palmer.henry•14d agoMost Upvoted

Watched a guy use a hose to wet his concrete mix and my jaw dropped

I used to always hand mix with a hoe and a tub, took me 45 minutes for a small patch last year. Now I just do a dry blend first and add water from a spray bottle in 10 minutes flat. Anybody else switch to a faster mixing method?

2 comments

2 Comments

wells.morgan13d ago

That "dry blend first" method is actually a good way to screw up your mix if you're not careful. I've seen guys dump the dry cement on wet ground and end up with a hard crust on the bottom and dry powder on top. If you're gonna do it that way, at least measure your water by volume ahead of time - a spray bottle is fine for a small patch but you're gonna be there all day for anything bigger than a 5 gallon bucket. Get a cheap plastic mixing tub and a hoe, it's still the fastest way for most jobs. Your 45 minutes sounds about right for hand mixing, which is why I switched to a paddle mixer on a drill for anything over a few shovelfuls.

margaret_bennett313d ago

My neighbor tried that dry blend first thing on a small patch last spring and ended up with a crusty mess on the bottom of his wheelbarrow that took forever to chip out. Idk, maybe it's just me but I think @wells.morgan has a point about measuring water by volume ahead of time if you're going that route. I've been using a plastic tub and a hoe for years and it just works better for most stuff I do around the house.