Dry Pour Concrete Pad - Shed Ramp

Dry pouring concrete in a structured slab. Doc dry pours the concrete to create a non-skid surface for the shed ramp entrance. Most dry pours focus on a smooth surface but this one was intentionally done to but a rough non-skid surface.

[@sa3key]

I’m adding a ramp to my generator shed. This is how I will be doing it! Thank you!

[@Pondandgardensanctuary]

Love the video always Smart idea leaving the concrete surface rough. No slip

[@robertfoster3097]

Your concrete project is exactly what I am wanting to do. I don’t want a smooth finish. I want a rough finish for exact same reason. Although my angle is much less than yours. I have a 12’x24’ shack that houses my well. Originally it was built by the previous owner to house his water softener and 2 bladder tanks. The house has been switched to city water 8 yrs ago. So removed all the water softener tanks and the bladders a pavered the 12’x15’. And now I need to a small ramp for all my out door tools, bikes and ladders. I am so happy to have found your video. It helped me understand what I want to do. Thank you. Robert

[@HowTowithDoc]

Still standing and doing well FYI

[@carlosmeza4478]

love your content doc but... take it from someone that has been in construction for 30+ years... don't dry pour concrete. seriously. not only that will end up brittle and crack far sooner than a normal wet poured concrete. mixing the aggregates with the cement in a wet environment makes sure they are bonding as intended. dry pour will always have shoddy bonding. too little or too much water will result in brittle concrete. (always check your labels, and water measures if you are using a pre mixed bag) badly mixed concrete lets water seep since it's not uniform. so the rebar will rust expand and crack that ramp in no time. also the risks of breathing some of the extremely caustic compounds on the concrete can be really harmful. (specially for those of us that are not so young anymore XD ) don't do it, don't promote it. get a big bucket and a mixer attachment for a drill. and you'll see you can pour that wet concrete as fast, if not faster than dry pour. and you won't have a cement dust cloud flying all over the area where you can breath it. want to go semi pro? get a concrete vibr@tor. you will have a perfect ramp for decades

[@carlosmeza4478]

@@nickpark9587 well in his defense he doesn't work in construction. (and I seen some architects order crews to do way worse XD ) and he has the advantage of pouring the concrete over a gravel base. so if the concrete was fluid enough (which we didn't see in the video), rebars flushed to the bottom could not be a big issue. but yeah. it looks like depending on his luck and salt content on the ground. he might need to remake it on the not so distant future. but everyone makes mistakes while learning a new skill. still commendable he is doing something most people don't even try :) still...I have to agree the wielding of 1/2 inch rebar for a tiny ramp, was overkill XD

[@carlosmeza4478]

ok let's give more constructive advice, not just point the negatives XD (yeah I was feeling guilty lol) if the Doc (or whoever it's interested in the topic) reads this: try to use wire mesh instead of the rebar. 1/2 inch rebar is more for a load bearing structure. this doesn't justify it. anything close to 1/8 is more than enough for it (unless you want to park trailers in it lol) and if you need to join pieces uses steel wire them and just tie them together. (no need for wielding) don't let the metal come in contact with the ground or stick all the way to the sides. maybe trim it a 2-4 inches from the sides. and since it's simple ramp, keep close to the center in height. this will prevent the metal from coming in contact with water, thus less corrosion. (you can use thin wire hooks to keep it raised while the concrete settles... then yank them out before it starts to dry) if you vibrate the concrete it will settle and become more strong and waterproof. for the next days keep it moist (imagine it's new grass seed) do this and the concrete will curate and become more solid. do not underestimate the use of a concrete edger. passing that tiny thing along the edges while the concrete is fresh, works like magic. and just rounding the edges is a huge difference between a cracked slab in 5 months to years. congratulations. you have now learned the ancient art of sidewalk and small ramp making. just in case. remember to break it into small segments if it's too long using the concrete edger. this will induce artificial break points. that will prevent it from just cracking wherever it wants edit: use a brush on the surface while it's fresh (not liquid mind you. when it's starting to dry), to induce texture on it. this will be enough to avoid a polished slippery surface.

[@adamghazal9204]

Looks great. Thanks Doc!

[@douglasbarnhart3324]

Thanks for the video Doc.

[@brianthornton5345]

Love the video always informative

[@FlashxSwazy]

Yea i got 80 lb bags for my slab that i did yesterday. So now im sore all over and watching youtube all day lol. Wish i saw this video yesterday

[@chrislambert5249]

Smart idea leaving the concrete surface rough. No slip. We don't need a broken hip video. 😅 Take care

[@wiz4020]

He's not that old!

[@wesleyhamer152]

The log cabin would be a nice edition.

[@wiz4020]

You opened up a can of worms with a dry pour, all of the experts and concrete men like to comment! But I did pour some concrete in my day and I'm curious how long it will last!

[@dangeroustoman]

It's 2 mistings a hour apart then a heavy shower every hour after. Every inch of cement should have 2 waterings. If it's 3 inches deep it would be 2 mistings and 6 soakings for a total of a 8 hr span.

[@slhines7]

I never knew that "dry pour" was a thing until now. Thanks for the info!

[@ToddKojack]

Hi Doc. Can you please make a video on Zoysia late summer/early fall care?

[@CH-xo8ss]

The place is really looking great !! How’s the fishing been ?🎣🐟

[@jesusr-oc2ti]

tienes el video de donde subiste el auto ?

[@stevenyoung3187]

After 7 days, concrete reaches 70% of its full strength. After 28 days concrete is recognised to have reached full strength. The rebar should be in the centre of the concrete, not laying flat on the gravel. You’ll probably find the lower edge of that slab starts cracking first as it’s pretty thin. I would have poured a wet mix, screeded it flat, then broomed the surface to get the non slip finish. Given the tools and machinery that will travel over that slab, it should have been 100mm thick minimum. Cheers.

[@HowTowithDoc]

What the hell is a MM 😂

[@stevenyoung3187]

@@HowTowithDoc millimetres … the metric unit of measurement 😋

[@brad9257]

100mm = 4 inches

[@lachlanitis2311]

​@@HowTowithDocstandard measurement that every country in the world uses except 1.

[@Lentuttle]

Don't those melt in your mouth and NOT in your hands??? Listen, man, hater's gonna hate, and there's that! You're gonna hear about the cracking, you're gonna hear how you shoulda put chairs underneath your rods to elevate to mid-pour, you're gonna hear how you shoulda left 2" between your form boards and the rebar because the exposed rebar will wick the rust into your concrete, youre gonna hear how the thinnest most point shouldn't be less than 3'' thick. EFF "em! It's your pour on your dime. I say thank you for sharing Doc... @@HowTowithDoc

[@MrBillsmith60]

Doc just one more comment😉, that concrete is still 'green', not gray, what ever, cheers

[@roberthaggith4329]

Idea for new structure by pond. "Doc on Treehouse Masters" 😀

[@joeolejar]

I did a dry pour for a post. I'm hooked.

[@spacecoastkid5033]

Dry pouring for a post is perfectly fine, it's only meant to hold the post upright and in the ground. A slab is completey different story and should not be dry poured.

[@brad9257]

I give this ramp about 6 months before it starts cracking at the base and sides unfortunately. It has no bonding strength when it’s not mixed. Hopefully it lasts longer

[@HowTowithDoc]

We'll do a follow up in 6 months.

[@mikehouser5430]

No ice melt

[@seg183pool21]

hey Doc love your videos just one thing where did you get that hat you are sporting need one get that hat please.

[@HowTowithDoc]

Normally gold coast hats... but that one was from Walmart. $14

[@seg183pool21]

Thanks Doc @@HowTowithDoc

[@stileshumphrey4195]

I don’t need a pad, but wish I did 👍

[@DMUSA536]

Doc please think of safety. A dust mask should have been used.

[@leonardhandzlik6008]

This might be a quick, simple method of pouring a cement ramp. But, if one of your goals is to produce a non-slip surface, I think you should take a little more time and do an exposed aggregate cement ramp. The ramp you made, IMHO, is a trip and fall hazard. I can tell you if you ever trip going up that ramp with your hands full, you will be months before your knees and elbows heal up. An exposed aggregate ramp will provide all the non slip surface you need, it won't have such large hunks of rock sticking up to trip you, and it will look much better.

[@HowTowithDoc]

Works great so far. Everyone loves it.

[@zack9912000]

Drier the concrete the strong it gets

[@dchall8]

I would not have predicted you'd advocate for dry pour concrete. Now you'll have every real concrete contractor hitting you for doing it wrong. I guess more comments is better than fewer comments.

[@robertcostello8935]

I have a watched several of your videos and in general I am impressed with your approach. Here I think you have made a mistake. Rebar in a dry pour? I am not sure dry pour should even be a thing. I hope you do a sequel video when this fails so you can inform others what not to do. There is a finish called exposed aggregate that could have been done with regular mixed concrete. My bet is the concrete will be so weak that the rebar will not even integrate with the concrete. I don’t think you should be encouraging dry pour. I question if it should even be done with fence posts but a slab should last more than a couple months. Hope it works out for you but I am not a fan of this technique.

[@robertcostello8935]

Perhaps you are just trolling everyone by pushing a dry pour as clickbait. Well you got me to watch it.

[@HowTowithDoc]

Yes... my life goal is trolling

[@lachlanitis2311]

Well the rebar was lying on the ground doing nothing so it was quite pointless really. Supposed to be central or top 3rd.

[@Biggiemarvs]

Having to come back and wet it every 2 hours for 24 hours … you might as well just wet pour the damn thing. Wet it once and be done with it