Sakrete vs. Quikrete high strength concrete premix, any quality difference?

[Hay Dude]

There is no measurable difference between the two. One can be on sale for whatever reason, and then the other will be on sale. Usually they are the same price, but they like to sell the smaller sized sacks in different sizes to confuse you. 40, 50 and 60 pounds sacks are some of the options that I've seen. Home Depot might have 50 pound sacks for less then Lowes is selling their 60 pound sacks for a little more money. Or it could be the other way around. One time they had a bunch of pallets of 40 pound sacks that cost more then the 60 pound sacks. You really have to do the math on price per pound. I found that when doing this in comparing 60 pound sacks to 80 pound sacks, the 60 pound sacks where .01 cent cheaper per pound then the 80 pound sacks. But that was a few years ago.

More important then what brand you get, is how you mix it. To achieve the full strength of concrete, it needs a certain amount of water and it needs to be thoroughly mixed. If too much water is added, it will never achieve it's full strength. If it's not mixed, it will never achieve it's full strength. In a lot of cases, like fence posts, you might not need the full strength out of concrete to hold a post in the ground.

Many of you will disparage this technique, but a buddy of mine owns a fence company. Keep in mind, MY area always has soil on the damp side. About 20 years ago, he watched me put in about a mile of fence, mixing concrete and dumping in the fence post holes. He said to me “ I just dump bags of dry concrete around the posts and walk away “ I laughed and went on about how concrete needs proper mixing, blah, blah, blah. He just smiled.
Then I tried it. Then I went to dig out a few of the posts I tried it with to install a 16’ gate.
The dry mix I dumped in the holes looked like almost perfect concrete.
Now obviously it wont work in dry soil, but up north or where it’s wet? It works.
Flame suit zipped. :muttering:

 

[MoKelly]

Many of you will disparage this technique, but a buddy of mine owns a fence company. Keep in mind, MY area always has soil on the damp side. About 20 years ago, he watched me put in about a mile of fence, mixing concrete and dumping in the fence post holes. He said to me “ I just dump bags of dry concrete around the posts and walk away “ I laughed and went on about how concrete needs proper mixing, blah, blah, blah. He just smiled.
Then I tried it. Then I went to dig out a few of the posts I tried it with to install a 16’ gate.
The dry mix I dumped in the holes looked like almost perfect concrete.
Now obviously it wont work in dry soil, but up north or where it’s wet? It works.
Flame suit zipped. :muttering:

I won’t disparage you!

I did the same for a small garden area with only 10 wood posts as anchors and t-posts for the rest.

It worked great. That was 15 years ago and the posts are still looking good. Solid as can be.

We are in Missouri.

MoKelly

 

[s219]

Dry mix for posts is usually way more than adequate. It is recommended as an alternative to using soil (spoils from digging the hole) when the soil cannot provide the proper compaction for resistance to motion, wind loads, etc. It doesn't have to cure perfectly, it just has to be a superior backfill. The slow cure with minimal moisture is actually good. The only flaw in comparing it to mixed concrete is that when you dump dry mix out of the bag into a post hole, you have no control over distribution of the pre-mix materials like you would get if you mixed it all up with water.

Generally, most of us will know when dry mix is appropriate and when you need to properly mix with water. I use both methods. When in doubt I mix with water.

 

[not2old]

My last thirty years working, I operated a handyman service repairing strata properties. If only a few posts were being replaced on a fence, we mixed bags of concrete with a strong drill and a "drywall" mixer I welded up at 1/2 size. A 5 gal. pail was easy to use and kept cleanup easy which was important. Some jobs needed over 100 posts replaced and then I'd get a pick-up full of sand/gravel mix and bags of portland. Savings could be over $1000.00 on one job.

 

[4570Man]

My last thirty years working, I operated a handyman service repairing strata properties. If only a few posts were being replaced on a fence, we mixed bags of concrete with a strong drill and a "drywall" mixer I welded up at 1/2 size. A 5 gal. pail was easy to use and kept cleanup easy which was important. Some jobs needed over 100 posts replaced and then I'd get a pick-up full of sand/gravel mix and bags of portland. Savings could be over $1000.00 on one job.

I’ve done the math before and it’s pretty close to the same cost here. Its not worth the effort to get 3 materials vs 1. I’m going to have to call BS on saving $1000. You’d have to mix 30-40 yards to make that much difference. And then a truck would be by far cheaper.

 

[Hay Dude]

Ive had many a fence post hole with a gallon of water in it just waiting for the dry mix to be dumped in :laughing:

 

[/pine]

There is rarely any actual lift on fence posts...for most practical purposes just gravel is all that's needed to quickly get a post seated stiffly...slowly just back filling with earth and compacting with a blunted rod will suffice for a majority of applications...as with the case with most driven posts etc...

 

[Tractor Seabee]

When setting fence posts (only) the mass is what is important not the strength. I buy the cheapest pre-mix I can find then mix 1/2 sack of gravel with each bag of premix. When we were backfilling utility trenches that required concrete encasement always ordered 2000# concrete mix. If you have ever had to demo one of those you will realize the importance of the lean mix.

Ron