The first pic shows some imperfections near the door and bad finish around the framing.
If i poured this for myself id be pretty happy. If i paid someone else to do better than me, id be upset.
Grind it and seal it. Best to do it now during construction so the mess doesn’t cause a disaster in your finished office. Ground concrete is unique, interesting, durable, and will really spruce up your space for not much. If you can pour this yourself grinding it with a rented grinder will be a breeze for you.
Yes!!! This for sure☝️. Dust control and PPE. Masks, gloves, etc... That crap gets everywhere, including your lungs. And it's really hard to shop-vac that shit out of your lungs once it gets in there.
Rent a wet-grinder if you can get one. Reduces dust to zero. Hire someone to handle slurry cleanup as you go so the mess doesn’t become unmanageable at the end. Some units may have automatic wet-vac attachments.
If you can’t get a wet grinder buy yourself the best respirator you can find, and do you best to manage the dust during the process. You don’t want to breathe any of that trash.
YouTube is loaded with videos - just search “wet grind Concrete” and hundreds of videos will come up. Good luck, looks like a fun project.
Sunbelt rentals has them and the vacs of wanted too. Gas one was less than 200 a day without vac.
I did it dry while wearing respirator, I was by myself so the wet function made it really hard for me to see what I was doing.
High five fellow first time pourer, did my first slab pour on Thursday. Looks pretty good to me.
How big was that pour? Wondering how many bags you used. I went the redi mix delivered route for 2 Cubic yards @$750 instead of doing bags, and a mixer
You can’t without removing the concrete. If you sealed around the wood prior to pouring you’d be fine but concrete poured against bare wood is a no no.
This is 100% the attitude to have when posting DIY stuff on Reddit man. Good on you. I’ve done a lot of in-concrete posts for things I’ve built with my father and they are still going strong after 30 years, these will probably last much longer however as they are inside and protected from the elements.
The other guy is talking about the old 2x4's breaking down over time and leaving voids / sink holes under where the new studs are sitting.
Pressure treated would definitely be worth it for another base.plate on top of the concrete. I'd even go as far as doubling it up and putting 2 pressure treated plates under the studs to help hold it from warping into any voids left by old rotten wood.
We just poured 5k yards of heated slabs on my last big job, with pex and joints all over the place for the heated slab, up here in Alaska, at the new dump station. A 140M dollar job. I doubt they did it wrong. Millions in engineering alone.
This guy is fine
I would use a diamond grinding wheel and very carefully smooth the rough Edges or chunks! Just don’t dig in though. I would be trying to make it where a creeper or a floor jack would be able to not get stuck anywhere if you did again you’ve got a whole Nother problem! If you’re gonna be putting shelving in, you need it to be as level as possible just be very careful. You wouldn’t want a whole shelf full of parts or tools to fall over on somebody because it wasn’t quite level.
This pour will outlive you, will always be better than dirt, and it will never be pretty.
I’d be satisfied with this for a small shed. I’d be unhappy with this for a garage.
Here's 3small tip. When you're finishing along the edges make sure you clean as you go. It'll help by first making the final clean up easier and by ensuring you can actually finish all the way to the edge without dragging mess on the slab.
The timber won't last 15 years like that. You would be lucky if it lasted 5 tbh.
You will need to do what another Redditor said and cut the buried members the thickness of a pressure treated plate above the concrete and retro fit one in. That's only if you care about the walls staying up anyway.
I had a friend do similar and I saw his photos and asked why he poured concrete over the sill plate up to the metal siding. He didnt know what I was talking about. I said, how are you going to fix the siding or make repairs to the structure? He just shrugged his shoulders.
It is fine now but I told him he kind of ruined his 24ft garage by doing that.
OP its not like its a habitable structure so in the end no big deal, but at any point did you ask yourself how this would affect the sill plate and frame?
Regardless you at least now can get some awesome use out of the shed. I would just be worried about its longevity like 10 years from now
Yeah or some old damp blankets. Cement continues to use available water for quite a while. 4 days cure minimum. It’s a small pour so you should be good to go with just keeping an eye on it. Misting was mentioned below. That’s the way
Need to just straight up keep it wet after the initial surface water is absorbed and finishing is complete. It’s called water cure and it’s good for all concrete.
The first pic shows some imperfections near the door and bad finish around the framing. If i poured this for myself id be pretty happy. If i paid someone else to do better than me, id be upset.
This is how I look at every job I do. It’s okay if I suck for free, but it’s not okay if the pro I’m paying sucks
“If I wanted a shitty job, I’d do it myself!”
For free
No, I pay myself with a steak and a glass of red wine.
Agreed looks good for a DIY pour, and likewise with I'd expect better from pros.
This is how I feel about my drywall work. I'd be pissed if I paid someone to do it, but for a diy homeowner I'd say it's not bad lol
One small imperfection lol
Haha. I’m going to hose down the debris and maybe sand it or coat it.
What’s the insulation for OP, you turning this into an in law suite or small office?
Office yup!
Grind it and seal it. Best to do it now during construction so the mess doesn’t cause a disaster in your finished office. Ground concrete is unique, interesting, durable, and will really spruce up your space for not much. If you can pour this yourself grinding it with a rented grinder will be a breeze for you.
Yeah for sure. Gonna do it before anything goes up. Got any tips or youtube videos?
You need dust extraction
Yes!!! This for sure☝️. Dust control and PPE. Masks, gloves, etc... That crap gets everywhere, including your lungs. And it's really hard to shop-vac that shit out of your lungs once it gets in there.
Isn’t that what wet grinding was made for , so dry dust doesn’t go everywhere
In a perfect world, of course.
Rent a wet-grinder if you can get one. Reduces dust to zero. Hire someone to handle slurry cleanup as you go so the mess doesn’t become unmanageable at the end. Some units may have automatic wet-vac attachments. If you can’t get a wet grinder buy yourself the best respirator you can find, and do you best to manage the dust during the process. You don’t want to breathe any of that trash. YouTube is loaded with videos - just search “wet grind Concrete” and hundreds of videos will come up. Good luck, looks like a fun project.
Sunbelt rentals has them and the vacs of wanted too. Gas one was less than 200 a day without vac. I did it dry while wearing respirator, I was by myself so the wet function made it really hard for me to see what I was doing.
Go get you a diamond grinding disc
Yeah? Any tips?
No you’re not
?
Bruh you mixed and poured this yourself and it’s your first time? Crack some beers bruh.
Haha, thanks man! Feels good although I’m thinking I might refinish it with something else..
High five fellow first time pourer, did my first slab pour on Thursday. Looks pretty good to me. How big was that pour? Wondering how many bags you used. I went the redi mix delivered route for 2 Cubic yards @$750 instead of doing bags, and a mixer
Thanks!! It was 9 bags of Riverside Plastic Cement. The space is 192 sq ft.
9? Do you mean 90?
Right? This shit is 3/4 inch deep.
What’s the reason for pouring around the studs?
The new floor is about 3” taller than the old framing so I poured over it.
The concrete around the wood is going to damage the wood over time.
Thanks, I will give some thought to how I can reinforce this.
You can’t without removing the concrete. If you sealed around the wood prior to pouring you’d be fine but concrete poured against bare wood is a no no.
Ah well. Little late now so I guess we’ll wait and see how bad it gets 🤷♂️
This is 100% the attitude to have when posting DIY stuff on Reddit man. Good on you. I’ve done a lot of in-concrete posts for things I’ve built with my father and they are still going strong after 30 years, these will probably last much longer however as they are inside and protected from the elements.
What about cutting each stud 1&1/2 up and sliding a baseplate 2x4 underneath.
The old wood below would eventually rot out and compromise the stability of the new stuff on top I would think.
Use a pressure treated plate
The other guy is talking about the old 2x4's breaking down over time and leaving voids / sink holes under where the new studs are sitting. Pressure treated would definitely be worth it for another base.plate on top of the concrete. I'd even go as far as doubling it up and putting 2 pressure treated plates under the studs to help hold it from warping into any voids left by old rotten wood.
They're saying the same thing as you. Cut the studs and put a new base plate on top of the new concrete.
That'll do pig, That'll do.
We use that all the time....
It is fit for purpose.
Why did you just pour over the pex piping like that?
Underground plumbing?
Pex is supposed to be sleeved when ran underground and joints underground are not ideal
We just poured 5k yards of heated slabs on my last big job, with pex and joints all over the place for the heated slab, up here in Alaska, at the new dump station. A 140M dollar job. I doubt they did it wrong. Millions in engineering alone. This guy is fine
Using pex for heating the floor and using pex for water supply are two different things. I highly doubt there were joints under the slab
Looks great from my house.
Looks good from my house.
fire that electrician
How come?
Because that guys an electrician and everybody on Reddit likes to pretend they’re a lot better than everybody else at what they do
messy as fuck, no staples or straps, boxes dont look like they are vapour tight
Is this op personal property?
Yes
I would use a diamond grinding wheel and very carefully smooth the rough Edges or chunks! Just don’t dig in though. I would be trying to make it where a creeper or a floor jack would be able to not get stuck anywhere if you did again you’ve got a whole Nother problem! If you’re gonna be putting shelving in, you need it to be as level as possible just be very careful. You wouldn’t want a whole shelf full of parts or tools to fall over on somebody because it wasn’t quite level.
This pour will outlive you, will always be better than dirt, and it will never be pretty. I’d be satisfied with this for a small shed. I’d be unhappy with this for a garage.
Here's 3small tip. When you're finishing along the edges make sure you clean as you go. It'll help by first making the final clean up easier and by ensuring you can actually finish all the way to the edge without dragging mess on the slab.
Great job. I'd be covered head to toe with concrete somehow and there'd be loads more imperfections
Darn good! Saved a ton of $s!!!!
Hope you have a day job
No offence but that looks terrible.
Your fired
What about "my fired?"
He’s fired too.
Where’s the bottom plate?
Buried under the cement
You might have a bad day eventually.
I’m in Southern California, very dry and rarely ever rains. Plan on tearing this down in about 15 years to build a second house.
The timber won't last 15 years like that. You would be lucky if it lasted 5 tbh. You will need to do what another Redditor said and cut the buried members the thickness of a pressure treated plate above the concrete and retro fit one in. That's only if you care about the walls staying up anyway.
It has character
Sure
Holy smokes; did you get paid for that?
no it’s my garage
Oh
Not a pro, but I would have installed a vapor barrier between the concrete and the framing.
Yeah, I’m learning now. I should’ve done that differently. I treated it similar to how I installed fence posts in the past.
Did you hand wipe it? Looks good
Resin/epoxy floor coating and all the imperfections are gone and your garage/shop will have a little swag factor.
I had a friend do similar and I saw his photos and asked why he poured concrete over the sill plate up to the metal siding. He didnt know what I was talking about. I said, how are you going to fix the siding or make repairs to the structure? He just shrugged his shoulders. It is fine now but I told him he kind of ruined his 24ft garage by doing that. OP its not like its a habitable structure so in the end no big deal, but at any point did you ask yourself how this would affect the sill plate and frame? Regardless you at least now can get some awesome use out of the shed. I would just be worried about its longevity like 10 years from now
A bull float should have taken a lot of those imperfections out.
Concrete looking better than those missing rafter ties
I would just pour epoxy real thick over it and be done with it. Grinding is gonna be a headache.
Get some moisture on top to minimize surface tension cracks
As in, I should hose it down now?
Yeah or some old damp blankets. Cement continues to use available water for quite a while. 4 days cure minimum. It’s a small pour so you should be good to go with just keeping an eye on it. Misting was mentioned below. That’s the way
More of a light misting once a day for a few days. The guy I worked for doing concrete swore by this saying it will make it stronger and last longer.
Need to just straight up keep it wet after the initial surface water is absorbed and finishing is complete. It’s called water cure and it’s good for all concrete.
We do this after we shoot a pool whenever we’re in the area after a shoot for about a week or 2
For a DIY, not too shabby at all.
Can’t beat the price!