My roof drains into a spout that runs down the back of my house. The spout goes into a small concrete box that has two pipes leading from it. The pipes run under my back yard and go to a storm drain at the back edge of my property.
A while back, the bottom of the concrete box broke. Water has been soaking into the ground instead of going through the pipes to the storm drain. Fortunately, there has been no water damage to my house. The broken box is away from my house. But it was high time that I should fix it. And yesterday I did.
I got a trowel to work the concrete, but ended up using my hands almost exclusively. You’re not supposed to use your hands when working with wet cement because it can burn your skin. My skin didn’t burn, but it did dry my hands out a little.
Here are the before and after shots:
The water eroded the bottom and sides.
The water should just flow right down.
Only some of the water was getting to the pipes. Much of it was just going into the ground.
Now all the water should go into the pipes.
It’s not supposed to rain for a while now, so I should be able to have a slow, controlled cure. I have it covered with plastic to keep the concrete moist. The slower it dries, the stronger the final result.
Wow! That looks great!
I second Deborah’s ‘Wow!’ That is amazing! Who knew you were also a concrete guy? (There’s a pun in there somewhere….. A solid guy? Nah. I was wrong.)
Wow. It’s worth saying again.
I’m becoming convinced that with almost any home repair skill, it’s all about just being willing to do it. There is a ton of information out there on working with concrete and doing repair patchwork. I read/watched a bunch of it, saw what everyone said was good to do first, second, third, etc, and imitated them. I’m sure this is not as good as a concrete expert would do, but it’s good enough for a water drain. And if it fails, it’s a small thing to break apart and do over.
Excellent job! And it’s clear where you got some of your online information:
http://www.tubechop.com/watch/6488817
Ha!
That’s the way I am after a shower too. The slower I dry, the stronger the results.
……I got nuttin’…but it seems there should be a snappy retort here, doesn’t it?
How are you at repointing mortar on a brick house? Your second career could be masonry I’m thinking, and we need a little work done around here. Have your girl call our girl, eh? 😉
You Definitely Are A “BRAD Of All Trades!!!” 🙂
Brad,
Concrete heats up as it cures. The cooler it stays while curing, the harder it will be. It might help to spray a little water on it now and again to take some of the heat out of it, helping it harden. You can Google for information such as:
http://www.stanleytools.com/xhtml/p_concrete.htm
It might prevent that nice job (!) from cracking and crumbling at some point.
Dumb me. I didn’t read your post well. “I have it covered with plastic to keep the concrete moist. The slower it dries, the stronger the final result.”
You have it under control. Delete both of these comments.
No! Do not delete! Comments are the payoff of a website!! 🙂