Whether it is building a terrace or setting a sealing coat of concrete, it is important to have a precise idea of your project’s needs in concrete before starting construction. Premix has some suggestions you could follow.
What dosage of cement and aggregates is required to produce fresh concrete? Would it be recommended to make the concrete by yourself or to use the services of a concrete plant? What quantity of cement is needed to prepare concrete for your project? So many questions beg to be answered with precise accuracy before beginning the task.
Firstly, it is important to remember the composition of concrete. It is a precise mixture of cement, aggregates such as rocksand and basalt gravel, water and eventually other additives.
Blended with water, the cement acts like a binder ensuring that all the materials present in the concrete are well-combined. The exact dosage is the most important criteria as it influences how resistant and workable the concrete will be, as well as its rheological properties. That explains why concrete grades are commonly-formulated in kilos of cement integrated in the concrete: we often speak of concrete dosed at 250, 300, 350 or 400 kg/m3.
Additionally, gravel and sand are then respectively used to structure the concrete and to fill in the gaps of the mixture, and are available in a range of colours depending on their country of origin.
Finally, the admixture is a product that is incorporated in the mixture of concrete at small dosage during mixing, and that will then modify its properties. The exact dosage of each of these ingredients will help in modifying the resistance and the fluidity of the mixture so as to adapt it to the specific task to be completed.
Depending on the means and the specific circumstances, it is possible to manufacture the concrete in an artisanal manner in a concrete mixer, or to use the services of a concrete plant.
Manual production of concrete is more approximate and leads to a product that is less homogenous. Since each person has their own notion of dosage, each shovel will vary in volume, as a result, producing concrete that is not standardised.
For concrete produced in a plant, the dosages are automated using machines to ensure the quality and the accuracy of the quantities, precise to the millimetre. This guarantees the production of a mixture that is perfectly homogenous that adheres to the needs of each site. At Premix, needless to say, we prefer this option. All of our raw materials conform to British or European standards to ensure the quality of our mixes, and quality control tests are conducted daily in our laboratory to guarantee each step of the production process.