How to Mix up Concrete using a Shovel

This is a guide on How to Mix Concrete using a Shovel. Concrete consists of three main ingredients.

Ballast: Is a mixture of sand and course gravel.

Cement: Is used as a kind of glue to bind the ballast sand and gravel together.

Water: Required to mix the cement and ballast together, forming the concrete.

Materials Needed

Ballast

Cement

About the Concrete Type

We will be manually mixing concrete to a ratio of 4 parts (all-in-one ballast) to 1 part cement, also known as type C20 concrete. A type C20 concrete is suitable for most domestic applications, such as foundations for garden walls, garage bases and more.

How to Mix Concrete using a a Shovel

1. Prepare a board to mix your ballast and cement on. This could be made from ply or plastic.
2. Put two shovels of ballast on to the board.
3. Make a hole in the middle of the ballast pile, then put one shovel of cement in to the hole.
4. Put an additional three shovels of ballast over the top, then mix the contents dry until you have completely worked the cement in to the ballast.
5. Once this is complete, make a hole in to the middle of the pile again.
6. Then slowly add water during mixing until you have a wet, creamy mixture.
7. Repeat from step 4 until you have the quantity of concrete you need, and the a creamy consistency throughout.
8. Let the concrete set for 24 hours.
9. Clean your equipment and tools with water. If you don’t do this then the concrete will set on anything you have used.