Why Choose Ready-Mix Concrete for Your Next Home Project

If you’re considering a fairly small job involving concrete, such as pouring a small slab in your yard, it can be tempting to try to do it yourself.  After all, you certainly can buy bags of dry concrete and do the mixing by hand.  However, this is rarely a good idea.  Hiring a ready-mix concrete supplier in Vallejo, CA, might cost a little more, but it can save you so much time and effort.  Plus, you’re almost certainly going to get better results.

Here are just a few reasons why DIY concrete mixing just isn’t as good of an idea as it might sound.

Three Reasons Why DIY Concrete Isn’t Worth It

• Time & Effort

Mixing concrete by hand is incredibly time-consuming, and also extremely tiring.  There’s a reason that a ready-mix concrete supplier in Vallejo will use mixing drums!  Even small amounts of concrete are extremely heavy.  First-timers almost always underestimate just how much physical effort it requires to mix the concrete thoroughly and move it around.

You could be looking at hours of work just stirring and mixing.

• Uneven consistency

Because you can only mix small batches by hand, that makes it almost impossible to achieve consistency from batch to batch.  This is important in terms of both aesthetics, and reliability.  Uneven concrete batches will look different from each other, and they’ll have different levels of strength as well.  You won’t be able to trust that they’re all up to the standard you need.

This problem is made worse if you’re having to stack different batches on top of each other.  If you’re adding newly-wet concrete to half-dried concrete, the result will be less strong than a single uniform batch.

• You can’t make cold-weather mixes

If you’re living in an area which sees sub-freezing temperatures, you’ll find that DIY concrete mixes contract and expand as the temperatures fluctuate. Working with an accelerator as part of a ready-mix product can help the concrete to settle faster in cold weather, creating the uniform structure required for optimal material performance over the long-term.

Bayshore Materials Is Your Ready-Mix Concrete Supplier in Vallejo

We’re here to help homeowners install perfect concrete structures.  Contact us for an estimate!