If you need to pour some concrete, then you might be interested in ready-mix concrete.

What is ready-mix concrete?

Traditional concrete is mixed at the pour site with complex machinery and tools. For the mixing process, you need to transport a large amount of machinery and several different types of materials that are used in the recipe for concrete. You then need to actually mix the concrete and pour it.

Ready-mix concrete is prepared long before it arrives at the pour site. For ready-mix concrete, the concrete is mixed and prepared at some facility and is then transported to the pour site in a specialized vehicle.

Why would you use ready-mix concrete?

What this all means for you is that you don't need to oversee the complicated mixing process. A small mistake in proportions or mixing protocol can really undermine the quality of the concrete in the long run. All you need to do is contract a concrete mixing company to bring some ready-mix concrete in a truck-mounted mixer and pour it immediately.

Any flaws in the composition of the concrete can be attributed to the fault of the mixing company. If there is a structural problem down the road, you might even be able to sue the mixing company for negligence.

Another big benefit of ready-mix concrete is that it greatly simplifies the construction process. Construction sites are hectic enough without having to worry about precise measurements and mixing. The less you have cluttering up the work site, the safer and easier the job will be.

So what's the downside?

Concrete has to be poured pretty soon after being mixed. While truck-mounted mixers can help preserve the concrete mixture for a short bit while it is being transported from mixing site to pouring site, there is still a maximum distance that you have to keep in mind. If the mixing facility is too far away, the concrete will not be viable when it arrives at the pour site.

You also might need to consider the huge weight of truck-mounted mixers containing ready-mix concrete. Regular mixing apparatus can be divided up among several vehicles, thus distributing the weight of the load. With ready-mix concrete, you really need to move everything in one vehicle, which means that there will be a huge amount of weight moving to the pour site. Depending on the quality of the roads involved, especially if your pour site is off the beaten path, a load of ready-mix concrete might end up ruining the road.

To learn more, contact a company like Hi-Grade Materials Co.