Mixing cement with dirt - does it work well?

[amamaofmany]

you could always use the baged concrete to make some pavers with a home made mold.

You know what? Somewhere around here, I have a purchased mold for making pavers! I liked the pattern on it and thought to use it long ago for a little walkway. I never did, and I'm sure we still have it as I don't remember giving it to anyone or selling it.

I'll bet the thing is in the garage somewhere.

I'll see if I can dig that up. I'd need it for enough pavers for a 16 foot long by 4 foot wide area.

Either that or found-bricks. And I'm pretty good at finding freebies.

I'll see what the DH wants to do about that space. Or rather, what he plans to have our Dear Eldest Son do about that space!

 

[tcjim]

You can mix cement with about 4 part sand to make ferro cement. With ferro cement you also put a mesh like chicken wire in to add strength. You must use sand and not top soil. If you use any organic matter it will weaken the slab. Ferro cement can be extremly strong at only 1 inch thick. Sand is used in concrete to fill the voids between the stone as it is cheaper than cement. Think about it sand is just broken down stone. By the way people have been making boats out of ferro cement since about 1850.

best of luck tcjim

 

[tcjim]

oh yeh when you mix sand with cement it's call motar.

 

[patandchickens]

It depends what you mean "work well"

It DOES produce a fairly hard surface that is pretty durable until it starts to heave and crack. As you can imagine, it *will* heave and crack, and gradually break up -- how rapidly this renders it useless depends very much on your climate and how much frostheave you get -- but in the meantime it is pretty useful if your purpose is to discourage digging or create a raised not-so-muddy surface.

I would do it in a coop (I've seen it used in horse barns, to good effect)... but I would NOT do it *under* a raised coop, because there is no way you will be able to repair or remove it once it starts to get cr*pped up.

If you are concerned the chickens will dig dustholes (becoming mudholes or ponds in wet weather) under the coop, I'd suggest large pavers, properly installed.

Good luck, have fun,

Pat

 

[elishatenisha]

works well if you dig under the topsoil and use a red or grey clay best way to use clay is to pulverize, dry in the sun and then use if you dont dry it first it wont bond

 

[lihvacrmike7]

it comes down to climate and soil profile if your area -- I've seen it done here on long island and you'll only get 2 years out of it -- we have too many freeze/thaw cycles combined with wet/nasty early winters -- also most of our soil here is like 2 feet of moderately nutrient rich loosely packed dark brown stuff (seems not as 'active' as some of the wet black topsoil full of decomposing organic materials ) .. under that is silt and beach sand out the yingyang... so if you live in an arid region with a good amount of clay in the soil, you're ideal... here your best bet would be ferro cement, as someone noted.. the trick is the curing it, properly and thoroughly.. i would really like to see some pics if anyone did this.. theres a lotta science at work to determine whether or not your chicken coop is gonna crumble into the ground or last for 10 years .. happy chickening=]

 

[J. At ChicChalet]

I realize this is an old thread but, for the sake of anybody who might be reading it at a later date (like me) here's some info.
The subject under question is called "soil-cement" and is widely used for hardening surfaces that won't get heavy traffic. You wouldn't want this for a garage floor for instance. But anyplace you could make do with a dirt floor would be improved this way for a fraction of the cost of a slab. Here is a link to help. Otherwise, just Google "soil cement." Varying spelling combinations will help for more results.
Link to a pdf. "soil-cement handbook- Engineering Bulletin" <http://secement.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/EB003.10.pdf> I think that will also lend credence to the legitimacyof the process.
For more general info on the subject... <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soil_cement>