Dilapidated old swamp cooler used for my shop went around the bend last season. My wife exuberantly proclaimed she would pour a concrete slab to support a new cooler.......how could I turn down such an offer? We had, after all, mixed and poured about 1500 square feet of patio slab and sidewalk, but that was before we were both decrepit. This morning we shot the line, and went for broke! The slab is 4 feet square, weighing about 1,000 lbs., 1/3 of a cubic yard, mixed in the old Sears electric mixer we have used for 40 years now! Original drive motor, I had to re-bush the countershaft which was worn out, but exemplary performance for a small machine! The house we built outside Phoenix was entirely brick veneer; the foundation and slab, plus all the mortar, was mixed with this old machine, about 90,000 lbs. altogether!
@Frank Sanoica do you have to do anything other than cover the slab to prevent the concrete from drying out before curing?
Wow, Frank, that is impressive. The last concrete I did was two years ago and all wheelbarrow mixed. It was a 3' X 6'-foot slab 4" thick between my patio and crawlspace opening. That was all my shoulders could take and then the getting down and troweling wasn't as much fun as it was when I was 30.
@Don Alaska In our climate, with 10% relative humidity, sometimes less, drying out of EVERYTHING is a fact of life. It is recommended in the case of concrete to sprinkle it with water after it's surface is fixed, usually ~ 10 hours. Afterward, the concrete will continue to cure if additional wetting is carried out, I do it for a week or so. The curing is exponential, continuing forever. For our application, the weight of the cooler is the main concern; in case of leaking, sinking into the soil is prevented by having a slab beneath it. Extra work, extra peace of mind.\ Frank
@Bill Boggs I have. I have. A helluva lot, actually. But as my wife has said often lately, during the past 6 months or so, "keep pushing" and you will improve. Well, the arthritic neck pain and shoulders have worsened, but I can work, carefully, a few hours now, without feeling after-effects, so I guess I'm better. still take no pain killers regularly, maybe one or two acetaminophen tablets a week. Frank