When To Consider Ready Mix Concrete For Your Project Or Concrete Job

Concrete has been around for a long time and is available as a dry mix that you can make as you need it or as ready-mix delivered to you ready to pour. The advantages to using ready-mix concrete for your job range from ease of use, custom mix options, and saving time and labor on the job. 

Mixed Concrete

When you need concrete for a driveway, a foundation, or a patio, building the forms and preparing the area for the concrete is vital. However, the concrete you use is also essential, and while buying dry concrete and mixing it on-site is possible, it is often not practical. 

The amount of concrete you need and how quickly you need to pour it can play a role in the choice to use ready-mix concrete, and if you are using more than ten yards for your project, being able to get constant batches is vital. Because most concrete mixing trucks can carry seven to ten yards at a time, and when you need higher quantities, you will have to have several truckloads delivered, a ready-mix product that is made in a concrete plant specifically for your order can help. 

Ready-mix concrete providers mix each load of concrete using a recipe that ensures the percentages of materials in the concrete are the same every time. They can alter the mix for you if necessary, but the goal with ready-mix is to deliver concrete from the truck into the concrete forms without having to add any other steps in the process.

Concrete Pumping

Another advantage to using ready-mix concrete on your job is the ability to alter the material for use in a concrete pumping truck. Pumping concrete through a pipe from the truck to the forms is sometimes necessary to reach areas you can't get a mixing truck to. 

When pumping concrete, you need a wetter mix that will flow through the pump and pipes easily. The ready-mix provider can thin the mixture down to ensure it is the correct consistency when it arrives at the site. The concrete can then go from the mixer into the pump truck directly, and then into the forms on the job site.

If the decision to use a pump truck comes at the last minute, the ready-mix concrete provider can adjust the mix on the fly because each load is mixed just before you need it. The time and cost savings can be significant, and the flexibility of ready-mix concrete may be essential to making your pour a success when the time comes.  

For more information about ready-mix concrete, contact a local company.