DIY Concrete Slab for Pole Barn (780sft Under $1200!)

The following video shows how to pour a concrete slab solo or with an extra set of hands. This particular slab poured is for a pole barn but this method can be used to pour any type of concrete needed such as a patio, driveway, walkway, or any type of foundation such as a footer. In part one of this instructional video you will observe the leveling of the grade, the form board placement, as well as the rebar placement. On top of that 1/3rd of the slab will be completed (240sqft). #diyconcreteslab #diyfoundation #polebarnconcretefloor

[@135john135]

Good job man you should be proud, Americans need to build there life with our own hands. You make your fore father's proud!

[@DHamDIY]

One to tell the kids about one day. Thanks for watching!

[@michaelbacile8439]

Hey man that’s great. I did the same thing only on a smaller garage, after I got the slab down I got a few bags of self level and smoothed it out really nice. Looked almost like glass when I was done, nobody will ever know the horror of the finish under it lmao

[@DHamDIY]

I can totally relate to this and will plan on doing the same thing if I can get around to it. Thanks for watching!

[@relikvija]

Great work siñor There is no stopping you now

[@DHamDIY]

Now the only thing stopping me is building off an unlevel foundation. Thanks for watching!

[@joeteejoetee]

I REALLY like the large fan outside the Barn making your work SO MUCH more comfortable!

[@patrickmullaney9670]

Great job .

[@DHamDIY]

Thanks for watching!

[@justinbrown6413]

Just dam good getting at it. You have already learned how to do it on your own. Do you man

[@HimanshuShekhar1]

You have been very inspiring. thank you so much for sharing your hard work and passion.

[@zelleel]

Awesome stuff, I’ve been wanting to do everything by hand on my land. So I shall watch a lot of ur vids

[@DHamDIY]

Having some serious plans with the new property stay tuned for plenty of back saving lessons donated by the back of my own! Thanks for watching!

[@douglasthompson2740]

What most DIY'ers get wrong is how much labor and time (which is very limited) it takes to pour and place concrete. Add twice as much for mixing your own bagged and pouring and placing at a minimum. All this can easily be accomplished with prior planning but will bite you if you think it will all fall into place by itself. Running short of time is the biggest shortcoming of mixing and placing by yourself. The other glaring shortcoming people don't get is the necessity of troweling and working the surface multiple times. It is very similar in some respects to tempering steel. If you neglect to do that because you run out of time or only trowel it once you will end up with a forever "chalky" finish. Think when you kneel on it your knees come up with white powder on them. It never will cure with the hard durable finish that a troweled surface (whether it is power troweled or hand) will give you. The only possible fix and that is still very difficult with a poorly cured surface. It is also very labor intensive and expensive to power grind the surface in an attempt to get beneath the soft top and put some kind of epoxy coating or some such on it. Exasperating that situation is having no vapor barrier under the slab it will cure much faster as water is pulled out of the slab directly into the ground. Steel is important and can only do its job if it is kept off the bottom of the pour. It should be 1/3 up the thickness of the slab. It has the job of keeping the surface in plane throughout its life which become very very important when pouring a flawed and weak mix of concrete in a sub four inch slab. If it is to be used with vehicles or equipment the amount of steel should reflect that. Always keep in mind the wetter the mix the weaker the end product. The sad part is a lot of work goes into a poor job which is easy to write off as "good enough" when the mix is curing before you are ready, you are dead tired at the end of the job and the weather is threatening, etc. However once you pour that for the rest of your time around it you will always know it could have been so much better. None of this is to say a DIY'er can't do a perfectly competent job. He can with the proper planning and set up easily do a job the size of what you are doing. Plan on using a wheel barrow to place your concrete and set up supported planks over the steel so you aren't crushing it when you wheel the mix to the pour. Buckets are slow and will wear you out. Divide up the area into easily manageable sections and don't try to do too much in one day. Form the joints and let the rebar stick through the form so you have a good joint. Then when you restart you have a secure bond after you pull the form and tie the new steel to that which is sticking out. If you have any energy left over at the end of the pour trowel it a couple of more times. You should be somewhere around four bouts of troweling the last one when you think it is too hard to work unless you bear down with both hands. Pick a small job perhaps an eight by four section of sidewalk to start with then extrapolate from there on what time you are going to need for each stage of your project. Set the mixer up for efficient work where you can pour directly into a wheel barrow. Plan your pour so you aren't working over fresh concrete. Start farthest away and work toward the accessible portion.

[@DHamDIY]

A stout observation. Thanks for watching!

[@blackfishing7035]

A hard-working man good job

[@DHamDIY]

Digging the plumbing right now and wishing I wasn't. Thanks for watching!

[@fishydubsfishing6516]

I just did my first poor with the same mixer the same way fill in all the buckets myself I did 1.11 yards end it almost killed me you definitely were making a two or three slump that was extremely thick but it should be stronger that could've been wire was setting up quicker Plus it looks like your cement ratio was pretty high which would make it probably an M 20

[@greb3212]

I have to say thanks. I have toyed with doing a small slab this way (10×25). Seeing the amount of work you went through, I've come to realization that at my age I need to work smarter, not harder. If I pour any slabs, I'll be getting a truck, or renting one of those smaller tow-able cement trailers.... nice job though.

[@DHamDIY]

It felt like a right of passage! Thanks for watching!

[@markusr1308]

The small tow trailers have saved me a lot of time. The concrete store “rents” them for free if you buy the concrete from them.

[@jorgelimon5864]

Good job I'm about to do the same thing 😮

[@keithw8286]

I have about the same size slab to lay, I’m at the top of a track that needs a 4x4 with off road tyres, a 1 ton trailer won’t make it, I tried. I move aggregate by shovelling it into the back of the Land Rover and making multiple runs. Well done, it’s hard work. I’m doing mine solo, in smaller sections, ( I’m 60 )

[@DHamDIY]

A lot of people don't understand why a concrete truck isn't always the answer and I bet if they tried to drive one on your road they would! Thanks for watching!

[@huntergatherer4223]

I would have started in the back and worked forward. Smaller sections and work around the perimeter. Get the left and right side done then finish the center. Respect for doing your own work and saving money. Also plastic is cheap. I would have used it for a moisture barrier.

[@DHamDIY]

A moisture barrier wouldn't have hurt that's for sure. Thanks for watching!

[@HoomanM]

How did you do the shed?

[@prisonmike9472]

Im so excited for this!

[@DHamDIY]

Thanks for watching!

[@futanarimouto]

I really enjoyed your video. I'm wanting to build a pole barn then place a slab for the floor and have somewhere to live. It's a lot to figure out. Is there any kind of further reading you'd suggest on figuring out the methods and stuff?

[@DHamDIY]

Plan it down to the penny and inch and know exactly what you want to do and where you want to do it to and for how much. I went through innumerable renditions of my shop and could've saved a lot of time and headache as well as money planning exactly what I wanted or needed before ever spending a dime. Thanks for watching!

[@franklinbrown8417]

Thanks for posting.

[@DHamDIY]

Thanks for watching!

[@OutdoorsandCountryLiving]

Good job. That’s hard work.

[@DHamDIY]

I'm glad you recognize the pain. Thanks for watching!

[@erikdale9145]

New sub good work its not an easy job and as you said you get to keeo the tools. I'm buying another farm and doing a 1800sq existing and 1200sq free-form pour for future site. Im having trucks bought in obv lol

[@DHamDIY]

Check out part 3 where plumbing was installed into the shed. Thanks for watching & thanks for subscribing!

[@GRUBB-MUDD]

That's bs u got 42k views and under 1k subs. I gave u a follow to help u get to 1k. I'm gona give u a shout out plus I do concrete, that's alot to mix.

[@DHamDIY]

I appreciate the support! Thanks for watching!

[@GRUBB-MUDD]

@@DHamDIY I told a few ppl to sub ya

[@eliasbonilla9659]

Were you concerned about pouring the slab in parts?

[@DHamDIY]

I'm really not concerned about it. I think with the amount of rebar and the time between each section only being a day or two max there wont be any issues. Especially since no serious load will ever be applied to it. If it were a road or something or a slab to a 200k home I wouldn't have went with this method. No cracks yet other than a hairline between the first and second slab but this is where a crack control line would've went if it were a traditional slab anyway. I will take a good look for a follow up in part 3 of the series when it is finished to see if anything odd has occurred in the slabs. Thanks for watching!

[@clown7292]

Is it cheaper to buy bulk than a premixed bag of sakrete?

[@DHamDIY]

Mixing the concrete yourself and only buying Portland cement is definitely the cheapest option but sometimes a cement truck can be cheaper depending on where you live. Thanks for watching!

[@porsche928ireland]

Why did did you go with the Portland cement vs quickcrete

[@DHamDIY]

It is a lot cheaper to mix the materials of the concrete then to buy the pre mixed stuff. Thanks for watching!

[@skylarthompson2683]

Are you doing this in order to finish the inside for living quarters? My dad and I are considering finishing part of his pole barn for living space

[@DHamDIY]

I am putting in an 8x8 bathroom currently which will be the only technical livable space in the building the rest will be space for a carpentry shop. Part 3 should show everything from plumbing to framing. Thanks for watching!

[@leondraw1766]

If you use Quickcrete do you still need the extra rock and sand?

[@DHamDIY]

Using a premixed concrete bag removes any need for mixing your own rock or sang although from my own experience that is a lot more expensive. Thanks for watching!

[@leondraw1766]

@@DHamDIY I appreciate the feedback. Enjoy your videos.

[@Randomhawk]

How long did this take you?

[@DHamDIY]

I can't remember exactly how long it took but I spread out the pours over a long time. You can pour each 120sqft section in a day alone and with help probably do more. I did each section half at a time so at minimum in days it took me 12. Thanks for watching!

[@bluedogmichigan]

You got it done! But this is not a educational video like "How To Do"...you definitely have to screed that stuff after pouring to get it even with the forms.

[@DHamDIY]

It may not be a "how to do professionally" but its a "how I did to the best of my ability". I tried to screed but the area I was pouring at one time was too large and the mix too inconsistent. If I were to pour three or four batches by the time I'm ready to screed one batch is already setting up and past the point of being able to be moved with a piece of wood. It worked better for me to just float out the area or batch one at a time and you may have different circumstances on a pour of your own but that is what worked best for me. Plus as you can see from all three videos it looks pretty adequate. Thanks for watching!

[@Slurm_Daddy92]

Why are you talking so fast? Other than that, great job.

[@DHamDIY]

Video was sped up to make it more compact. Thanks for watching!

[@risajajr]

Staccato!

[@wigidy12]

Just got a quote for 4 yards of 4000 psi delivered $900. Its about $220 diy

[@DHamDIY]

Great prices! Thanks for watching!

[@iwantosavemoney]

Unfortunately it is not any cheap to do bags vs having a truck come out. From what I understand

[@DHamDIY]

In your area that might be the case but it differs from place to place. If you had a property that doesn't have good roads a cement truck wouldn't be an option where bringing in a 4x4 with the materials would be. Or just simply having local cement trucks cost more. Thanks for watching!

[@benphillips2891]

Where you have those cold joints in each block you should cut a saw joint in it to control the crack because it will definitely crack in those spots

[@DHamDIY]

If it will crack there anyway then no need for a cold joint! Hopefully the rebar will be sufficient to keep it all together but that's an answer for time to decide. Thanks for watching!

[@thewhiteknight02]

I would have ordered a truck and did 1/2 and 1/2. $130/yd here.

[@DHamDIY]

I was skeptical of doing even that much at once not ever doing concrete before. Would probably get a truck next time having the confidence I built. Thanks for watching!

[@WhizFlipper]

Lol you’re crazy man. That many yards you call the truck to come on out. your helpers out for an hour and knock it out. You’re crazy man.

[@DHamDIY]

I can say now I'm getting really experienced with concrete at least. Thanks for watching!

[@Chuck-he1jd]

sometimes a cement truck is not an option.

[@gary24752]

You should have broke it down into portions that you could handle for any one pour. Having a dry joint is never a good thing with concrete and I am not talking about the construction joints

[@DHamDIY]

Yea that was the main regret, could've made the finish much better too but lessons learned! Did the smaller sections in the plumbing video of the shop build and turned out much better. Thanks for watching!

[@babicloudz665]

I pour crete for a living Heck Yeah Brother.

[@DHamDIY]

Hard work but very satisfying. Thanks for watching!

[@tspc2186]

Dude, the words escape me. Why in the world would you go through all that mixing? With a truck you would have one, a steady and consistent pour, two, a high quality mix design, three, much easier time of it.

[@DHamDIY]

Some people prefer hand kneading dough to a kitchen aid mixer. Because something is easier doesn't mean it makes no sense to do it alternatively. Now another source of information exists for individuals who can't get a truck out to their property due to bad roads or being too far out in the sticks. Thanks for watching!

[@huntemall219]

Not bad but for that price, I would have just had a concrete truck out and done in an hour.

[@DHamDIY]

That is an option for part three but the mixing in batches allowed me to go at a pace I was comfortable with. A concern was having a mixer come in and having it set before I could finish, resulting in having to break it all out and restart. Also this is an interesting way for viewers to learn how to put a slab in on somewhere a concrete mixer couldn't get to like way out in the sticks or something. Thanks for watching!

[@prisonmike9472]

I related so hard to the warp speed math for materials. Lmfao. Loved the video very informative. Wanting to convert our gravel garage into a slabbed living space.

[@DHamDIY]

@@prisonmike9472 I hope the construction of the bathroom will also help you which is coming soon. Thanks for watching!