In order to pass a 3/4" PVC electrical conduit from inside of the house to
outside of the house below grade, I had to chip out part of the concrete
block wall, and since it's below grade on the outside and then travels
vertically up on the inside wall (to get to a junction box), I had to put
two 45 degree elbows into the hollowed out section and that makes the hole
more than the original drilled out 1" hole. Now I want to fill it back up
with something. I don't want to use those expansion foam I would like to
back fill with concrete. However, the cavity inside the 8" thick concrete
block wall is bigger than the hole. I don't think I can "pour" concrete in.

Is it ok to add more water to get the concrete "soupier" so I can pour it
in? or is there another way? It's not a big cavity I think just about the
size of a milk carton.

Thanks,

MC

On 2/27/2009 11:48 PM MiamiCuse spake thus:

In order to pass a 3/4" PVC electrical conduit from inside of the house to
outside of the house below grade, I had to chip out part of the concrete
block wall, and since it's below grade on the outside and then travels
vertically up on the inside wall (to get to a junction box), I had to put
two 45 degree elbows into the hollowed out section and that makes the hole
more than the original drilled out 1" hole. Now I want to fill it back up
with something. I don't want to use those expansion foam I would like to
back fill with concrete. However, the cavity inside the 8" thick concrete
block wall is bigger than the hole. I don't think I can "pour" concrete in.

Is it ok to add more water to get the concrete "soupier" so I can pour it
in? or is there another way? It's not a big cavity I think just about the
size of a milk carton.

The fill isn't going to be structural, right? So even though it's poor
practice to soup-ify concrete, in this case it should be OK; you just
need to get some stuff in there, not develop any strength.

At least that's the way this non-concrete expert sees it.


--
Personally, I like Vista, but I probably won't use it. I like it
because it generates considerable business for me in consulting and
upgrades. As long as there is hardware and software out there that
doesn't work, I stay in business. Incidentally, my company motto is
"If this stuff worked, you wouldn't need me".

- lifted from sci.electronics.repair

MiamiCuse wrote:
In order to pass a 3/4" PVC electrical conduit from inside of the
house to outside of the house below grade, I had to chip out part of
the concrete block wall, and since it's below grade on the outside
and then travels vertically up on the inside wall (to get to a
junction box), I had to put two 45 degree elbows into the hollowed
out section and that makes the hole more than the original drilled
out 1" hole. Now I want to fill it back up with something. I don't
want to use those expansion foam I would like to back fill with
concrete. However, the cavity inside the 8" thick concrete block
wall is bigger than the hole. I don't think I can "pour" concrete
in.
Is it ok to add more water to get the concrete "soupier" so I can
pour it in? or is there another way? It's not a big cavity I think
just about the size of a milk carton.

Sure, add some water. That's what they do when doing concrete construction
and they want to fill the top, "U" shaped lintel by pumping "grout" into it.

You might want to enlarge the hole some too in an upwards direction...the
soupy grout will pretty much self level so you won't be able to fill above
the bottom of the hole; once the soupy stuff sets, mix some stiffer mortar
to stuff into the upper part.


--

dadiOH
____________________________

dadiOH's dandies v3.06...
....a help file of info about MP3s, recording from
LP/cassette and tips & tricks on this and that.
Get it at http://mysite.verizon.net/xico

David Nebenzahl wrote:
On 2/27/2009 11:48 PM MiamiCuse spake thus:

In order to pass a 3/4" PVC electrical conduit from inside of the
house to outside of the house below grade, I had to chip out part of
the concrete block wall, and since it's below grade on the outside and
then travels vertically up on the inside wall (to get to a junction
box), I had to put two 45 degree elbows into the hollowed out section
and that makes the hole more than the original drilled out 1" hole.
Now I want to fill it back up with something. I don't want to use
those expansion foam I would like to back fill with concrete.
However, the cavity inside the 8" thick concrete block wall is bigger
than the hole. I don't think I can "pour" concrete in.

Is it ok to add more water to get the concrete "soupier" so I can pour
it in? or is there another way? It's not a big cavity I think just
about the size of a milk carton.

The fill isn't going to be structural, right? So even though it's poor
practice to soup-ify concrete, in this case it should be OK; you just
need to get some stuff in there, not develop any strength.

At least that's the way this non-concrete expert sees it.


I'd use foam and concrete- foam to make a plug in the cavity in the
block, and then the stiff pack-it-in-by-hand concrete patch mix to plug
the holes in both faces. A lot less messy, and a whole lot less weight
to lug around. The problem is, the cavity you can see probably leads to
the same cavity in the row of block below it, unless you made the hole
in the bottom row. If you don't want to mess with foam, another trick is
to wad up some window screen or other similar material, and stuff it in
as best you can. It doesn't matter if there are some voids inside the
wall- they were there to begin with. You just need something to take up
space, that the concrete can lock into place around, but not flow past.
Main objective is to get the patch on both faces to bind well to the
surrounding concrete, so you don't get water leaks. You want it to be
pretty on the inside wall, and extra solid and leakproof on the outside.
Don't forget to heavily wirebrush the outside, so the patch has fresh
concrete edge to bind to, and after the concrete sets, lots of the black
stuff at the transition with the pipe. The black stuff should completely
hide the patch mix on the outside, including on the bottom of the pipe,
and extend down the pipe a couple of inches. Penetrations in the
envelope like this are a common leak point in heavy rains or the spring
thaw.

--
aem sends...

On Feb 28, 1:48*am, "MiamiCuse" wrote:
In order to pass a 3/4" PVC electrical conduit from inside of the house to
outside of the house below grade, I had to chip out part of the concrete
block wall, and since it's below grade on the outside and then travels
vertically up on the inside wall (to get to a junction box), I had to put
two 45 degree elbows into the hollowed out section and that makes the hole
more than the original drilled out 1" hole. *Now I want to fill it back up
with something. *I don't want to use those expansion foam I would like to
back fill with concrete. *However, the cavity inside the 8" thick concrete
block wall is bigger than the hole. *I don't think I can "pour" concrete in.

Is it ok to add more water to get the concrete "soupier" so I can pour it
in? *or is there another way? *It's not a big cavity I think just about the
size of a milk carton.

Thanks,

MC

Mason mix is more tolerant of water additions, so that may help the
problem in a small cavity.

Joe

wrote:
On Sat, 28 Feb 2009 13:36:12 GMT, aemeijers wrote:

David Nebenzahl wrote:
On 2/27/2009 11:48 PM MiamiCuse spake thus:

In order to pass a 3/4" PVC electrical conduit from inside of the
house to outside of the house below grade, I had to chip out part of
the concrete block wall, and since it's below grade on the outside and
then travels vertically up on the inside wall (to get to a junction
box), I had to put two 45 degree elbows into the hollowed out section
and that makes the hole more than the original drilled out 1" hole.
Now I want to fill it back up with something. I don't want to use
those expansion foam I would like to back fill with concrete.
However, the cavity inside the 8" thick concrete block wall is bigger
than the hole. I don't think I can "pour" concrete in.

Is it ok to add more water to get the concrete "soupier" so I can pour
it in? or is there another way? It's not a big cavity I think just
about the size of a milk carton.
The fill isn't going to be structural, right? So even though it's poor
practice to soup-ify concrete, in this case it should be OK; you just
need to get some stuff in there, not develop any strength.

At least that's the way this non-concrete expert sees it.


I'd use foam and concrete- foam to make a plug in the cavity in the
block, and then the stiff pack-it-in-by-hand concrete patch mix to plug
the holes in both faces. A lot less messy, and a whole lot less weight
to lug around. The problem is, the cavity you can see probably leads to
the same cavity in the row of block below it, unless you made the hole
in the bottom row. If you don't want to mess with foam, another trick is
to wad up some window screen or other similar material, and stuff it in
as best you can. It doesn't matter if there are some voids inside the
wall- they were there to begin with. You just need something to take up
space, that the concrete can lock into place around, but not flow past.
Main objective is to get the patch on both faces to bind well to the
surrounding concrete, so you don't get water leaks. You want it to be
pretty on the inside wall, and extra solid and leakproof on the outside.
Don't forget to heavily wirebrush the outside, so the patch has fresh
concrete edge to bind to, and after the concrete sets, lots of the black
stuff at the transition with the pipe. The black stuff should completely
hide the patch mix on the outside, including on the bottom of the pipe,
and extend down the pipe a couple of inches. Penetrations in the
envelope like this are a common leak point in heavy rains or the spring
thaw.

Foam is NOT waterproof. This is below grade. DO NOT use the foam.

I'd drill another hole at the very top of that block on the INSIDE of
the house. They sell a cement patcher that comes in milk carton types
of containers at most hardware stores. It's intended to expand
slightly, dry in a short time, and can be used under water. It's
called hydraulic cement.

Make a thin mix of this stuff, stick a long funnel in the hole (like
the ones made to fill transmissions on a car). Stick funnel in hole,
and fill the block. Finish by filling the second hole.

Read what I wrote more closely. I was not saying use the foam as a water
seal, just to plug the bottom of the cavity in the block long enough to
cram the patching mix in there without it all running down inside the
wall. Inside of a block wall is NOT water tight anyway. You are
depending on the waterproofing glop and maybe membrane, on the outside
of the wall, to keep the groundwater out of the wall and out of the
basement. The stuff you recommended would be the ticket for a poured
wall foundation, where you don't want any sponges in the middle. But in
a block wall, if the open block is open to the course below, it will all
just run down out of sight.

--
aem sends....