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