How long do I have to place concrete once it arrives?

As a rule of thumb, concrete is workable for around two hours after batching, less in hot weather. Because we batch on site, your clock starts at your kerb, not at a plant across town. Standard discharge runs at roughly 1m³ a minute, so the pour itself is quick — it's the spreading and levelling that needs the time and the people.

How many people do I need on a pour?

If the chute reaches the pour, two people can manage most domestic slabs — one spreading, one levelling. If you're barrowing, reckon on about 20 barrow loads per cubic metre at over 100kg a barrow, and at least one able adult with a barrow per cubic metre to keep pace. Drivers discharge into barrows but don't push them.

What if the truck can't reach the pour?

Our volumetric trucks carry extension chutes reaching around 5m, which covers many set-back pours. Beyond that it's wheelbarrows or a pump. Barrowing a couple of cubic metres is honest work; beyond that, a pump wins — it places concrete at around 1m³ a minute and a line pump's hose can run through a side gate or garage.

When can I walk or drive on new concrete?

Light foot traffic after 24–48 hours. Cars: industry guidance says 5–7 days — call it about a week to be safe. Heavy vehicles should stay off for 28 days, which is when concrete reaches its design strength. At 7 days it's typically about 70% of the way there.

Do I need to provide washout facilities?

Not with us. Washout is contained on every job and we take it away — nothing goes down a drain, gully or watercourse. Concrete washwater is highly alkaline, and polluting a drain or watercourse is a criminal offence, so this is one job you should be glad to hand over. Some suppliers ask customers to build a lined washout box; we don't.

Preparing for a Concrete Delivery: The Checklist

Q: Can concrete be poured in winter?

Yes, with care. BS EN 206 requires concrete to be at least 5°C at delivery, and BS EN 13670 says keep it above 5°C until it reaches 5 MPa strength. The industry rule of thumb: don't pour at 5°C and falling; 3°C and rising is workable with protection. Never pour on frozen ground. We can batch with warmed water and accelerating admixtures, and slabs get covered with insulating blankets or polythene.

A good pour is decided before the truck turns up. Concrete is workable for roughly two hours after batching — less in warm weather — and discharge runs at about a cubic metre a minute. That's not much time to discover the side gate is 200mm too narrow or that your mate with the wheelbarrow overslept. Work through this the day before and the pour itself is the easy bit.

Before the Day

1. Confirm the volume

Length × width × depth, all in metres — 100mm is 0.1m. A 4m × 3m slab at 100mm is 1.2m³. The concrete calculator does the sums for you. As a guide, paths and shed bases want around 100mm depth; driveways and garage floors around 150mm.

Order with a 5–10% contingency. With a fixed drum load, over-ordering is money wasted — with us it costs nothing, because the truck carries extra material and you only pay for the metered volume that's actually poured. One more number worth knowing: a cubic metre of concrete weighs about 2.4 tonnes. Keep that in mind for the barrowing section below.

2. Check the access

A loaded concrete truck is a serious lorry: around 8.5–9.5m long, about 2.55m wide (nearer 3.1m with mirrors), up to 4.1m tall and up to 32 tonnes. In practice it needs roughly 3m of clear width, 4–4.5m of overhead clearance (watch for wires and branches), and ground that will take a heavy vehicle — soft ground needs boards or plates down first.

Tell us about soft verges, manhole covers and block-paved drives when you book — we plan around them. Our trucks carry extension chutes reaching around 5m, which sorts a lot of set-back pours without a barrow in sight.

3. Book the labour

If the chute can't reach and concrete is being barrowed, do the maths honestly: reckon on about 20 barrow loads per cubic metre, each over 100kg. You want at least one able adult with a barrow per cubic metre to keep pace with the truck. Our drivers discharge into barrows, but they don't push them.

Beyond a couple of cubic metres of barrowing, stop planning a bad afternoon and book a pump — see our concrete pump hire or read the pumping guide first.

Have the Formwork Ready Before the Truck Arrives

Concrete waits for no one. The standard industry allowance for discharge is about 10 minutes plus 5 minutes per cubic metre — beyond the included window, waiting time may be chargeable, and that's true across the trade (our policy is confirmed when you book). So: formwork built, braced and pegged; sub-base compacted; any mesh sat on chairs at the right height, not "pulled up" mid-pour — that classic shortcut leaves the steel doing nothing at the bottom of the slab. Have your rake, screed board, gloves and boots laid out before the truck arrives, and a clear path from truck to pour.

On the Day, Step by Step

The truck arrives and the driver walks the job with you. Spec, volume and where the concrete's going — confirmed before anything moves.
Batching starts at your kerb. We're a volumetric supplier: the truck carries stone, sand, cement and water separately and mixes your exact spec on site, fresh.
You get a batch ticket. Mix and strength class, consistence, aggregate size, cement type, batch time and metered volume — keep it with the job paperwork.
Discharge. Roughly 1m³ a minute down the chute, with around 5m of reach using the extensions. Into deep pours, concrete shouldn't free-fall more than about a metre — work it in lifts instead.
Washout. We contain it and take it away — nothing goes down a drain, gully or canal. Washwater is highly alkaline (pH 11–13), and polluting a drain or watercourse is a criminal offence — see the gov.uk pollution prevention guidance. You don't need to build or provide anything.

Never add water on site

The temptation on a warm day is to "loosen it up" with the hose. Don't. In the Mineral Products Association's wording, unauthorised added water invalidates the performance of the mix — it weakens the concrete, and any water added at the customer's insistence is recorded on the batch ticket. If you want a wetter, easier-flowing mix, say so when you order: we set the workability properly at the point of batching, which is exactly what a volumetric truck is for. S3 is the general-purpose consistence; S4 is trench-fill territory.

Safety: Wet Cement Burns

This is the bit people skip, so here it is plainly, per HSE guidance: wet cement burns skin chemically, and you may not feel it happening until the damage is done. Waterproof gloves and waterproof boots on everyone handling concrete. Never kneel in fresh concrete. Wash splashes off skin immediately. The HSE's cement information sheet (PDF) is two pages and worth every minute.

Aftercare: The Pour Is Half the Job

Concrete reaches its design strength at 28 days — at 7 days it's typically about 70% of the way there. Light foot traffic is fine after 24–48 hours; keep cars off for about a week to be safe, and heavy vehicles off for the full 28 days.

Curing — keeping young concrete moist and warm — is what develops a durable surface. Poorly cured slabs can lose up to half their surface durability, by one major producer's published figure: that's the dusting, crazing surface you've seen on bad driveways. The first 24 hours matter most. Keep the slab covered and damp for at least 3–4 days, ideally a week — 7+ days in hot or windy weather. Polythene sheeting, damp hessian kept wet, a spray-on curing compound, or simply leaving formwork on for 2–3 days all work. Never water-cure in frost.

Winter pours

The codified rules: BS EN 206 requires concrete to be at least 5°C at delivery, and BS EN 13670 says keep it above 5°C until it reaches 5 MPa. Concrete that freezes young is ruined, and you never pour on frozen ground. The industry rule of thumb: don't pour at 5°C and falling; 3°C and rising is workable with protection. In cold weather we can batch with warmed water and accelerating admixtures, and fresh slabs get covered with insulating blankets or polythene.

Summer pours

BS 8500 caps concrete temperature at discharge below 35°C, but the practical risks arrive well before that: rapid stiffening and plastic shrinkage cracking in hot, dry or windy weather. The fixes are simple — an early-morning slot, a dampened sub-base, a retarding admixture if needed, and curing cover on the moment finishing is done.

Get It Sorted

Volume confirmed with the concrete calculator, access checked, labour booked? Then you're ready to book concrete delivery anywhere in Birmingham — or call and we'll walk the checklist with you in five minutes.

How to Prepare for a Concrete Delivery