Mind the Gapp

Maybe I should call this the ‘concrete counter chronicles’? 

Anyway, I snapped away the forms and this is what I got. Not bad. I would recommend, when pouring, to: 

1.  Reach into the bucket of mix, grab a handful of cement and put the mix into the front area of the form and press down on the mix. That will ensure you get the mix fully into the front of the forms an avoid larger pockets at the bottom front of the form. You could probably also use a dowel to tamp on the mix. Regardless.. do it so no gaps form.
2. Make liberal use of the sander to vibrate the form and reduce the air bubbles. 

For #1 you can see that, if you move from left to right, I did not push the mix on the left and I did as I moved to the right. I screwed this up because it was just me mixing and pouring and I was rushing. Bad move as I had plenty of time to work the mix.

Regarding mixing in a 5 gallon bucket… I offer a basic pointer. From the 2nd bag forward I mixed the concrete in 10, 30, 30, 30. I mixed water and 10% of the bag to start, got that going with enough water to get the mix pretty wet. Add more concrete, add water, mix. Repeat until the entire bag is in the bucket. Pick up and pour. 

I found that to be easiest way to mix and make sure I didn’t have dry areas of concrete at the bottom of bucket. 

I may make up a slurry and fill the pinholes along the front.