Used to mix by eye until I got burned on a driveway pour last fall

I always figured I could eyeball the water content and get away with it, but a homeowner in Phoenix called me back when his slab cracked after 6 months. Now I use a slump cone every single load, even for small jobs. Anyone else have a hard lesson that forced them to change their methods?

3 comments

3 Comments

sarah53121d ago

Have you noticed any difference in how the concrete behaves during placement once you started using the slump cone consistently? For me, the biggest change wasn't just the slab cracking less, but also how much easier it was to finish. That eyeball method always left me guessing on water content, and I'd end up with either a soupy mess or something too stiff to work properly. It's one of those things where you think you're saving time, but you're really costing yourself more work down the road.

jesse_fisher21d ago

Oh man, totally agree. Once I got consistent with the slump cone it was like night and day, especially with finishing - that guesswork on water just made everything harder than it needed to be.

laura_wright21d ago

Oh man, @jesse_fisher nailed it - that slump cone was a game changer for me too. I feel your pain on that driveway pour, nothing like a call back to make you second guess everything you thought you knew.