How do I level (screed) the concrete over an area that is wider than my screed board.
You can tackle this several ways. The professionals will drive grade stakes inside the forms at convenient intervals (less than the width of the screed board). The grade stakes will have the proper level marked on the stake, usually a nail in a wooden stake. You can place some concrete in the forms and using the grade stakes as a guide, begin screeding the concrete. As you get the proper grade on the concrete, you can pull the grade stakes. As you can tell, this requires a little experience to get it just right, but beginners can do it with less accuracy.
Another method is to get a probe, such as a stick or steel stake, mark it with the depth you want the concrete to be, then place the concrete in the forms. Screed the concrete and probe to ensure the proper depth. This is not as efficient as the first method, but it will get the job done with a little more effort. You can set construction joints (1×4’s, metal keyway forms, etc) inside the forms at intervals of 25-30 times the depth of the slab. You can use these as screed guides.
Finally, you can set screed guides inside the forms using 2×4’s and stakes so that the bottom of the 2×4’s are at the top of where you want the concrete to be. Nail ears on the end and top of your screed board so that when you set the screed board on the screed guides, the bottom of your screed board is even with the bottom of the screed guide, thus level with the top of where your concrete will be. Once you get your concrete down and screeded, you can pull these screed guides and fill in the stake holes and re-level by eye.
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Lauren Concrete was founded in 1986 by Ronnie Klatt in Austin, Texas. The company continues to be family owned and operated. The primary business offices are located in Austin and Round Rock.
Lauren Concrete operates 8 batch plants which are strategically located along the I-35 corridor. We proudly serve the Austin area communities including: Austin, Kyle, Buda, Bastrop, Elgin, Manor, Pflugerville, Round Rock, Hutto, Lakeway, Leander, Cedar Park, Liberty Hill, Bertram, and Georgetown.
To accompany our impressive Ready Mix Fleet, we own and operate Tanker and Aggregate Haul Truck divisions. In 2002 we acquired our first fully operational sand and gravel mine with over 20 million tons of reserves. This operation provides Lauren a steady supply chain and our customers’ peace of mind in an area where material shortages are common.
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Lauren Concrete delivers results via technology. We implement state of the art technologies to ensure our customers supreme attention to detail. All Lauren vehicles are equipped with the latest in GPS technology. Our fully automated system provides vehicle location and status information in real-time to fleet managers and dispatchers. The positioning system is fully integrated into our dispatching system which results in greater efficiency and allows us to better meet our customers scheduling requirements.
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