How difficult would it be to concrete/do a patio on your own?

Question

We had a little flowerbed by our patio. It had bricks on the edges, and the back is against the fence. We dug out to it is flat and now have our 2 rabbit hutches there, they are just on the mud.

We want to concrete over or put a patio over this bit, as we want to buy a new hutch, but the one we want does not have a bottom, it sits directly on the ground (it is supposed to go on grass). We thought we could just have it on concrete/patio.

How difficult would this be, and what are the things we will need e.g cement mixer? Is is worth attempting ourselves or should we get someone to do it? It is a small area, about 2ft wide and 8ft long.

Answer 1

Slabs is good advice. You can get the size that your are comfortable with handling. You can lay them on sand as they are only for walking on. Dig out about 6 ins. Lay about 2 ins of gravel and compact it well with an old fence post 4 x4, or similar. Then spread 2 ins sand with a rake. Lay the slabs on the sand. Job done!  It is unlikely that the slabs will move until several years, but it's easy to pop a bit of sand under the odd one. Also if you want a change you can easily lift them as required.

Answer 2

It's really easy.

My advice is to use slabs not concrete because realistically if you change your mind in 5 years you can just lift the slab whereas concrete would be difficult to get rid of not to mention it's kinda ugly plus slabs are easy to lay and you don't need to f***y about with a concrete mixer.

All you do is get the slabs and a load of sand. Put about a 2 inch layer of sand into the plot and the lay the slabs on the top.

Answer 3

For that size do it yourselves ....Try Wickes website they will have easy to use instructions on what and how to do it  

Answer 4

You can do a small job like this. Dig it out 4" deep - then compact with a hand tamper. Form the sides with 2" x 4" with wood stakes behind the forms on the ouside to keep them straight.

Buy 11 bags of concrete mix that you just add water to. Should be about 2/3 of a cubic foot per bag. If bag size differs just remember you have approx. 11 cubic feet to fill with concrete. Divide that number by how many cubic feet are in the bags you select.

mix up 3 bags in a wheelbarrow, add water slowly and mix, then add a little more. Do not get it thinner than a thick milk shake. Pour that batch in and quickly make another, Once you get all concrete mixed up and poured in the form, take a 2"x4" and seesaw it back and forth across the top of the form, smooth out concrete in front of board as you work your way across the top.Add concrete to any low spots as you go.

Run a float trowel across the surface - let it set for about 1/2 hour to an hour - then run a concrete trowel across the surface. To make it look better use an edger to run across the edges of the slab. Wait a coupleof days and then pull the forms.

You can buy cheap concrete trowels,edgers at the home centers when you get the concrete.

Answer 5

Yep - do it yourself.  Homebase and B&Q do the same thing - leaflets on what to buy and how to do it. Hiring a cement mixer would be OTT for that size I would have thought.  (Actually you don't need one for laying slabs - the cement/sand should be moist - not wet).

Basic steps are

Mark out with pegs and string to get it level.

Dig out foundations

Good layer of sand for foundations

Moist sand / cement mix layer to place slabs on

Position and level up slabs (you may want a slight slope for drainage reasons).

Dry sand/cement mix swept into cracks

Water in.

When dry, put bunnies back.

Answer 6

No, it`s not too difficult, with a bit of basic knowledge,  Hard work tho if you haven`t a cement mixer - it might be better to find an odd-job man who needs work to do it for you...unless you can mobilize friends and family to help you.

Re the Rabbit Hutch (you can only put a bottomless hutch on grass if you can put a wire barrier on the ground under it - Rabbits will easily dig down into a lawn and escape - mine did!)

And of course you need something like wood for his floor anyway, as concrete would be too cold, even with bedding. The ideal solution might be having the hut up off the ground a bit - (on legs) with a floor with gaps in it to allow urine to filer thro, and to allow a bit of air- circulation  into the smelly hutch.

Answer 7

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