The new shed/garage is to be about 16ft square - 25m^2. I built up
block walls to floor level, then contemplated the prospect of mixing
2.5m^3 of concrete and laying it. I am "none the better for being born
so soon", and my chief tamping-beam assistant isn't as strong as she
once was. Access to the site is a bit awkward, and there's a chance a
ready-mix wagon driver might have baulked at it, which would have left
me with 6 tons of concrete in the road, 70 yards from the garage base.

So a Yellow Pages advert for "Fast Mix of Derby" ("exact amount mixed on
site, laying service available") seemed an attractive idea. £340, which
was about £65 more than Ablemix's price for supply-only, didn't seem too
bad for 2.5 cube of C25, though I hate the whole notion of paying people
to do jobs for me.

It was a disaster: the mixture was pure guesswork, and despite many
entreaties, the mixes varied from runny to sloppy (to put it
technically). They didn't care how much of it they splashed or spilled
(over my decent block paving). When the leader of the pack tried to
level it (with a tamping beam that wasn't long enough to reach from side
to side) it was so pudding-like he made no attempt to compact it. By
the time he'd "levelled" it to within a yard and a half of the near
edge, there was so much free water even he didn't dare add more
porridge-like concrete till he'd borrowed a bucket from me to bail out
some of the excess water. By the time he'd finished, almost the whole
of the surface was under water.

They kept a tally of how many mixer loads they had used, and claimed
that each load was 1/3 m^3. I had wacker-plated the whole area many
times, both before and after sand-blinding, and had gauged the depth as
accurately as if I'd been block paving it, so I knew exactly how much
concrete was needed. They claimed they'd used far more than 2.5m^3, and
wanted an extra £58. This was a complete scam, which they presumably
usually get away with.

By this time the bozos were attempting to clear up by sloshing the odd
barrow of water over the block paving. They didn't even have an intact
yard brush.

They rang their boss, and I had a short and unpleasant conversation with
him. I paid them the originally agreed amount so they'd go away.

Four hours later, it was still far too wet to float properly, but it was
getting dark so I had to do the best I could. The surface is now soft,
sandy, and loose, and I'd be surprised to get 10N/mm^2 on a cube test.

Yes, I know I should have been more demanding from the start; that I
have all sorts of theoretical legal remedies, and that it serves me
right for not doing what I've always done before, and mixed it myself,
to my standards. But I didn't, and now I just want to get the garage
built and move on. Fortunately it's a storage-only garage and shed, so
it won't get a lot of traffic.

The firm again: "Fast Mix of Derby", also trading as "Barramix" (sic) of
Nottingham, based at Hoveringham.

Never again.


--
Kevin Poole
**Use current month and year to reply (e.g. )***
Car Transport by Tiltbed Trailer - based near Derby