Witness the Most Anticipated Showdown: Dry Pour Vs Wet Pour on Day 38!

In this video, we're holding a 38 day stress test to see who will outlast the battle of Dry Pour vs Wet Pour concrete.
Both techniques have their benefits and disadvantages, so it's important to choose the method that's best for your project. Who will be the winner in this battle of concrete techniques? You'll have to watch to find out!
Also check my other Dry Pour Concrete Experiment
Dry Pour Vs Wet Pour
Part 1: • Stress Test Showdown -...
Part 2: • Building a Better Conc...
Part 3: • Witness the Most Antic...
Dry Pour Concrete Method Comparison
Part 1: • You Won't Believe What...
Part 2: • You Won't Believe What...

[@diymanual]

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[@golastname7686]

Nice demonstration, thanks for setting all that up. You might be wondering like me how dry-pour handles wet conditions with freeze-thaw cycles. The first video with the major crumble revealed a lot about the two methods having real differences.

[@diymanual]

Great point!

[@mastertech5036]

Very nice series of tests! I commend you on your patience! For non-load bearing projects, dry-pour is an option. As a first timer, I was going the dry pour method for a 40' x 5' fill on the side of the house... no loads there. But after careful consideration, for $200 more, I bought a harbor freight mixer. I know it will last longer, besides this is just the beginning for me... I have 2 more large areas to fill if I'm successful! Will project will start on Labor Day weekend... the emphasis is on LABOR! :)

[@diymanual]

I agree. Dry pour for non-load bearing if you have no other choice. For me, it is better to do it right the first time so you don't have to worry about it for years to come.

[@robertoj8950]

Thank you very much 👍🏻

[@diymanual]

You are welcome!

[@magncity1817]

Good tests that showed the dynamic moving stress on the samples. More accurate would be to use a hydraulic press to see the failure point of each sample. However, it is highly anticipated that the wet concrete will fail at a higher pressure as the concrete companies already have run the test presumably on all their different products to determine psi strength. Additionally they use additives in different products such as fibers to increase strength. Having said all of this, as in any case, you must use the right product and process for your chosen project. Most of the dry pour videos I have seen are intended for people walking on the project and in this case dry pour is would most likely be sufficient.

[@diymanual]

I agree. For non load bearing projects this should work. If you need the stronger PSI then go with the wet poured.

[@thedigitalsnake]

An interesting set of tests. The flaw however is what you yourself explain at the end, about the extra watering needed for the dry pour to be wet thoroughly.

[@diymanual]

That's correct. With dry pour you are really not sure if the cement absorbed enough water so you will end up over watering.

[@timbob987]

I'm just glad you bought new tires, those steel belts showing were killing me.

[@diymanual]

Thanks for noticing! I couldn't stand those steel belts either. Safety first!

[@RandomShart]

I think you should repeat this test following the dry pour instruction of mist then repeated waterings. Mixing with the same water as wet might be interesting but it's not real world strength test.

[@diymanual]

Thanks for the input.

[@itsruffoutchea6636]

​@@diymanual I agree with him. You did the the wet method how you would normally do it. But the dry pour you kinda changed the method which might have affected the results in the end.

[@iBradWatson]

True. I’d do a test with dry pour in an outside location and wet in the same outdoor location. Misting x2 and showering per the dry pour instructions.

[@kreelaban3420]

Lay a 2 ft 2X6 front and back to prevent kick out.

[@diymanual]

Thanks for the input.

[@NA._]

You can buy 5000 psi concrete, so 70% of that would equal your wet pour.

[@diymanual]

You can try that also.

[@Evol1HipHop]

I’ve been under the assumption that the Dry Pour method is meant to be used in cases of non-extreme pressure. From my understanding, this method should not be used for Driveways or somewhere that maximum weight will be applied. On another note, I do appreciate the tests and results you’ve shown in this series. Keep it up!

[@diymanual]

Thanks for the comment. Dry pour will work in a lot of cases but some DIY'ers see this as alternative to mixed concrete and some of them have used thin in driveways. Although it will work in a driveway setting, the question will be longevity of the concrete and how much beating it can take before it gives in.

[@CheersWarren]

Thanks,for filming . must have been some,work! Did you wet pour your new,parking space? I am doing a,large 11' x17' base for a,back yard shed and after leveling and compacting ,adding stone I will be dry pouring the base so I can build a shed and use concrete as floor , possible with vinyl over it. 3" stone 3" concrete I saw dry and wet pour tested with pro tester tool at 3200psi and 4600psi . either will do for me and a,lot easier than wet pour for a storage,shed. 'Official,test cureconcrete underwater for 28 day so more water is,not problem Cheers warren .....we will see!

[@diymanual]

I used the wet pour method for my parking space. I just made another experiment measuring the PSI strength of dry pour vs wet pour. I will put it up once I finished editing it. I would say for shed floor you should be able to use the dry pour.

[@trade0714]

Very unscientific guess here on my part: Let's say a typical car weighs 3,000 lbs. And for most cars that's on the low side. So there's likely 500-800 lbs. of weight on each of those blocks. Most people weigh less than 250 lbs. and their weight would be spread between their 2 feet, not just the 5 square inches or so of the tire that sits on the block. I'd say your test proves the value of dry-pour for any patio, basketball court, or any pad that's going to just get foot traffic. I would never consider this for a driveway or house foundation regardless how your test came out.

[@renekeystone5571]

I agree. This video was more of a extreme stress test. Gave me some really good insight in how to best utilize each technique.

[@diymanual]

You are correct. This is just to test how strong the dry pour is compared to a wet poured concrete. For a walkway or a small slab the dry pour method will do just fine. However, I will not use this for a basketball court. Even though the court only handle a persons weight, it is too large for this method to not have any crack as you don't really use control joints for a basketball court. You also want to avoid large slab if you live in places like California where ground movement is an issue. I think up to 10 x 10 slab will be fine.

[@diymanual]

Yes. for non load bearing this will do fine if you don't want to mix or don't have tools to mix. But if your project requires a strong concrete go with wet method.

[@jtassoni8765]

Depends…I’m looking at this for a shed slab. All the weight is on the edge of the slab. The shed/barn will be 12’x16’. The perimeter will be weight bearing, and with snow on the roof even heavier than just the framing siding and roof materials.

[@teedachosenone6815]

You never dry over the edge of concrete it will crumble every time

[@diymanual]

Thanks. That is correct a driveway will have a nice ramp that will help concrete to hold up better. But we are testing for who is stronger so we want to put these in a lot of stress.

[@sterlgirlceline]

👏🏻👏🏻😊⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

[@diymanual]

Thanks for watching.

[@armtv]

Boy this comparison was flawed as hell… first off I don’t want to pick sides. I’m all for a fair comparison if it is that but this wasn’t. I’m a little lost over the course of the videos but my understanding is that you limited the amount of water the dry pour received to be equal to the mixed. This is setting up dry pour to fail. Set both blocks outside and continue to water them and the ground below so there is no doubts that enough water has been given… then leave for the 30 days… then… The test should not be running over the edges… of course wet will win when you cheated the water on the dry. This is not the application that concrete is used for. 😂 The point is does it hold whatever you are aiming to hold whether feet or vehicle or structure? And if it does HOLD it… now compare the cost of dry pour vs wet. Yikes.

[@diymanual]

Thank you for your comment. I encourage you to watch the first video on this series where I explained why I used the same amount of water for both. If you watch the first video in full you will see that the dry pour are properly saturated as it resembles the color of the wet pour after I put in all the water. First Video: kzbin.info/www/bejne/r3zWeXaoqLylh8k Starting it in a container made sure that all the water was absorbed by the concrete mix. I have also mentioned on 5:20 and 7:20 on the first video (link above) on this series that they will continue to get watered. I never showed it in the video but actually, I removed all the samples from the container after they set and I water cure them by watering them at least 5 times daily. So when it comes to getting enough water, I can guarantee that they did get plenty of water throughout the testing period. I agree with your point on cost and whether it will work with whatever you are aiming to use the concrete for. If you watch till the end of this video, I actually mentioned that if you decide to use the dry pour method to make sure to water it for the full 28 days. I also mentioned that I believe dry pour is equivalent to at least 70% of wet poured and you can probably use it in a driveway. I used the small sample so we can beat it up to see which one will hold better. So, if you have a smooth ramp and at least a 4 inch thick concrete and rebar then it should be a lot stronger than this small sample that we use. Anyway, I just finished pouring my 16 x 8 parking spot and I decided to mix the concrete as recommended by the manufacturer because in California, we are not just dealing with the weight of the car but we are also dealing with ground movement. What I learned is that mixing concrete is not as scary as I thought it would be but it does take a lot of your time and energy. I was able to find an easy way to mix 5 bags using a hand mixer and I will share that on my future videos. I have about 8 bags of concrete left so I am thinking of doing another round of dry pour vs wet pour and measure the actual PSI on each. Not sure when will I have the time to do it but make sure to watch out for that video. I'm still curious on the actual compressive strength on dry pour vs wet pour and if dry pour is simply just taking longer to gain its strength and if it will eventually catch up if given enough time. Thanks for watching.

[@Doomzdayxx]

Anybody with at least 2 brain cells to rub together knows that premixing the concrete produces a better product as opposed to "dry mixing" . The conclusion of this video proved that, but he was also fair by admitting "dry pour" is acceptable in many light duty homeowner situations, it's just not as good as properly mixing.