For most smaller scale self-build or DIY projects you may be tempted to mix your own concrete on site, or have ready mixed concrete delivered and barrowed from the mixer to where you need it.
What if there was an easier, more cost-effective way?
The team at North West Ready Mix have written a short article to talk you through the benefits of concrete pumping.
Save time and money
Pumped concrete is typically used on large commercial, industrial and civil engineering projects, but is becoming increasingly available to domestic customers who require only a few cubes of concrete, perhaps for garage or kitchen extension footings.
Rather than have labourers on site struggling to barrow concrete product to where it’s needed, you could take the pain out of the process by using a ground line pump. That’s much quicker than what’s possible with barrows and frees up your labourers to work on jobs elsewhere on site. Barrowing is also arduous work and often requires extensive preparation, for example by laying boarding to ensure wheelbarrows can reach the areas on site where the concrete is required.
Ideal for sites that are difficult to access
Perhaps you’re managing a small site with limited room to manoeuvre, or a site with narrow access that prevents barrowing from the concrete mixer to where you need the concrete?
This is where a ground line pump with steel or flexible hosing comes into its own. A hose can be threaded in between narrow gaps and even right through buildings. Easy to install, once in position you can simply press a button and watch as up to 35m3 of concrete flows.
Where it’s necessary to pump over a high wall, a building or indeed to a higher floor of an office or apartment block, then a boom pump may be required.
Less waste and less mess
Pumping is a fast, clean way to get concrete right where you need it, while barrowing is a messy business that leads to spillages that require clean-up before the concrete sets. That’s time and money saved.
Mixing concrete by hand on site is even messier again, but is the most appropriate solution if you require less than 1m3 of concrete, as it wouldn’t be economical for a concrete company to deliver such a small volume of product.
For amounts in excess of a cube, however, pumping is the way to go. It may seem slightly more expensive initially, but once you do the maths and factor in the various potential cost savings, pumped concrete almost always works out more cost-effective than the labour intensive approaches we’ve talked about here.
