Paving part of a field for a basketball court / rink?

Question

I would like to pave part of the field next to my house for a basketball court in the summer and an ice rink in the winter - like they do in some public parks. There's a fair amount of stone in the field. Location is southeastern Ontario. Suggestions as to materials and costs???

Answer 1

okay. i do not know much but i just tried to pick the brains of my friend who does know much. he says to make the actual concrete you want crushed aggregate because that is the strongest. smooth edges means less gripping power of the cement.

round rocks are only used for topping on concrete, like if u want it to appear pebbled/surfaced.

lava rocks/porous types are not good aggregate because they are not solid; they are what makes cinder blocks.

i think all that means u are unlikely to be wanting to use ur own rocks to make the concrete unless bringing in rock is a cost u want to forgoe. Like here it costs next to nothing to get a load of rock dumped in the back of ur pickup. like $5. so no big deal. But if it WAS a big deal, and i do not know about this cause my friend is gone, but u might be able to use non-machine crushed rock since u only will have people walking on it and not heavy equipment? the stress load may permit a pretty wide window of discretion? i do not know if there are other considerations. Perhaps the crushed aggregate also keeps UPward stresses from occuring? like freeze heave?

well anyway..

You can use 3/8 -  3/4 inch size rocks as aggregate for making concrete. Larger ones only for road base, like 1.5 inches. 3/4 inch size is the strongest, if u go down to 3/8 it weakens the mix.

to separate them they use a screen.

and then they use sand and fly ash.

there is actually a lot of chemicals u can add. he mentioned calcium to bind it/make it strong or such. i have heard of some to make it set quick or to make it take a long time to dry. long drys make it good, maybe stronger i think. but long drys done wrong make it very bad. There might be something that affects the surface of the slab? like it makes it smoother or like a skin..this might be more than u want to know. more than u need to know. because i was just looking around and there are quite a few sites that talk about how to do this and actually i have not read them. it may be i am giving u unapplicable knowledge. but so you might need a sealent too?

He didn't really want to give me a price because he said it might vary depending on how close ur sources are. He says there is a main place they get cement and then it gets shipped. i pulled his teeth tho and he said that almost all jobs here cost the same...$150 USd for 8 yards of premix.

this might be cheap cause he is used to working close to Portland, Oregon. and Portland cement is what they use for making concrete...

premix means a truck comes and pours into your forms a ready made mix of aggregate/sand and cement.

or you can make your own from the things i listed. the Portland cement would be bought by the bag from the hardware or home supply store or somewhere.

Once cement is mixed it has only a certain amount of time until it needs to be poured. Old cement is weak. I do not know if there are ways to guarantee the guys in the truck have good stuff but i think it looks just a bit different and pours a bit stiff and later you can tell by the way it appears after it dries and or the way it cracks.

cracking can also come from a few other things? too wet or too dry<i forget which. and slab thickness i think/and or combined with/in relation to the distance between spacers/too far will crack especially combined with too thin or, less often, too thick.

the spacer materials have different properties. there might be just one kind that all real dudes know about? idk. but i do know that over history there has been different kinds with different properties. some give more. some last longer and idk what else.

Your rock might go good for a foundation? like if u excavated and needed a base or such due to soft land or slope? the deeper it was probably the bigger rocks you could use. an excavation of this type might be what he was talking about when he said road beds and how you use 1.5 inch rock to make them.

excavations/gravel beds (also) provide for drainage. Like u may want to avoid erosion. sometimes they even lay channels or pipes i think, maybe perforated pipe like they do in retaining walls?

how to build links, none of which i have looked at. but each category should be looked at. ha ha.

also maybe do u need a building permit. prolly not but hey just thought i'd say.

http://search.yahoo.com/search?p=diy+bas...



http://search.yahoo.com/search?p=diy+bas...

http://search.yahoo.com/search?p=heave+i...

optional:

http://www.wikihow.com/Special:LSearch?f...

a list of Canadian DIY forums:

http://www.ontarioequity.com/ontario_lin...

ps -

maybe put in holes so you can put up a tennis net or volley ball/badmitton. i guess cement tire bases would work though.

also there are probably texts on making jumps, ramps, berms or such for summer skating/skateboarding.