How would Mason sand work in concrete???

I had a use for some mason sand. A full load was not much more than the half load I needed. So I had a full load delivered.

I have a portable cement mixer. I have some small concrete jobs coming up. They are under 2 yards each time. I had planned to mix the concrete myself anyway.

I have always used concrete sand not the finer mason sand. SO will the mason sand work all right??? The concrete will just be some steps and a basement walk way repair. So the concrete will not be a structural member/load.

I also use the old 1,2,3 mix ratio.
1 part Portland cement
2 parts sand
3 parts gravel

Is this what most of you mix ratio wise???

For what you are doing it'll be fine.I'd add a little extra cement since the finer sand has more surface area to be covered than the regular concrete sand.

Just a little hint. Hope you bought WASHED sand. Only ONE time did my dad make that mistake. The sand had a tiny bit of clay in it. When it dries out and you pick some up and drop it on the ground you will see a little cloud of clay dust. BOY did that cement job ever fall apart a couple of years latter!! Other than that you should be fine. I have always heard it 3-2-1. Gravel,sand,cement. The reason it is said this way is you throw in the gravel first with some water. then the sand, and then the cement and add just a bit more water so it mixes smoothly. It is call proportions. Same as cooking. A real chef never goes with a recipe. He will use a Formula. The first item is the largest amount. Like cooked maccarone with the smallest a pinch of pepper, gratted onion, and a dash of vinager to taste.

when we first bought the house we live now in 1985,I was working at a big commercial building. When they finished one side of the building,they moved the cement mixer.A lot of mason sand was left in a pile,eventually would have been spread out by a dozer when they final grade the site.I asked the foreman,he said help yourself to the mason sand.I did a sidewalk ,and the belgium block at the sides of our driveway. They are still in good shape.Ihave mixed concrete with mason sand and clean gravel many times in an old barrel mixer. 2 yds is a lot to mix if you are doing it at one time.

Yep 2 yards will be around 8800 lbs a good days shoveling,but a very short day for coal miners that used to shovel 16 tons in a shift according to coal mining expert Tennessee Ernie Ford(LOL)

Larry,
Back in the 50's my dad got a crane to harvest sand and gravel out of the river running through farm. Then using a small mixer, we made an entire cow feeding lot, a little at a time.

Agree, 2 yards sounds like a lot, but if you have free labor, kids, nothing is impossible.

Where I live, there is a 3 yard minimum load or you get charged more.

If you have to buy your sand, gravel and portland, then I would pay for someone to deliver it for me.

However I have my own, mixer, sand, gravel and Lowes is about a dollar cheaper than Menards, I might mix it myself.

As for the ratio, it really depends on how strong you want it and how thick you are going. A sidewalk, 3.5 inches think, a 5 bag per yard will work. If you are talking about anything larger, driveway, pole barn floor, I would go 5.5 inches, old school wire, and a 5 or 6 bag mix, form and level it, then call my friend and have him finish.
Last job he did for me, pole barn floor 6 inches thick, 30x50. He charged me $500 labor, got contractor's discount on concrete because he does this for a living and he was done before noon on a Saturday morning.
George

They regularly use washed mason sand to make concrete when they want a smoother finish such as stepping stones.
For what you are using it for it will be fine.

And yes your 3-2-1 mix is correct.

Mason sand is run through a wash plant just like 23 sand it is just a lot finer. Sounds like the sand your Dad got a hold of was D-sand it is dry screened no water is used.

I agree with traditional farmer for the same reasons throw in a little more cement.

If I shovel 1000# it feels like the long handle shovel beat me up.

When I was making my above ground fence posts, weighint 175# each, I would make 4 a day and I was hurting. I made 60 of them and was very glad to finish the job.

Too bad I slowed down and my age caught up with me.

Going back to the point of the post, as for ratios and strength. I just use what I have, pit run sand and gravel. But water is also very important, not to add too much, or it will weaken the mix.
I mix mine as dry as I can and still get it out of the mixer.

mix ratio sounds good--if possible it would be advantageous to mix in a bit of course sand that way the voids from the gravel would be chinked in and the fine sand will fill in any left over voids--tends to make a denser mix--fine sand and extra cement tends to produce more shrinkage and less durability.

Where I live, If you don't request not to have fly ash from the power plants added to the mix, the boys will mix it in with your load. It will not stand up very long, the top will flake off.

Sand is sand, won't make a difference except it will finish easier than coarse sand.

Its not adding the fly ash as fly ash is regularly substituted up to 15% in mixes for paving roads. My guess is there is a chemical reaction in the mix or they are useing too much ash. The fly ash will actually make it stronger as it takes longer to cure if properly added.

Would seem to work fine, add a little more portland, and if your gravel is a composite mixture of aggregate, not just straight up crushed stone, that should give you the array of aggregate needed, its usually, various sizes passing through certain size sieves, still should work fine, but if its one size crushed stone, (as I realize different areas use the same terms for things but have different meanings) maybe you can get an intermediate size aggregate in there?

Either or, should work with the right amount of portland, just be careful with how much water you add, that's the biggest mistake usually, not having the water/cementitious material ratio right, people tend to add too much usually on the water side to make the material more workable. can't be your first time mixing this anyway, most usually have an eye for the slump they want, I always did with mortar, same thing with concrete, and if I did do that I'd "tighten" it up with a little more portland anyway.

The only thing I think can be difficult, with small batches, too small to order a ready mix truck, but big enough where you have to mix several batches, is keeping the mix uniform, and or more importantly, keeping enough material flowing. I liked to mix my own for small jobs too, but seems in the summer time, it starts to cure sooner than you want it meaning you're still making material to fill the form, and you may need to be screeding, finishing etc. I did this little apron slab at a friends house years ago, bag mix and wheel barrow, too restricted to do it any other way, and we really went quick making the material, yet I still had to be very careful, one end of the form was setting up and was ready for the broom finish, had I been able to bring my mixer, different story, LOL was not wanting to do that one over, 19 bags carried down the steps, through the walkway, to the back, hot summer day, came out fine, and still looks good today.

Just be sure to add the correct amount of course gravel or it will be a vey week concrete. But then if you have a brick job comming up it would be perfect for Mortor.
Walt

Thanks fellows. I thought it would work but thought I would asked.

Any shovel volunteers??? LOL