Working With Concrete Slabs
- 1). Prepare the pour area by excavating a plot of land slightly larger than the planned foundation down to the bare soil. Construct a pour form to the correct specifications for your slab or use a pre-made one. Stake the form to secure it and prepare the interior of the form for the pour.
- 2). Pour an inch of concrete into the form and lay down any rebar or reinforcing rods that you are using, based on the size of your slab. Cover these with more concrete, filling the form until it is full. Settle the concrete by banging on each side of the form with a hammer.
- 3). Screed the surface of the concrete to level it. Place the screed flat at one end of the pour form. Position a person on each end of the screed to pull it back and forth between them like a logging saw as they drag it to the other end of the form.
- 4). Settle the aggregates in the slab with a rubber float. Glide the rubber float over the surface of the slab in straight lines that overlap slightly; work in one direction and then the other. Do this twice more, waiting a half hour between each.
- 5). Allow the concrete to rest so that much of the moisture that was released during the two previous processes can evaporate. Smooth the surface of the concrete with a straight metal finishing trowel. Pull the trowel across the concrete in overlapping straight lines in both directions, like you did with the rubber float.
- 6). Cover the slab with plastic tarps; wet cure the slab for the best results. Pull back the tarps once a day for 5 to 7 days and spray it gently with a garden hose. Remove the tarps and the formwork after a week or when the slab has finished curing.
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