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Rant: I spent 4 weekends hand-mixing 60 bags of concrete for my fire pit and I will never do it again
Two summers ago I built a fire pit in my backyard in Boise and I mixed every single bag by hand in a wheelbarrow with a hoe. It took me four straight weekends, my back was wrecked, and I still have a spot near the patio where the mix was too dry and it crumbled after one winter. Last month I helped my brother pour a 12 by 14 foot patio slab and we rented a small mixer for $65 a day plus a bag of Portland cement, and the whole thing was done before lunch. The difference is night and day. The mixer gets the water mixed in evenly so you do not get those dry pockets, and you can dump a full batch in like 90 seconds instead of standing there stirring for 10 minutes. I keep kicking myself because I thought renting equipment was for people who did not want to put in the work, but the truth is my hand-mixed pit is already cracking while his slab looks like a pro job. If you are about to pour anything bigger than a mailbox post, just rent the mixer. Anyone got a brand of small mixer they swear by for weekend jobs?
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ninaross20d ago
My dad and me did a small slab for my mom's shed last fall, and we almost mixed it all by hand because he is old school and does not trust rentals. Rented a little 3.5 cubic foot mixer from the same place that rents out the party tents and it was the best $50 we spent. We got 22 bags done in an afternoon and the finish came out so smooth, no dry spots at all. Now I just keep a eye out for used ones on marketplace because a mixer pays for itself after like two pours. Your brother's slab holding up while the pit cracks is exactly how it goes, water gets in even when you mix with a machine and that is the whole game.
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