I was adding way too much water to the mix for a solid year.

I kept getting hairline cracks in my flatwork, especially on driveways. A guy I worked with in Phoenix last summer watched me pour and said, 'You're making soup, man.' He showed me his slump test on the same truck load, and his mix was way stiffer. I cut my water by about 15% from my old habit, and the next three pours had zero cracks. How do you judge the right workability without going overboard on water?

3 comments

3 Comments

anderson.david1mo ago

Man, the slump test is your best friend here.

xena11mo ago

Honestly, is a full slump test always needed? Seems like a lot of fuss for what might just be a stiff back from sleeping wrong. Sometimes a bit of rest and gentle movement fixes things without turning it into a big medical check. Not every ache means something serious is wrong.

jana_fox5019d ago

Phoenix is brutal on concrete, but I'm with @anderson.david here, the slump test is not that hard. 15% less water fixed your cracks so you clearly found the limit, no need to overthink it into a science project lol.