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How To Calculate The Amount of Concrete You Need to
by Konkratar Seifener
http://www.realconcrete.com
Calculating how much concrete it takes to build your
patio is really easy.
In order to calculate the amount of concrete you need,
you must decide how big of a patio you want to build. Even
the most experienced contractors are often surprised when
they see something in person that they'd previously only
seen on a drawing, so its probably a good idea to mark the
outline of the patio that you want to build on your lawn to
make sure its the size you want.
Contractors use spray paint to mark the outline of things
they are going to build. This is called laying out a
project. When you have spray painted the grass to show the
size of your proposed patio, you will better understand
exactly what your project will look like when you finish.
Use a lot of paint so you can easily see the line.
Over the next couple of days, look at the outline to see
if that is the size patio you want. What do you like about
it? What don't you like? What would you like to change?
Changes made right now are cheap compared to making changes
after the forms are done and the concrete is ready to be
poured. Make sure that you make the changes you want in a
different color so you can see them clearly.
Since you have determined the size and shape of your patio,
you can create an estimate and determine the amount of
concrete that you will need to complete your project.
Measure the outside of your patio and calculate the area.
For instance, if your patio is 20' x 25' the area is the
width x the length. So the area would be 500 SQ Feet. Now
decide on how thick you want your patio to be. Most patios
are 4" thick. Now you need to convert the thickness of the
patio into feet by dividing by 12. This would give you a
thickness of 0.3333 feet.
Now its time to calculate the volume of the concrete that
you will need to build your patio. Multiply the area in
Sq. Feet (500 Sq Feet) x the thickness in feet (0.333 feet)
and you get 166.66 Cubic feet.
Concrete is sold by the cubic yard, so you need to convert
your volume in cubic feet into cubic yards by dividing
the volume in cubic feet by 27. The equation looks like
this 166.66/27 = 6.17 cubic yards.
I recommend 4000# pea gravel concrete for your patio. It
is easy to work with and lets you get a nice finish on the
surface, plus you can get a washed gravel finish if you
would like.
Don't worry if you don't understand what I'm telling you.
All you need to do is to tell the concrete company what
you are using the concrete for and they will give you the
perfect mixture for your project and the weather
conditions. You only need to worry about the mix if you are
going to do the patio yourself.
I would not recommend that you attempt to make a pour this
large unless you have some experience with concrete or have
someone who can help you. 6 cubic yards is a lot of
concrete to place and finish, especially if you are in your
back yard and have to wheelbarrow it.
You would need a crew of at least 5-6 people to get this
poured and finished before the concrete cures. You don't
want to end up with almost $500 worth of concrete
that you have to break up and send to the dump. Plus
breaking up concrete is a lot of hard work.
A fair price for a patio this size varies from region to
region, so you just need to call a couple of different
contractors for a price. Don't choose the lowest price
because the lowest price is often someone who is going to
try to make up the difference in lower quality or cutting
corners in some way. Choose the price in the middle and
make sure to check references before you sign any contract.
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