Ok, hands up I messed up. I laid a concrete base for my shed yesterday,
no trouble getting it level, but tamping did not smooth it very well.
One of 2 causes, or maybe a combination of both. I had to mix the
concrete myself, which took over 4 hours, so the first part was probably
going off, secondly I realised after a while that the mix was too dry.
Anyway what is the best way of smoothing it, so that I can seal and
paint later? A strong mortar mix, or self levelling compound maybe? The
base is approximately 3 X 2.5 meters. TIA

Broadback wrote:
Ok, hands up I messed up. I laid a concrete base for my shed yesterday,
no trouble getting it level, but tamping did not smooth it very well.
One of 2 causes, or maybe a combination of both. I had to mix the
concrete myself, which took over 4 hours, so the first part was probably
going off, secondly I realised after a while that the mix was too dry.
Anyway what is the best way of smoothing it, so that I can seal and
paint later? A strong mortar mix, or self levelling compound maybe? The
base is approximately 3 X 2.5 meters. TIA

Self-levelling compound wouldn't be much cop as it's not intended to be
walked on (assuming that's the intention here) - the instructions
usually advise you to lay the floor covering PDQ after it's been laid.

David

On 18 Dec, 11:21, Broadback wrote:
Ok, hands up I messed up. I laid a concrete base for my shed yesterday,
no trouble getting it level, but tamping did not smooth it very well.
One of 2 causes, or maybe a combination of both. I had to mix the
concrete myself, which took over 4 hours, so the first part was probably
going off, secondly I realised after a while that the mix was too dry.
Anyway what is the best way of smoothing it, so that I can seal and
paint later? A strong mortar mix, or self levelling compound maybe? The
base is approximately 3 X 2.5 meters. TIA

It may be still relatively soft, so you may be able to grind a bit of
the surface away with just a [engineering] brick used in a circular
scrubbing motion to get some of the high spots out.

Otherwise, self leveling may be the best bet - but try and work a bit
faster this time lol ;o)

dg

In article , Broadback
writes
Ok, hands up I messed up. I laid a concrete base for my shed yesterday,
no trouble getting it level, but tamping did not smooth it very well.
One of 2 causes, or maybe a combination of both. I had to mix the
concrete myself, which took over 4 hours, so the first part was probably
going off, secondly I realised after a while that the mix was too dry.
Anyway what is the best way of smoothing it, so that I can seal and
paint later? A strong mortar mix, or self levelling compound maybe? The
base is approximately 3 X 2.5 meters. TIA

9" angle grinder with (number of) stone disk(s)? It would take a while,
probably a day. I saw it done for a pretentious exteriors programme but
it did look pretty good when it was done, sold as a polished concrete
finish.
--
fred
Plusnet - I hope you like vanilla

"Broadback" wrote in message
...
Ok, hands up I messed up. I laid a concrete base for my shed yesterday, no
trouble getting it level, but tamping did not smooth it very well. One of
2 causes, or maybe a combination of both. I had to mix the concrete
myself, which took over 4 hours, so the first part was probably going off,
secondly I realised after a while that the mix was too dry.
Anyway what is the best way of smoothing it, so that I can seal and paint
later? A strong mortar mix, or self levelling compound maybe? The base is
approximately 3 X 2.5 meters. TIA


Presumbably you made some sort of shuttering to frame the base. Could this
be raised up an inch or so then you have another go with the concrete. I'd
suggest 10mm shingle with sand so that the stones can be lost below the
surface.
It's a lot less volume so you should be able to control it ok.


mark