Filling in the hearth

[hb2474]

What's the easiest way to do this? should I buy a mixer or just mix it in my wheelbarrow. How about moving the cement to the top. should i just shovel it to the top. Seems like a lot of work. Has anyone try to make a ramp of some sorts. Any thoughts?

[fxpose]

I have a mixer but I did not use it for the hearth slab. I mixed concrete in a wheel barrow, dumped a few shovelfull of concrete into a 5 gallon bucket, and dumped that into the form. It is not a whole lot of work unless you have a much larger area to pour.

[Nic The Landscaper]

Depends on your access etc. My favorite technique is to put a mixer in the bed of my truck, back up to the stand with all the concrete bags opened and cued up in the bed of my truck ready to go, mix and pour two at a time. That is assuming I am going to pour the support slab, or I cant couple it up with a larger pour and just use a ready mix truck.

[mklingles]

I had to get from the street in front, up 8 stairs and around behind the house.

I ended up with a mini-mix truck and a pump. It was somewhat spendy, but instead of being a full day of hauling cement bags, mixing and shoveling, it was done in 35 minutes.

[hb2474]

Originally Posted by fxpose

I have a mixer but I did not use it for the hearth slab. I mixed concrete in a wheel barrow, dumped a few shovelfull of concrete into a 5 gallon bucket, and dumped that into the form. It is not a whole lot of work unless you have a much larger area to pour.

I just filled in by cinder blocks and it took 2 1/2 hours. By the time I was done the others were already hard. Wont that happen to my hearth. It seems I'll be pouring concrete on top of concrete already hardening. Is that bad or is it Ok?

[dmun]

It's inexpensive to rent a concrete mixer, and worthwhile for this job.

My concrete mixer primer may be useful here:

http://www.fornobravo.com/forum/f6/c...asics-790.html (Concrete mixer basics)

[Ken524]

Check your yellow pages for a "Mini-mix" type concrete service. They have mixers on large pickup trucks and will deliver a one yard minimum. I used them for my pad and hearth; best money I spent on the project. I think I used ~3/4 yard for each order and they drove across my yard to the work site.

Your back will thank you.

[hb2474]

Originally Posted by Ken524

Check your yellow pages for a "Mini-mix" type concrete service. They have mixers on large pickup trucks and will deliver a one yard minimum. I used them for my pad and hearth; best money I spent on the project. I think I used ~3/4 yard for each order and they drove across my yard to the work site.

Your back will thank you.

Here's the thing, I cant get a truck to my backyard, I'll need a pumper which would add to the cost. It would litterly be around 400 bucks for a hearth which seems to much to me.

[Ken524]

Originally Posted by hb2474

Here's the thing, I cant get a truck to my backyard, I'll need a pumper which would add to the cost. It would litterly be around 400 bucks for a hearth which seems to much to me.

You definitely want to go the rental route as Dmun suggested. Lots of folks have done the mix-in-the-wheelbarrow technique, but it'll take 2 years off your life

[dmun]

it'll take 2 years off your life

Maybe a year less than if you mixed it with a hoe in a plastic mortar tub.

Building a staging platform will reduce your load considerably, as an earlier poster suggested.