34
Serious question, is mixing concrete by hand still better than using a mixer?
I just put up 300 feet of post and rail near Albany and my buddy swears hand mixing gives a stronger cure, but my back is killing me from doing it that way. He says the mixer beats the air out wrong or something, but I used a rental mixer on my last job and the posts are holding fine after 4 months. Who's actually right on this, or is it just old timer stubbornness?
2 comments
Log in to join the discussion
Log In2 Comments
xena_fisher4924d ago
Oh man, preach it! I did a patio last summer and hand mixed the first half cause my dad swore by it too. By the time I got to the second half I said screw it and used a mixer. You know what? That mixer pour actually looked better and I haven't seen a single crack in two winters. Plus I didnt feel like an old man the next morning. Your posts holding up in Albany is proof enough. Concrete is concrete, and a good consistent mix beats some old wives tale every time.
3
Read something from a materials engineer once who said the whole "air entrainment" thing from mixers is mostly a myth for small jobs. Said the real difference is just consistency, and a mixer gives a more uniform batch every time (which helps strength way more than any tiny air bubbles). Your buddy's probably just repeating what his grandpa told him, those old timers had some weird beliefs about concrete. Bottom line is if your posts are holding after 4 months in Albany weather, you're golden - that's a tougher test than most folks realize.
1