How to mix concrete mortar for the foundation. How to pour concrete floor over floors

Almost any construction cannot do without the use of a solution in its process. Unless when it comes to wooden structures, and they must be installed on a well-organized foundation, the basis of which, as you know, is cement mortar.

Not a single yard can do without convenient paths, which you can make yourself.

Concrete can be used not only for building the fundamental foundation of a house, but also for monolithic pouring of walls, floors and in road construction. Concrete is also made in order to pour. In any case, there are pouring rules that are considered unique by professional builders. This means that in order to learn how to properly fill the solution, you need to study and work out the knowledge gained on a specific example. For example, if you learn how to fill the driveway to the house with a mixture or comprehend it, then it will not be difficult to make a foundation with your own hands in the future.

For work, whether it is pouring a road or the foundation of a house, certain rules must be followed.

The technology or foundation involves several practically similar stages. The first step is to prepare the site for construction and dig the ground. This is followed by the following steps: creating a cushion of sand and gravel, formwork, reinforcing the object, for example, floors created using mortar, which will significantly increase the level of strength and durability of the floor. Understanding the importance of the work ahead, it is necessary to first prepare a schematic plan, supported by some calculations, for example, you need to determine how much building material is required for a properly organized business, calculate the floor area or what dimensions the gutter will have. Take care in advance of the tools with which the floors or roads will be filled - shovels and mixers.

Track installation

When the concrete is already poured into the place prepared for the path, a special flat board must be smoothly drawn along the edges of the formwork to remove excess and compact.

Before you start directly pouring the object, you should carefully prepare the site for it. In the case of the road, we will talk about soil compaction. This is done by leveling the ground. After that, you need to make an embankment of fine sand, about 15 cm high. The sand must be tightly compacted under the slab formed in the future. In the case when a foundation or floor foundation is being created, it is necessary to dig the earth of the required depth and width under the gutter, on the bottom of which an embankment of sand or crushed granite is also made. Gravel can also be used if available. After that, formwork should be arranged on this pillow. A mixture of sand and gravel under the foundation does not have to be done with a mixer.

Formwork device

After the compaction of the soil and the foundation for the construction of roads along which the machine can drive, it is necessary to proceed to the next stage, that is, to the arrangement of the formwork. Here, pay special attention to how thick a slab you plan to create for the road. After all, it will directly depend on it with what section the lumber will have to be used in the work. If, for example, you create a slab 100 mm thick, then you will have to arrange the formwork from boards with a cross section not exceeding an area of ​​​​50 x 100 mm. Provided that the layer is thicker, 150 mm, boards with a section of 50 mm by 150 mm will be needed. They can also be used for laying floors. If the boards themselves have cracks, then they can be easily repaired with ordinary polyethylene. This will seriously strengthen the formwork, because the concrete will not be able to go through the cracks.

It is necessary to fasten the formwork very firmly, using metal poles.

The reinforcement process consists of laying a metal mesh in the formwork over the prepared base.

Lumber must first be coated with a special chemical composition, through which easy separation from dried concrete will be ensured. After successfully strengthening the formwork, you can safely move on to the moment of strengthening the structure being prepared. Why lay in the gutter, in the formwork, reinforcement, the dimensions, strength level and quality of the ligament of which will increase the reliability standards of the mortar at least twice. The fittings that are recommended to be used for pouring into the foundation should be a finished metal steel mesh, the cell area of ​​\u200b\u200bwhich is approximately equal to 15 square meters. see. A similar grid can be built independently using metal wire. It must be tied with your own hands into a frame that fits into the formwork gutter: on the ground (platform) and in the prepared sand and gravel base.

To prevent cracking of concrete, this type of reinforcement is necessary. If the foundation is not reinforced with reinforcement, then cracks will appear not only in it, but also in the walls of the installed building. In order for the wire or metal mesh to fit more comfortably and not get in the way at the time of pouring the solution, experts advise using clamps that will greatly facilitate your work. Formwork is also done when installing floors.

Preparation for pouring

With the help of a mixer or a concrete mixer, a mortar for building a road can be made by hand.

The quality of the concrete used in construction will determine not only the appearance of the structure being created, but also how long this structure can last without additional preventive and decorative repairs. The quality of ready-made concrete supplied by construction companies is calculated according to a strictly defined and internationally accepted measurement scale, the quantitative indicators of which vary from 1 to 12. The unit corresponds to a dry mix based on concrete, and with increasing numbers, the level of humidity increases. In the case of creating a track, the number must be four or five. This option involves a rather quick work with it, since it dries quickly in the open air. And adding water to an already used mass is not permissible. Even very small volumes of liquid in the mortar, added in excess of the norm, can seriously reduce the level of strength originally guaranteed by concrete of this grade.

One part of cement, three parts of sand and five parts of gravel are the dry components of the future solution.

The solution can be made independently. This requires the use of a mixer or concrete mixer. Inside the mixer, the dry components of the solution are first poured in succession: one norm of cement, three norms of sand, preferably with fine grains of sand, and five norms of gravel or crushed granite. After these ingredients are thoroughly mixed with a mixer, water can be gradually added to it. Try at this point to pay special attention to the resulting consistency. To lay the track in the gutter, stop adding water when its consistency is like cottage cheese. Delivery of the mixer, by the way, involves the hiring of equipment.

Material selection

The strength and durability of the future track depends on the quality of the components.

When preparing, it is advised to carefully consider the choice of components. For example, cement must be of a certain brand, and the higher the brand indicated as a number on the package, the higher the strength of the mortar that will be made on the basis of such cement. Crushed stone should not be too large, as too large stones often lead to the formation of voids inside the poured structures. Which negatively affects their functional features and service life. Sand, too, should first be prepared for work by purifying it from additional impurities, for example, silt and clay, which are very often found in the structure of sand mixtures. Attention should also be paid to the quality of the water, since stale, opaque water will not sufficiently mix and dissolve the constituent components of the solution. Because of this, numerous cracks can form.

When the concrete is ready, it can be manually, using a shovel, distributed along the constructed formwork, carefully closing all cracks and compacting the spread concrete layer by layer using a vibrator or some kind of handy rail. The best way is the technology of raking to the highest point of the formwork or foundation, since already from here the mortar will independently be able to move to all areas with cracks, which must be filled with mortar.

Experts themselves recommend adding a small amount of plasticizer to the solution, which will speed up the drying process of the solution and help remove excess moisture from it after the facility is put into operation. It is necessary to fill according to the existing rules within one day, otherwise the foundation may crack.

Concrete is a budget option for decorating alleys in your own garden plot. Concreting is the pouring of mortar into the prepared formwork and allows you to make cement paths in the garden with your own hands, which serve for comfortable walking and moving household equipment around the territory. Beautiful alleys of any shape and thickness can be cast from the concrete mixture. Reinforcing the structure greatly increases its strength. These sidewalks are easy to maintain, last a long time and are easily decorated with acrylic paint.

Concrete walkway at the dacha

Advantages and disadvantages of concrete paths

Concrete paths have many undeniable advantages:

• The service life of concrete paths is about 25 years, the material is strong and durable. Reinforcement gives them even greater resistance to stress.
• Concrete tapes have a low cost, as part of concrete there are simple components that you can easily buy in building markets.
• Filling alleys with cement mortar is easy and fast, much easier than building strips of tiles or other similar materials.
• If the garden plot has closely spaced groundwater or problematic soils, then concrete tapes, protected from moisture and poured to a great depth, are the only solution.
• Frost resistance can be further increased if special chemical additives are added when mixing a mixture of cement and other ingredients.
• In the process of building garden paths with your own hands, there is an opportunity to design and decorate the site, casting paths of various unusual shapes and colors.

Combination of materials

However, such passages in the country or garden plot are not without drawbacks:

• Due to the movement of the soil, cracks can appear on the surface.
• Massive garden paths made of concrete become the capital elements of the overall plan of the site. You cannot move them anywhere, and dismantling these structures is very laborious.
• Filling should be carried out only in good weather, and according to the forecast, there should not be rain for a couple of days ahead after the date of completion of work.
• Self-kneading concrete with a shovel does not give the desired quality, so you will need a concrete mixer for pouring.
• The preparatory stage includes the laborious process of creating formwork.

island shape

We concrete the path according to all the rules

Building concrete garden paths with your own hands is no less serious than laying the foundation of a house. Act according to the plan, strictly following the sequence of actions.

Scheme and structural elements

Marking of passages on the site

Site planning and marking of passages are carried out in the following sequence:

1. Preliminary think up and draw on paper a site plan with buildings and mark the places of future paths. This way you can find the best options for the location of the passages. After pouring, it will no longer be possible to move the concrete tape.
2. Prepare the rope and pegs.
3. To find possible obstacles on the way, for example, in the form of trees, stones or other obstacles, place pegs at the turning points and connect them with a rope.
4. After checking, evaluate the feasibility of pouring along the selected path. If there are large and difficult to dismantle objects, re-plan the location.
5. After the final marking, remove the soil. Make the width of the pit more than the concrete tape by 30 cm, for the subsequent installation of the formwork.
6. Dig out a hole. Choose the depth, focusing on the structure of the soil:
   • If there is a lot of sand in the soil, then concrete can be poured directly onto the ground and a depth of 10 cm is enough. Before pouring, pre-tamp the soil.
   • In a situation where the soil is wet and winters are frosty, prepare a cushion of crushed stone 10-12 cm thick. This will protect the hardened mortar from the effects of heaving of freezing soil and cracking. Deepen the pit to the height of the cushion added to the height of the tape. Compact the soil before pouring gravel.
   • Also consider whether cars will pass through the aisle. In this place, make the layer a little more than 15 cm. When pouring this area, add more cement to the concrete mix for strength.
7. Plan the concrete path so that it rises 1.5–2 cm above the rest of the soil. This will protect against soil contamination and damage, as well as simplify movement around the site.
8. If the concrete tape will cross the irrigation pipes and a drain will pass through it, then prepare the mounting sleeves in advance.

Pit preparation

How to make a formwork for a garden path

Concrete alleys on the garden plot can be either of the usual rectangular shape or rounded. You can achieve this if you make formwork with flexible materials that can withstand the pressure of the concrete mixture, such as plywood or plastic. If you are making a curved structure from boards, then the steeper the bend, the shorter the length of the boards.

Do not make formwork for the entire length of the tape, it still needs to be poured in parts. After the concrete has set, move the formwork further along the pour. So you save on boards.

There are special forms for filling tracks in the country. You can go to the store and buy templates, or you can make your own stencils out of wood or sheet metal, stitched together in the desired shape.

The initial stage of the construction of curved formwork

Formwork construction:

1. Take boards 2.5x10 cm or 5x10 cm.
2. Sew the boards. To do this, lay them on a hard surface one after the other, fasten them vertically from the outside with strong planks.
3. Try to keep the surface of the boards from the inside of the formwork box to be even. Turn over the resulting structure and bend the protruding hardware, if any.
4. Set the boards in the pit on pre-compacted soil or a bed of crushed stone. The height of the formwork should be equal to the height of the future track. Check the horizontalness of the installed boards with a building level.
5. The distance between the boards should correspond to the planned width of the concrete garden path. Choose it at your discretion. Usually, pavements 60–90 cm wide are poured in the country. Pull the formwork, fixing it with transverse planks stuffed over the installed boards.

Building a walkway with a stencil

Thermal seams and insulating pad

Be sure to make a "pillow" under the concrete. Lay a waterproofing material on the bottom of the pit - roofing material, agrofibre or geotextile. Pour gravel with a diameter of 19–25 mm into the arranged pit in an even layer. Sprinkle coarse sand on top, pour water over and tamp tightly.

Concrete can crack due to temperature changes. To prevent this, prepare for thermal seams. To do this, after 1.5–3 meters along the entire length of the track, place the rails perpendicular to the installed formwork to the very ground. Use strips with a thickness of 15–20 mm.

If you plan to remove the planks after the concrete has been poured and cured, apply any lubricant to them. If you decide to leave the dividers in mortar, make them the same height as the longitudinal formwork.

Thermal seams prevent cracks

Reinforcement for strength and durability

Concrete poured at intervals of 24 hours cracks much faster. Reinforce the garden path to avoid cracks and stiffen the structure. As components for the reinforcing layer, you can use a chain-link mesh, metal pipes, pieces of thick wire and other hardware.

The best reinforcing layer will be a welded mesh with 10x10 cm cells and a rod diameter of 8 mm.

1. To reinforce concrete, prepare the required amount of mesh.
2. Install pieces of brick in the trench for support or make wire fixing legs.
3. Lay the mesh on the prepared base, stepping back from the longitudinal edges of the trench by 3-5 cm.
4. If possible, attach the mesh to the base so that when the trench is filled with mortar, it does not move.

Reinforcement for strength

Reinforcing the path in the garden will allow you to make a smaller layer of concrete.

Tools and materials for work

Before you start pouring, you need to know what is included in the composition and how to prepare the cement mortar for the garden path correctly.

The concrete mixture consists of cement grade M500, it needs 1 part, sand, it is taken in a ratio of 3.5 parts of the total volume of the mixture, and crushed stone with a fraction of 10–20 mm, which is added in a proportion of 5.7 parts. Waters use 0.5–1 part. The ratio of cement and sand for garden paths corresponds to the M150 grade.

The proportions of concrete need to be known in order to make an accurate calculation of the cement, sand and aggregate that will be required to prepare the right amount of concrete.

The thickness of the concrete path in the country is determined by its purpose and the presence of reinforcement.

For concreting you will need tools:

• picking shovel;
• buckets;
• container for mixing mortar or concrete mixer;
• rule or flat rail;
• Master OK;
• plaster trowel.

Proportions of concrete mortars of different grades

Preparation of concrete mortar for the track

To pour the concrete path, prepare the mortar manually or with a concrete mixer.

The preparation of concrete using a concrete mixer consists of the following steps:

1. Turn on the unit. Pour water into the concrete mixer, leaving 10-15% for later addition. This will make further mixing easier.
2. Pour cement and wait one minute, then add sand. Stir the resulting sand-cement mixture for garden paths for 2-3 minutes until a homogeneous mass is formed.
3. Pour in the filler and pour in the remaining water. Stir the cement mortar until smooth, but no more than 7 minutes, otherwise the cement may begin to stick.
4. Pour the resulting mass into a wheelbarrow or directly into the formwork. If it is not possible to immediately move the entire mixture to the pouring site, leave the concrete mixer with the remaining solution turned on.

Household concrete mixer

If there is no concrete mixer, mix by hand. Prepare an old tub or deep trough. It is convenient to mix the solution in them.

1. With the manual method of preparation, place all the loose components of the solution in the mixing tray and mix them very well with a pick-up shovel.
2. Pour in water and stir vigorously. Pry the mixture from the bottom and turn it over with a shovel, not forgetting about the corners. Stir until a thick and uniform consistency is obtained. The concrete mass should slide off the shovel slowly and not delaminate.

Manual method of concrete preparation

Filling the garden path with mortar

After preparing the concrete solution, fill the path with your own hands. Place it in the prepared formwork segments separated by lintels.

Pouring the finished solution into the prepared formwork

1. Compact the concrete by piercing it vertically with a trowel or piece of rebar. Lightly tap the formwork with a hammer, this will remove the air voids that form when the mortar is poured.
2. Level the surface with a rule or a rail at the level of the installed formwork. Move the solution, directing it towards you and to the sides.
3. So that the water can leave, make a slight slope, 10 mm per 1 meter wide is enough.
4. Wait for water to come out from above, and finally smooth the surface with a trowel or float.
5. Cover the poured surface with a dense film so that the water from the cement mortar does not quickly evaporate and the concrete does not crack.
6. The next day, check the smoothness of the tape, smooth out the bumps with a sharp tool, such as an ax.
7. For thermal joints, after the mixture has hardened, carefully remove the separation strips after 1-2 days. Install the thermal spacer in place of the removed rail.

Concrete walkway diagram

1. If the poured tape comes butt to another concrete base, lay a thermal spacer between them and seal the joint so that both the path and the other concrete structure can deform under the influence of temperature separately and do not exert mutual pressure.
2. While the concrete is not completely set, make a transverse cut of the surface with a special trowel to a depth of ¼ of its thickness. This seam is needed so that the tape does not crack.

Surface leveling

Partial readiness

How to decorate concrete walkways

To make concrete paths in the garden not look like gray sidewalks, they can be made embossed with stone imitation or bright, painted in different colors. The combination of materials will be effective, for example, a combination with pebbles or lawn grass.

Imitation cobblestone

stone formation

Step by step painting instructions

Coloring helps to create a unique landscape composition on the site, but only adherence to technology guarantees the result. The most practical coating is obtained by painting concrete for garden paths during the mixing process. To do this, it is enough to add special color pigments that do not dissolve in water, do not fade in the sun and do not fade under the influence of chemicals.

mineral pigments

When choosing how to paint concrete paths, give preference to polyacrylic paints for external work. Their composition allows concrete to breathe and prevents moisture from destroying its structure. Such a coating does not fade in the sun and withstands mechanical stress.

Latex, polyurethane and PVC compounds protect against destruction. Oil paint is not suitable for, it is absorbed into the pores and leads to cracks.

Use of molds and pigments

If you need to refresh old structures, follow the procedure for painting concrete paths with your own hands:

1. Before painting, remove the dust and dirt layer from the surface. If you are going to paint a tiled walkway, remove all grass from the grout.
2. If the surface has been previously painted, use a wire brush to remove all traces of old paint and dust off the substrate.
3. If there are chips or other damage on the surface, cover them with putty or sealant.
4. Degrease the surface with an orthophosphate solution or other chemicals to remove stains.
5. Treat with a deep penetration primer in two coats. Wait until the first one is completely dry before applying the second layer.
6. On the prepared substrate, apply thin layers of paint with a break of 12 hours for complete drying.

Priming concrete base before painting

Features of staining with different tools

To work, you can choose one of the tools for painting the track:

• brush;
• roller;
• spray.

Painting with a brush

When painting with a brush, you can paint over all the bumps, but with this method, stripes from the pile remain.

It is convenient to paint even surfaces with a roller. Do not take a tool with a foam coat, it leaves air bubbles. Paint the joints of the plates with a brush.

If you decide to spray paint the tracks, then practice first. If you overexpose the working apparatus in one place, streaks form there and spoil the result. In addition, you need to find the distance at which the "speckled" coloring will not work.

Bright path in the garden

Keep the painted coating away from sand and similar abrasive materials. Wash the passages with a hose and wipe with a voluminous sponge.

Pouring concrete paths with your own hands is an interesting and uncomplicated process. To make beautiful alleys, you will need a few available materials and tools, and you will admire the result for many years. If self-filling seems difficult, then contact the masters, they will be able to make paths on the site according to your desire and project.

Self-preparation of concrete mortar for pouring the foundation is a very responsible and time-consuming process. In many ways, the quality of construction depends on the foundation.

In order to obtain a high-quality mortar mixture, it is necessary to use the right materials and make the exact proportion. If the most common strip foundation is used during construction, increased requirements must be imposed on the quality of concrete.

When preparing concrete, it is necessary to take into account the following factors that affect its strength:

- the amount of cement contained in the mixture;
- the level of reaction with other substances (the higher the level of cement reaction (activity), the larger the structure can be installed on it);
- the ratio of water and cement in the composition of the substance (the lower, the better);
— the quality of aggregates (the use of fine-grained fillers reduces the strength of the composition);
- degree of compaction.

Necessary materials

The main component for the preparation of the solution is cement. When choosing it, you need to pay attention to the main indicators. At the moment, a wide range of types of cement is presented on the construction market, so it is important to choose a quality material. Quality assurance is the material class with an error level of 13.5% (coefficient of variation).

for the foundation it is better to use cement grades 400 or 500

Strength is indicated on the package with the letter “M” and numbers in the range from 400 to 1000. This indicator indicates how much weight the concrete can withstand per 1 cm after hardening. It is best to use cement grade M400-M500 (depending on the density of the soil and the load on foundation). Before making a purchase, it is advisable to find out the name of the manufacturer, reviews about the manufacturer, as well as in what packaging the products are packaged. On the packaging, you need to pay attention to the series and number, they should not be duplicated. These simple precautions will help you avoid buying fakes.

Also, for the preparation of concrete, you will need sand, water and crushed stone (gravel). When choosing these materials, it is also necessary to take into account their properties. Sand for concrete must first of all be clean. Sticks, leaves and debris are not allowed in it. Also, it should not contain clay, the permissible error is no more than 5% of the total mass.

ideal crushed stone for concrete - granite

The presence of crushed stone or gravel is allowed if, as a percentage of the total mass, it does not exceed 0.5. In addition, it is necessary to take into account the fineness (fraction) of sand. Not every building material is suitable for this parameter. The ideal version of the fraction is in the range of 2-2.5. When preparing a mortar for the foundation, the sand must be dry. If the sand used is wet, it must be dried, or less water should be used later in the preparation of concrete.

Gravel or crushed stone is better to use a fine fraction. Crushed stone must be clean, without impurities. The most durable crushed stone is granite, but it is more expensive than the others and has an increased radiation background. It is better to choose lime or gravel material. In no case should you use river pebbles.

The exact proportions of the solution

Before preparing the solution, you first need to calculate how much concrete will be needed. The calculation is carried out according to a simple formula: the product of the length of the tape, width and height. You can also use ours to calculate. Having decided on the volume and materials for pouring the foundation, it is necessary to observe the correct proportion of the mixture. The process of drawing up the proportion must be strictly observed, otherwise the foundation will be unreliable.

As a rule, the ratio of sand and cement in concrete is 1:2, and the amount of crushed stone is 4 parts. Based on this proportion, you can easily prepare a concrete mix. If the solution is too dense, it must be diluted with water. The resulting consistency should be stirred with a shovel with little effort. In this case, the solution should not quickly drain from the shovel.

The components can be mixed in various ways. but if possible. it is better to do this with a concrete mixer.

with the help of such a device, the mixture is better mixed

Pouring concrete - instructions

After the concrete is prepared, it must be poured into the reinforced formwork. The ideal temperature for pouring is from +5° to +15° C. If the air temperature is below 0° C, the poured foundation must be covered with foil. Do not remove the formwork until the concrete is completely dry.

If the street is above +15° C, the foundation must be watered once a day and also covered with foil to avoid cracking. Formwork can be removed the next day.

pouring the foundation can be done in warm weather

Complete drying occurs within 2 days. The pouring should take place calmly, in layers of 25 cm. The time between pouring the layers should be from 30 minutes to 1.5 hours, depending on the brand of cement in the concrete.

Air must be released from each filled layer. To do this, you can use conventional reinforcement, lowering its parts into concrete at a short distance from each other.

Also, each layer must be aligned. If the filling takes place in one layer, then it is necessary to use a vibro-shrink tool. If everything is done according to the instructions and you do not save on materials, then the house built on such a foundation will delight its owners for many years.

If you want to diversify the design of a suburban area with an original garden path or path, and the products offered in the supermarket do not suit you for any reason, take a chance and create a tile yourself, literally from improvised materials. To do this, you need to purchase special plastic molds and learn how to prepare a solution for garden paths. Add a little imagination, building skills, patience - and your path will turn out not only durable, but also strikingly beautiful.

Now it’s easy to find everything to do individual creativity. In stores, you can buy convenient plastic stencil molds for making tiles. You prepare a cement mortar, pour it into a mold - and in a few days you get a tile of a given color that imitates the factory counterpart for the sidewalk.

Monochromatic, colorful, colorful paths look great in the garden, between flowering trees and flower beds, and on a green, neatly trimmed lawn, and among garden beds

Paths made of strong concrete tiles can last for decades - in terms of their strength, they are not inferior to the foundation of a building or the overlap of a small bridge. They are comfortable and functional - and all thanks to a properly prepared cement mortar.

A solid solid form costs about 1200 rubles, and a lightweight version - a stencil with cells of various shapes - is much cheaper. Depending on the material, its price ranges from 50 to 250 rubles.

Many craftsmen prefer their own creations to the purchased version, so they make the forms on their own using wooden blocks or a metal profile.

From short planed bars, you can put together a rectangle, square, lattice or a small hexagon, which will serve as a form for pouring cement mortar

How to make a cement mortar?

The ability to independently prepare a cement mortar at home is useful to anyone who plans to do construction or repair work. A sticky mass that hardens over time is necessary for laying bricks, and for creating stone decorative compositions, and even for filling a hole in a wall.

For the construction of garden paths, you need a regular solution that you can prepare yourself. However, its functional qualities largely depend on the preparation of the material and proportions, so let's take a closer look at how to fill molds for garden paths so that it serves for many years.

What needs to be prepared?

It is possible that someone in a country estate will have a mobile concrete mixer (in this case, the process of preparing the mass will take place more efficiently and quickly), but it is unlikely that this useful unit can be found in the average garden, so we will collect an arsenal from what is constantly located at hand.

It is very important to choose the right container, which would be suitable both in size and in the convenience of working with it. Ideally, the volume of the tank should correspond to the portion of the solution that you want to prepare in one go. Too small capacity will force you to repeat the procedure - and this is an increase in the time spent on work by 2 times. In a large bowl, it is inconvenient to stir the components and create a homogeneous mass. Also important are the qualities of the tank, such as stability and strength of the walls.

For small volumes of cement (if you make tiles slowly, for example, on weekends), a small container made of durable plastic with low sides is suitable

If you have an old cast-iron bathtub in your country house, which is usually used to store rainwater, it can be an excellent temporary option for diluting cement mortar, or other large dishes that meet the listed requirements.

In addition to the container, a tool is needed to stir the mass until smooth. It is a mistake to wield a shovel or a wooden block - the solution will clump into lumps, which will affect the poor quality of the tile.

The best equipment is a construction mixer or, as it is also called, a hand mixer; in its absence, you can use a drill with a special nozzle

Try to put everything in one place so that during the cooking process you do not have to leave and delay the process.

Component Selection

For a standard, widely used cement slurry, 3 components are needed: cement, sand and water. It would seem that everything is simple - I mixed everything together and got an excellent material for pouring into molds. However, there are several important points, non-observance of which will immediately affect the quality of the tile. For example, sand. You can find several types of sand, which differ in particle size, weight, and composition.

Ordinary quarry or river sand is suitable for us, which has such characteristics as purity (for this it must be washed), uniformity, and the absence of impurities

Cement - a dry mix in paper bags - should be crumbly, fresh, not expired. If a couple of bags from a 10-year-old construction site are stored in your back room, it’s better to say goodbye to them, because you can’t get a good solution from such cement.

Here are some tips from professional builders to help you make a great mortar:

• If you notice small lumps in the dry mixture, it is better to sift the powder using a special sieve (10mm x 10mm meshes are enough for stone work, but a 5mm x 5mm sieve is required for plastering).
• The best type of cement for outdoor work is grade 300 or 400.
• Correctly determine the proportions of all three components. For paths, the traditional 1:3 ratio is ideal, where 1 part of cement accounts for 3 parts of sand. Bulk materials can be measured in buckets or other suitable containers.
• To give a certain shade or change some characteristics (viscosity, strength), modern components are added to the solution, for example, plasticizers or colored granules.

When preparing the solution, make sure that it does not become greasy, that is, containing a lot of binder. The greasy mass is plastic, easy to apply, but forms a composition that dries quickly and cracks over time - this is not suitable for garden paths. With a lack of a binder, we will get a lean cement that will harden for too long and also have unsuitable characteristics.

We need normal cement, after hardening it has excellent strength and wear resistance, and for this it is necessary to observe the proportions.

A bag of cement weighing 25 kg costs from 180 to 250 rubles. The price depends on the manufacturer, brand and quality of the dry mix

Water is added "by eye", at first a little, then topped up in small portions. The result should be a mass resembling thick sour cream in viscosity.

Preparation of cement mortar

Keep in mind that the ready-made mortar can be used for several hours, then it will be unsuitable for pouring, so pre-prepare the table, molds, stencils - everything that is needed for the production of road tiles.

Pour cement and sand into the container in thin layers - at least 5-6 layers should be obtained. This is necessary for high-quality, uniform mixing of the components. Stop when the total height of the “pie” reaches 25-30 cm. Then take a shovel and try to gently but intensively mix the components of the mixture: the more actively you move the shovel, the better the future solution will turn out.

The uniformity of a dry cement slurry can be determined by eye. If there are doubts about the purity of the mass, pass through a sieve again.

Water can be added only after you are convinced that the dry mixture is completely ready, or rather, that it is homogeneous. It is better to take a small container and add in small portions so as not to overdo it and not make the solution too liquid. Pour in water slowly, stirring lightly.

The mistake of novice builders is to experiment with the temperature of the poured liquid. Some believe that hot water will speed up the dilution process, and they heat it up on purpose, others pour ice liquid. Both are incorrect and can adversely affect the quality of the solution. The water must be the same temperature as the surrounding atmosphere - in our case, we are talking, of course, about the warm season.

Ready-to-use potting mix should be slightly thinner than brick-laying cement mortar.

Another nuance concerns the moisture content of the sand. Often use sand stored directly on the site. It is obvious that during the rain it could get wet. If you are using wet, heavier sand, add even less liquid. Is the solution ready? Start filling. Depending on the density and viscosity of the composition, you have 1-3 hours to pour the solution into molds.

Not everyone likes boring gray paths that resemble urban asphalt streets or concrete roads, so we bring to your attention the process of making tiles, conditionally called mosaic. Our tiles are far from the masterpieces of Spanish or Italian professional masters, however, beautiful even squares with ornaments of multi-colored stones against the backdrop of garden greenery look just great.

The size of the tile depends on your garden path project. Large, with a side of 50 cm, can be laid in one row - you get a narrow path, small (30-40 cm) - in two or three parallel rows or even out of order

Unlike ordinary tiles, consisting of one cement mortar, our option implies the presence of an additional "weighty" component - stones. They can be large or small, plain or multi-colored, round or flat. Stones can be replaced with fragments of ceramic or tile, pebbles - the main thing is that they do not slip during rain.

Multi-colored stones for tiles were taken on the banks of a nearby river. If you are unlucky with water bodies or just the banks of the river turned out to be sandy, do not worry - stones of the required fraction can always be purchased at one of the construction companies

The basis for the tiles is a cement mortar prepared according to the standard scheme described above. We take the classic formula: for 1 part of cement, 3 parts of river sand. We prepare the mixture in a large container, using a small plastic measuring container.

It is also possible to dilute the solution in portions, separately for each tile, but this process will be very long and laborious, so we prepare the solution in an amount that is enough to fill 6-8 pre-prepared home-made forms.

The forms have a simple design and are boxes with low walls formed by boards 30-50 cm long. The thickness of the prepared tiles can be from 5 cm to 15 cm

Carefully fill the molds covered with plastic wrap, lubricated with oil (used machine will do). To ensure that the tiles are of the same thickness, we put an equal amount of cement mixture. For accuracy, you can draw lines along the edges of the boards indicating the height of the tile.

We carefully level the surface of the cement mortar - we prepare it for laying stones. It is important to maintain the required consistency of the mass, as the stones will fall into a too liquid solution

Without waiting for the solution to set, lay the stones on the surface. Even before preparing the solution, you can conduct a kind of rehearsal by laying out the stones in the box “dry” in order to find out the approximate number of stones needed for 1 tile.

It is necessary to start from the corners - so the tile will be stronger, and the stone pattern will be clearer and more correct. If you use stones of different sizes, then try to lay larger ones around the perimeter

We continue to lay stones one by one, creating a natural or geometrically correct pattern. You can alternate elements of different sizes or different colors.

When laying out the perimeter, we try to ensure that the long side of the cobblestones lies along the edge. This will prevent the base from breaking off at the edges after long use and prolong the life of the garden path.

First, lay out larger stones, then fill in the empty spaces with small ones. The result is a beautiful multi-colored tile that looks just like the factory counterpart.

On the sample, the stones are laid out in a natural order. There are other options - in a checkerboard pattern, in a spiral, in rows diagonally, herringbone, etc.

The elements protruding outwards are a shortened life of the tile and grief for those who will walk on it, so we carefully press all the stones inward so that their upper planes are even with the concrete base.

We also use improvised tools to level the surface and tamp stones. In this case, we needed a construction trowel left after plastering work.

So, all active work on creating tiles is completed, it remains to wait. So that the concrete does not become covered with cracks, it must be moistened 1-2 times a day. After 3-4 days, it will mature, the frozen material will move away from the walls of the formwork, and the tile can be removed, freeing the form for the next portion of the solution.

The finished tile can be immediately laid in place. Usually this is a prepared base - a sand and gravel "layer cake" leveled and fenced with curbs.

The tile is suitable for the construction of paths or areas of any size and shape.

Concrete mortar is useful not only for pouring into molds, but also for creating a solid coating from individual tiles - for this it is necessary to fill the joints between the tiles with a cement mixture or use it as an adhesive

The path, on which a minimum of budgetary funds have been spent, looks amazing, especially if there are other structures created from stone and cement mortar on the site.

Magnificent wrought iron gates and a high stone fence are the perfect backdrop for a garden path made of river stones. And note - everywhere an ordinary cement mortar prepared by oneself plays an important role

And finally - a great video on how to properly prepare a cement mortar and pour it into tile molds: