The Concrete Barmy Army is a crew of skateboarders from Austria with a passion for building skate spots made out of concrete. After creating a skate plaza, different ledges, parking blocks and builds at public places we gained expertise during the time working with this material. In this issue we’ll give you a short guideline on equipment and “How to mix proper concrete by hand”.
At first, check the location of your D.I.Y. spot and make a list of all necessary materials, tools and preparation work. If you decide to fill up a small crack on the floor, you are ready to go with an instant concrete mix and a small trowel; both available at your local hardware store. When your project is going to be bigger, you have to plan your steps in detail to avoid a waste of money, time, and sometimes tickets from the police if you get busted while doing an illegal build on a public place.
The basic shaper equipment contains different sizes and shapes of steel and magnesium trowels with rounded and square edges, a small spade or shovel, a rake, a big plastic bucket, and some empty tins used for the mixing procedure. It is also important to wear gloves when working with concrete to avoid damages to your skin.
To receive the best results, you have to know how to mix concrete properly. Concrete is a mixture of cement, fine sand, gravel, and water. Research online, or at your local hardware store, what type of cement fits best for your project as there are big differences available.
You can create concrete different ways. Using 1 part cement, and 4 parts fine sand, mixed up with water works great for smooth surfaces like manual pads, curbs or ledges. If you need to bulk up a bigger amount you can also use 1 part cement, 2 parts sand, and 3 parts gravel, combined with water.
HERE’S HOW:
1.Check the necessary amount of materials for your project.
2.Take a big plastic tube and add a correct ratio of cement (1 part), sand (2 parts) and gravel (3 parts). Notice: To measure out the correct ratio it can be helpful to work with same sized buckets, prefilled, with the materials.
3.Once you have added all materials into the big plastic tub, mix it with a spade, rake or shovel to ensure they are well combined. It is good to have the dry mix ready before adding water.
4.Add a small amount of water and stir it into your mixture. Notice: Cement that contains too much water is about half as strong as properly mixed concrete. Be sure to read manufacturer’s labels before adding the correct amount of water.
5.Check your mixture while stirring occasionally. If it’s to soupy, add cement, if it’s to dry, add a small amount of water.
6.Mix until the finished cement reaches the correct thickness.
7.Now you can use the concrete at your spot.
8.We recommend to work with magnesium trowels at first, and finishing the spot with steel trowels. This can be done in a few rounds for several hours. Notice: The more you shape the concrete surface, the smoother it will get. Try to keep the concrete and your tools wet during this procedure.
9. After concrete is placed, it increases in strength very quickly for a period of 3-7 days and will still cure for several weeks.
10. Now the spot should be ready for a skate session.
By Florian Kitzmuller