You must have heard the word “Concrete” if you know little about construction. Have you ever wondered what concrete is? How it is used, and what role it plays in the construction? These are a few pieces of information you must know if you will construct a house. In this way, you can make yourself up-to-date with the concrete work process, ultimately helping you find the right solution.

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This article will provide you with all the relevant information related to concrete work. Once you get all these details, you will be able to make the best decision regarding the concrete works at your home and use the supreme material in the ideal ratio.

What is Concrete?

First of all, you should know four important components which constitute concrete. These are gravel (بجری), cement, sand and water, and together they make the concrete which is further used in construction.

Gravel and sand are called aggregates of concrete, while cement and water mixture make the paste. This paste is used to bind the aggregates, after which it gives a rock-like or stone look, which is called concrete.

What is the Concrete Ratio?

The concrete ratio is not specific or fixed; you can change it per your construction design. You can change the ratio as per your requirements for the building strength. A strong building demands a tight concrete ratio.

In general, we use these concrete ratios in house construction; 1 : 2 : 4, 1/1.5 : 5 : 3, or 1 : 4 : 8. Let’s make it easy for you to understand: 1 : 2 : 4 means 1 part of cement is mixed with 2 parts of sand and 4 parts of aggregates. In the same way, 1/1.5 : 5 : 3 means that 1/1.5 part of cement is mixed with 5 parts of sand and 8 of aggregates.

Key Point: Concrete of ratio 1 : 4 : 8 is called Lane Concrete which is quite weak in strength.

Relationship Between Concrete Ratio and Strength

The ratio of the concrete actually defines its strength. You can change the overall quality of the concrete by disturbing the ratio of cement, sand and gravel. For example, talking about the concrete ratio 1 : 2 : 4, which is used for 3000 pounds per square inch of concrete. In the same way, you can change the ratio and use the mixture for different types of construction.

Role of Water in Concrete Ratio

The quantity of water has immense importance for maintaining the balance of concrete. Water is used in concrete, considering the weight of cement in the concrete. Water to cement ratio is thought to be the essence of concrete and is used carefully. The less water will be in concrete, more strong it will be. If you add a high quantity of water, the concrete will be weak in strength. Due to its considerable importance, builders use a controlled quantity of water in concrete.

How to Mix the Concrete?

Generally, in house constructions, a mixture machine comes in many sizes. Half and full cement bag mixture machines are easily available in the market and frequently used in house-building. All the material is used by volume depending upon the concrete ratio in these machines.

There is an alternative to mixture machines, and that is batching or concrete plants. Many new housing societies do not allow the mixture machines to work inside. So the builders use batching plants at such places to prepare concrete for construction.

Key Point: Normally, the hit-and-trial method adds water to the concrete. It is estimated that the ideal water ratio is 20-25 litres against one cement bag.

Important Note: There is no such word lenter (لینٹر) in construction. The first level of the roof is called the slab, which is constructed first. After that, the top slab is added, and this is actually called the roof. In both these levels, the slab constructed after shuttering is wrongly called lenter (لینٹر), which is not an official word in construction.

What is Shuttering in Concrete?

First, you should know that concrete is a semi-solid mixture that can be moulded into any shape. In technical terms, we call it mould, formwork or shuttering. Due to the semi-solid nature of concrete, we can cast any shape out of it by using the formwork. As soon as the concrete is put into the formwork, it takes shape after drying. This new shape is actually called shuttering and is frequently used in construction.

Setting Time of Concrete

The concrete should be poured into the desired area as soon as it is prepared in the mixture machine. After that, concrete has two stages:

Initial Setting: In the initial stage, concrete gets partially set in 45-50 minutes.

Final Setting: Getting the concrete set fully takes around 6 hours. In winter, the setting time goes up to 8-20 hours.

Importance of Concrete in Roof Construction

Concrete is considered the best roof material due to its extensive strength, durability and long life. These are three main advantages due to which concrete is preferred over any other material. Although in old times, people used to construct roofs of wood or soil, they did not have the utility as good as concrete.

Concrete Strength

Concrete is an excellent material in compression but quite poor in case tension is applied to it. It can bear a huge pressure, but if you pull it or produce tension in it, the result could be disastrous.

How to Resolve the Tension Issue of Concrete

The process used to enhance the strength of concrete to bear the tension is called Reinforced Cement Concrete (RCC). In this process, steel bars (سریا) are added to the concrete, which makes concrete strong for tension as well as compression.

Usage of Concrete

• Concrete is used to construct slabs, projections, or vanities in washrooms and kitchens.
• Concrete is also used in making the foundation of houses.
• All the walls of the basement are also constructed using concrete.
• Concrete is also used to construct frame structures above the brick masonry in big houses.

Closing Remarks

We hope that after reading this article, you have the entire idea about the concrete process. Now you can complete the concreting work at your house without facing any kind of issue. If you still think you are confused about this process, you can contact us through our website, tameereasy.com.