Is it worth using expired cement: I share my own experience

The Internet is simply bursting with useful advice for all occasions. Here you can find information on how to get rich quickly, find a soul mate or build a house very cheaply. But how effective are these tips? Few people checked them, but on our forum there was a person who tested the technology of using expired cement. What happened to him - read on.

What prompted me to buy a delay

A few years ago, a friend of mine told me that his enterprise was selling a huge batch of cement for a third of the price. Bag cement, stored in big bags. It turns out that it was purchased for some grandiose project, but the construction never began. As a result, he lay in the warehouse for five years. Plus, the roof was leaking in the warehouse and the top bags were petrified. But the product could be chosen - no one pushed the frank stone.

And I just planned a lot of concrete work in the yard: a blind area, paths, a platform for a car, a screed in the garage. The offer is tempting and timely. Well, I went to the Internet to see how you can use expired cement. There is a lot of information. Construction resources and various bloggers from the construction site unanimously declare that expired cement can be used. And they even apply a specific recipe: break up the lumps and mix them with normal cement in a 1: 1 ratio. They convinced me with their authority.

I went to look at the place, and there is already a stir: people are loading whole rangefinders of this cement. Well, this whetted my appetite even more and I decided to buy as much as three tons! As agreed, the big bags were allowed to be opened, the fossilized bags were sorted, and the normal ones were selected. I put 60 bags aside. Cost on the spot - 80 rubles. a piece. With delivery came out at 110 rubles per bag of delay. The benefit is good: it cost 240 rubles in the store then.

Application

Began in hot pursuit to prepare for the concreting of everything that can be concreted in the yard. I bought another two and a half tons of fresh M500 cement, as well as reinforcing mesh, crushed stone, sand. In addition, I went broke for this business on a concrete mixer.

The old cement had lumps, about 25-30% of the total volume. But this is not a bare stone, but solid loose lumps that broke without much difficulty. To simplify the task, I bought a special hand mixer with two beaters. The cement was sifted, the lumps were sent to a plastic tank and broken with a mixer. Of course, these lumps did not turn into dust - after processing, they resembled sand in consistency.

He began to concrete. First, the blind area, then the paths and areas under the canopy, in the yard and in front of the yard; and finally poured the screed in the garage. There was also enough cement for the tape under the fence in the backyard. It took a month and a half of work.

I mixed the cement not one to one, but about 40% new and 60% overdue. The cement mortar looked like normal, it didn't look like it was overdue. And after hardening, it was no different from ordinary concrete. In addition, I did not dry the concreted areas, but did it as expected: I covered it with cellophane and periodically watered it with water.

Result

The first one cracked, and then the area in front of the courtyard crumbled. It lasted two months. The load on it is the greatest - two cars regularly call in. The second one fell into disrepair under a canopy. She, too, began to collapse under the load from the weight of the machines. The concrete cracked at first, and then came off in pieces. That all the work was in vain - it became clear already in the fall: the concrete turned into a heap of stones. Although I poured the screed 10–12 cm, and under it I made a compacted crushed stone bedding.

I hoped that the paths and the blind area would stand without load. But it was not there! After the winter, the paths, and the blind area, and the tape under the fence crumbled. These constructions, one might even say, stratified rather than disintegrated. Apparently, the concrete absorbed water, and in the cold it simply collapsed. The screed lasts for now in the garage, since there is practically no load on it - we store all the rubbish there, but we do not put the car.

Now I feel sorry for both money and work. The losses are huge by my standards, and I extended my work for another season. Friends, do not believe the advice from the Internet, even if they are written by construction magazines! Expired cement is rubbish. If you have one, throw it out and under no circumstances use it. Forget about life hacks from pseudo-builders - they will do more harm than savings and benefits.

And who bought expired cement in large quantities?

By the way, I later found out who bought expired cement with whole rangefinders. These were the manufacturers of paving slabs. Probably, the tile went to some municipal facility. Well, what, apparently, it is profitable for the officials to renovate the sidewalks every two years. Otherwise, why buy such cement?

Have you used expired cement? Write in the comments!

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