On Sun, 23 Aug 2015 01:35:10 -0400, Bill
wrote:

Lew Hodgett wrote:
Lew Hodgett wrote:

Subject

Learned years ago there are certain tasks best left to others.

The list starts with brain surgery self taught followed by laying
concrete and felling trees.

As I get older, no longer use ladders, work the foredeck of
sailboats,
or other tasks best left to the 18-30 crowd.

Lew
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"Bill" wrote:

Did you ever try laying concrete? If so, how did it go? A
question that concerns me is whether one can sledge out a few cubic
feet of concrete, and just replace that. If so, I might have a go at
it.

Bill
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Was going to expand a slab patio by adding 12-14 ft x 18-20 ft slab.

Stripped off all the sod, set the forms, and added foundry sand
available
at the right price from the local FoMoCo foundry.

Set the forms along with the black spacer strips for expansion.

Starting getting prices for concrete and something kept telling me
to talk to a concrete contractor before I jumped into this project.

My daughter who was in the 1st grade at the time had just fallen
in love for the first time with a classmate who was the son of a
concrete contractor.

I called the contractor, explained my situation, and asked if he would
at least look at the job.

He looked, was impressed with the form work and agreed to do the job.

On the appointed day, his crew showed up, complete with a gasoline
powered concrete buggy to bring the concrete from the truck at the
street
to the project area.

Suddenly a roll of wire mesh appeared and was placed inside the forms.

The 2nd thing I hadn't thought about, damn I was luck I listened to my
little voice.

The project went well. It could have been a disaster.

Went on to add a slanted shed roof off the house and have some
wrought iron columns fabricated and had many years of enjoyment.

Up to that point, had limited my concrete work to many small jobs
using
bags of concrete from the local K-Mmart.

Your project would seem to fit into the K-Mart category.

Knock out enough concrete to get a smooth surface to butt up against
and you are in business.

Lew

Thank you Lew! I enjoyed your story.

Bill

As a young teanager working on the farm (98 lbs soaking wet carrying a
hay bale) I and the boss did all the forming, mixing, and pouring
concrete for the installation of a stable cleaner, as well as the
floor of the hog stable and half the manure yard - all with a little
electric mixer (1 HP electric motor) using bags of portland and gravel
from the pit on the farm. I don't know how many yards of concrete I
mixed, wheelbarrowed, and trowelled that summer - but it was a LOT!!!!
Thankfully a broom finish was all all we needed -but that was enough
work for the two of us.