Soil Cement Basement Floor, DIY, will it work?
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- čas přidán 21. 03. 2020
- I discovered soil cement on the internet and wanted to see if it would work in a basement. I also wanted to try a new way of doing it with a sand mix on top. The house I did this experiment in has had a dirt floor since it was built. There were major dampness issues. I wanted to try a inexpensive option to getting the floor somewhat finished. To do this easier and to mix it better use a cultivator!! How it was done- I pulled back the gravel and loosened the soil. I mixed about 7 or 8 40kg bags of Portland cement into the soil while mixing the gravel back in with the sandy soil. I tried to mix the soil with the cement about 3/5 inchs to 4 inches down or thck. I than wet the soil cement down with as much water you would use to water a garden, than I tamped it twice with a hand tamper. I wouldn't use to much water, it depends on how moist the soil is to begin with. The cement hardened up over night. I gave the soil cement a small shower of water once a day for about 3 days. A couple days later I mixed up a sand mix cement and also bought some bags of pre mixed sand mix cement. I smoothed the sand mix on top of the soil cement, a layer about 1\4 inch to 1 inch max in areas to smooth the surface. I also gave the sand mix on top a mist of water for a couple of days. The soil cement made it through the winter with no heat in the house at all and temperatures dropped to freezing in the basement and it did not crack. The floor will be a year old soon. The area I have used the soil cement in is now way dryer. The cost of this is probably about 15% of the cost to poor and finish it properly but there is some work involved. I do not recommend this its only an experiment for entertainment purposes only. Thanks! for Watching Please like or Subscribe @kurtscottage if you like my content. Peace Out
Someone might comment "You need expansion joints or it's gonna crack." And it would outside in the elements. But below grade, there is little variation in temperatures. Unequal heating/cooling accounts for crack due to expansion/contraction. Very efficient use of resources and labor. Goof Job!!!
This is steps above what I was hoping to do in my basement, even if I just mixed it in and let it stabilize the dirt (but I was worried I'd kick up cement dust when I'm working down there). Thank you for showing the results after the winter!
Your welcome 👍, it still amazes me when I go down there and don't see any cracks. Yes you will defiantly have cement dust flying around, I wore a respirator and had a fan sucking the dust out the window.
Great vid, no extra crap, and great content! Btw you troweling the cement was very satisfying!
Sweet man - I'm moving into an old house with a dirt floor. Might have to do this!
Great work, very clever, plan on doing this in my basement
We have a large unfinished room in our basement; it was a coal room back in the day. I wanted to finish the room but didn't have a clue. Can't afford to hire a contractor, and town would probably give me a hard time. Then I came across your video! I think I have the perfect solution for that room now! Thanks so much for your video and content. I'm a subscriber now.
Pure inspiration.....many thanks!
Absolutely brilliant
huh pretty genius actually, going to try this myself. thanks
Unbelievable ! thank you for the idea
Thanks so Much Kurtscottage" for sharing ! I'm disabled after working 17yrs for a company that I happen to get injured on, and not very constructive when it comes to home improvements, but yet a very Creative mind for using what I have, or refurbish, and always been cost conscious. So what a great opportunity you have provided for me to do improvements to unfinished area ! God bless ! Keep doing what You do & Being Who You Are, You have A Gift for Instructing & A kind voice & Personality. Thanks Again, Penney C.
Thank you so much!
This is exactly what I want to do. Thank you for video
Thank you. This is very helpful.
Brilliant!
This video has made my week! I've already started prepping my basement! Thanks!
Did you make a video?
how's it holding up?
Kurt! I just finished Phase 1 of my dirt basement's Soil Cement process. Digging up all that dank af dirt was brutal, one of the worst project preps ever. But H*ly Shihhh!!! The next morning the dirt floor was as hard as a rock! Just watering it and letting it cure. Looking forward to putting on the sand mix layer and having a nice area for storage and a shop. Thanks for the vid!!!
Wow that's awesome 👍👍 hopefully it helps dry up your basement, and you can have more usable space. Its not as good as concrete but way better than dirt. You're Welcome
This is great ! Adding a acid wash to it makes it look like marble. Very cool !!
W
You add acid wash to the soup cement mixture for the marble look?
This is what i was looking for, thanks
Glad it could help, you're welcome. I need to do an update video the floor still looks perfect
Awesome channel
Looks fun
This will still let a lot of moisture into the house. Ideally you'd want a layer of polyethylene sheet under your floor. But you can probably salvage it by painting the floor with a vapor retarding concrete floor paint.
question, as this type of technique + poly has been recommended in the past. I have an earth-floor crawlspace which will not be used as a living space, but I am trying to avoid moisture and mold coming up into the house. Would the poly be on top of the cement and sand? Like loosely place on top of?
@@danielapinna1259 You don't have to use this technique to stop moisture. You can just use the poly and lay it down directly on the dirt and it will stop the moisture.
For footpaths and driveways, l reckon if you compact the ground under the driveway with a whacker, then stone dust Portland cement sand rock and soil , bound on the edges with pavers , then pave , over the whole lot.allow a couple of weeks drying, covered with hessian, keep it damp.
It's been 3 years would like to see how it's held up.
If you add latex , the stuff you mix with paints when ordering custom colors, you can buy by the gallon or 5 gal bucket, I think, at local Home Depot, I think you can further stabilize the soil, it is more expensive than without it, but it will also prevent from cracking, if in doubt. I am considering doing this in a backyard 350 ft x 5ft track I built for running RC and regular go karts also for making daily backyard walks more comfortable, but without using cement into the dirt but tilling and compacting moist until hard then adding the stabilizer, latex, to the surface, in a couple to few coats, to stabilize and moisture proof it, this is not my preferred method, but considering I want a little more rustic look on the pathway, to blend in with natural desert landscaping, this is one inexpensive option compared to 4 inch concrete slab or even a 2x6 treated wood boardwalk. By the way I've been watching how they stabilize roads commercially and the stuff they use to stabilize the dirt after tilling and compacting it is a milky substance, I have no doubt it is simply latex same as used for water base paints, as when cured, it really bonds particles together, remains flexible, and can last a long time, when properly maintained. Like a well painted house. For a walk path or something to the effect I am doing I think this would be a good option. I have not decided yet as I am still researching the options, reason I am stumbling on these types of videos.
Add latex paint or latex cement?
@@AliAbdullah-oi3wc latex rubber in the shape of holes so he can drop and do some push-ups as exercise but with a great incentive. Basically his intire trail will be 1 giant sex toy
Or its more than likely acrylic!
Just saw this and subscribed. I have a dirt crawlspace that I want to lay concrete on top of.
Thanks! and good luck with your floor.
bodies wont be found now... ;)
i tamped and lvld before watering for 3-4 days (was hot summer days.) . 2 days would have been fine. turned out much smoother than urs. but i like the top coat u did. i may do this just to bring together the 4 sections i did in my floor. how thick did u go with ur top coat? my floor is dry so i wonder if it will wrk.
I want to do this except with an earthen floor overvtop
Do you think you could have made the first step wetter and just bullfloat that
looking for ideas for my pole barn floor thanks
did you happen to try this? Im looking this up specifically for my pole-barn as well. pretty large space, prob rent a tiller, but I wanted to know if you did it and how it is 2 years later.
@@kylerodgers2045 I used graph paper the green color sheets. Each square is now 6". the inside walls are around 6" so it worked out nice. I tried it a couple times till i found the plan that worked for me. my home is 32x48. I even made furn to place in the rooms to help
if possible it would be best to put a vapor barrier under a slab
Will this work for a drive way im trying to do this im on a budget
Great! 15 minutes of watching you rake rocks. Very informative if you want to watch someone rake rocks.
How much money in materials was it for you?
i think a plate compactor might have left it much smoother
As a gravel hauling guy, I was hoping it was just a blob of concrete on the dirt. I have customers that do that and ask what went wrong. But you put a bunch of stone in the subgrade.
At 4:29, once you water and tamper it down then I notice you rough up the surface again, water and tamper it down again...why the repeating same process? Please answer soon as I am about to start doing my shop floor. Thank you.
Think he was just leveling the uneven area!
how much portland cement do you use?
I'm in the outback in Australia so I was gonna try this on dirt lol n try make a little skate area
Did you try and did it work ? You got video ?
@@israfil1534 not yet
@@Cooky_Oner.. take a video if you do ? I’m buyin a house and my basement has dirt floor and I’m thinking of doing something like this on it
@@israfil1534 yeah im abit broke atm so i dont even know if i will do it tbh
I made a soil cement for my pergola and look rough¯ I will Copy your idea to made the top smooth. Thanks¯ I was not sure the outcome. I saredio do much money DIY
is this where you buried jfk ?
How's the radon level?
I'm in central Florida where I have lot with a lot of powdery soft white sand. I want to build an 8x8 shed floor using 10% Portland but I want to mix it in place with a drill mixer, spray and tamp. Wonder if it will work?
Did you ever do this project? If so Id like to know how the sand worked out? We have 100% sand here and Id like to try this for a backyard patio area. Ty and have a great day!
@@sandraw9718 Hi. I've had success turning my pure sand soil into something I can drive over by mixing in enough portland and bonding agent and tamping down. But in spots where the sand is endless you need some kind of base like gravel. Next time I go up to the property i want to test putting a pvc mesh about a foot under, but it's a lot of digging and moving of sand by hand. Are you in central Florida?
Hi! May I ask what ratio you used ? Also which bonding agent or what type? (Was a bonding agent recommended for use with sand?)
We live in Northern Michigan...so pretty much a prehistoric lake bed that became a swamp and then a forest lol so we have a ½ of topsoil and then sand for 5 feet or so then clay.
@@sandraw9718 I was hardly scientific about it. I recommend you do a test.. This is called "soil cement" and there are some videos online, but none for driving over.
How is it holding up a year+ later?
It's holding up perfectly, It still surprises me how there's no cracks and it seems to get harder. I'll try and make a update video
How long should I wait before topping with the sand cement?
To be honest I can't really remember how long I waited exactly, I think within a week or after a few days would be fine, you don't want the sand cement to dry out to much before topping. I believe I lightly broomed off and dampened the soil cement with a mist before topping, It's sorta like parging.
This was just a experiment it defiantly doesn't compare to a real concrete floor, but I think It's way better than a dirt or gravel floor. I looked at the floor the other day no cracks or hollow spots and it seems to be even harder, still amazes me.
I'll try and make an update video, but I'm so busy with other projects. Good luck
Meanwhile nobody has seen your wife in months.
Really ? So he is the killer?
I will bring this video to police station..
Thank you for your helping
He is working faster than I’ve ever seen anyone work😳😂
2 to 6 lol! You do th math!
Anybody ever epoxy over a soil cement floor?
Does this workwith stone dust?
I'm no expert, but in my research, stone dust is too fine. You need something more gritty that the cement can surround and bind to.
Is it waterproof?
It would be if you laid plastic down 1st
Hows it held up?
It looks good so far no cracks and seems to be harder now. I recorded some new footage the other day, I will try and add it to the end of an upcoming video.
You should tile over it or something and make a man 👨 cave
i mix it with water and pour on the floor and its look like real concrete.. hahaha..
no bodies, eh?
2mm cement slab😂 at least he tried it so I didn't have to
Just pour concrete, it's not hard
I agree 100% its less effort than it took him ! Plus i know dirt and cement might get hard but what about 10 or 20 yrs down the road? Theres a reason you mix clean sand and gravel with cement to get concrete! But i guess for a cheap short term thing what the hell! Just dont tile over it! Lol Hey you pay your money and you takes your chance!