't skimp on rebars, use 1/2" or 12mm rebars.

[Chris]

Exactly.

Additionally, it the tube is buried deep inside the footing the tube will eventually deteriorate over time creating a gap between the pier and base footing. You don't want that.

Oh I'm worried now, I sank my plastic pier pipe about 2'8" into a 3' plug by resting it on s couple of bricks at the bottom so the concrete would flow around to form one unit, is 4" enough? I've drilled quite a lot of rebar through the pipe as well.

Will pipe from a civil engineering company degrade if its designed to be used under ground for waste water etc?

[Daniel-K]

by time are talking 10 years??? if that happens i can always just flatten the concrete and bolt a steel pier to the concrete block cant i. its buried 1ft down with re-bar in the middle

[Carbon]

If you're strictly a visual observer it probably won't matter all that much, but the AP crowd may think otherwise.

I don't do AP. My pier base is only 6" tall and 3' square, simply poured over paved ground, nothing underground except for a few rebars pounded through to prevent shifting. My 10" concrete pier is rock solid.

[nmoushon]

Daniel,

You don't have to to have the rebar like Carbon has shown in his image. That is the best way but not the only way. Theres a couple other ways. You can pour the footing first then drill holes in the footing and then put bolts with a hardening compound (like super glue but for cement and rebar, used a lot in construction) in the wholes that extend upward around your pier. You can the bolt it to your pier, which would require more drilling and hardening compound and the purchase of proper angled supports. So by the time you get all that you might as well go buy a fabricated metal pier from someone and bolt is straight to the footing. You would stil need to drill into the foot like I stated above or plan percisely where to put the bolts into the wet cement to line up with the fabricated pier. So thats abouts about the only other way. My suggestion is to do what Carbon has shown. Will be rock solid.

[nmoushon]

Oh I'm worried now, I sank my plastic pier pipe about 2'8" into a 3' plug by resting it on s couple of bricks at the bottom so the concrete would flow around to form one unit, is 4" enough? I've drilled quite a lot of rebar through the pipe as well.

Will pipe from a civil engineering company degrade if its designed to be used under ground for waste water etc?

I think you should be fine since you used rebar. Its a plastic pipe....platics does not degrade very easily if at all. Only think you would have to worry about is if it start to seperate from the footing. But since you have rebar you should be ok. Just do go hitting it with a car and you'll be fine If anything is to degrade it will be your footing first. Not by what you said that your footing is 3' thick or it is set at 3' below grade. Either way the determining factor is how deep your frost depth is and that depend on your location. The freeze/thaw cycle is concretes worst enemy.

[Chris]

I think you should be fine since you used rebar. Its a plastic pipe....platics does not degrade very easily if at all. Only think you would have to worry about is if it start to seperate from the footing. But since you have rebar you should be ok. Just do go hitting it with a car and you'll be fine If anything is to degrade it will be your footing first. Not by what you said that your footing is 3' thick or it is set at 3' below grade. Either way the determining factor is how deep your frost depth is and that depend on your location. The freeze/thaw cycle is concretes worst enemy.

Thanks:) I might be ok then, if the plastic doesn't degrade hopefully there won't be a gap for any seperation to take place. I've just checked and only 2 pieces of the rebar went through the pipe 90 degrees to its axis the rest went down the pipe or in the base, so not that much rebar joining the two, but hey you live and learn:) If it holds my 6" Newt plus small guide scope for 6-8 years then I'll be pleased:D

p.s sorry to crash your thread Daniel, worry set in:)

[nmoushon]

Thanks:) I might be ok then, if the plastic doesn't degrade hopefully there won't be a gap for any seperation to take place. I've just checked and only 2 pieces of the rebar went through the pipe 90 degrees to its axis the rest went down the pipe or in the base, so not that much rebar joining the two, but hey you live and learn:) If it holds my 6" Newt plus small guide scope for 6-8 years then I'll be pleased:D

p.s sorry to crash your thread Daniel, worry set in:)

i seriously doubt that your pipe will ever degrade. Where seperation will happen is when water gets in the crack between the pier and the footing then freezes. It will slowly degrade the concrete and chip away at it and will make the gap wider and wider. Would be more pronounced if it was above ground. But like I said unless you hit it with your truck you should be fine.

If I were you Daniel, or anyone doing a pier for that matter, I would make sure that any rebar you have going through or into your pier is bent 90 degrees up or down and the same with the other end that is in the footing but bend it opposite the way you bent it in the pier. Will help keep it nice and snug at the connection and will prevent seperation more than if you just had horizontal connection. But any seperation would happen very very very slowly over a long time depending on climit and the stresses you put on it.

[Carbon]

But as DIY'ers we all tend to over engineer everything we build anyway so when all is said and done these things should pretty much last a lifetime.