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Hi, I'll start by saying that I'm a decrepit, unskilled and probably stupid individual who is past his use-by date and surviving on a pension of around $500 per week. I tell you this as some explanation or mitigation for my tackling this job myself and doing what I've done. Having, sought quotes for the job and received none under $1000 which I simply can't afford.
I live in an old house which had clay piping for the sewage pipe connecting the house to the main sewer. After several blockages and continual payments to plumbers whose work cleared it for shorter and shorter periods, I finally had one who told me that there was almost certainly, if not definitely, a major block or breakage in that sewer pipe connection.
So, as he thought it was probably just a break at the closest underground trap to the house, I organised to have someone come and break the concrete and dig down to the pipe. Sure enough, the pit soon was flooded and the pipe was broken. However, an inspection also showed that it was also broken much further along. The advice I was given - and which seemed sensible to me - was that I should replace the whole length of pipe and traps with pvc (or whatever the material is of modern pipes. So, I did that, in the process virtually cleaning out my savings because all up the cost was amounted to approximately $4000.
At the end of all that, I was left with, as well as a garden of mud which my dog happily decided would be a comfortable replacement surface for my floors in the house, this hole in the ground, next to the house, where the concrete had had to be removed to install the new traps etc...
So, not being able to afford to have someone do the job, despite never having done any concreting in my 77 years, I thought, well, how hard can it be? After all, I'm not doing something that has to be AAA perfect, simply relatively neat, flat (though the area slopes) and sufficiently well done that it will be both lasting and stable.
My solution, after reading and enquiries, was to purchase 25 bags of ready-mix from Bunnings and hope that I could do the job myself with a barrow or container for mixing and a wooden batten of some sort to tamp down and smooth out.
So - my apologies for the long background - but what I need to know is:
* Will I be able to mix this with an attachment on a hand drill?
* Could I mix, say 2 bags at a time with appropriate amount of water to reduce the number of pours?
* Will it be o.k. that it will take me longer, doing it this way, than a normal pumped concrete delivery would take?
* Can I get away without having to buy extra tools or, for a reasonable job, is there something I really should use, i.e. for tamping down, smoothing off or whatever that I'm not even aware of needing?
Lastly, is there any handyman guru there who can give me hints or tips about the best way to go about this or tell me that I've just made a huge mistake and shouldn't even attempt it, instead just counting my losses and filling the area with gravel or some such and hoping that either Bunnings will allow me to return the concrete or that I can sell it to someone else who may have a proper need for it, even if in smaller lots and some loss of funds?
Yes. I know. I'm a dope. I'm in a pickle. I'd hoped I could find a handyman to do the job at a price I could afford but, despite extensive advertising, I couldn't. So - can anyone help answer my questions or ignore them and advise me, please?
Please ignore the roll of fencing wire - it's only there to keep the dog from digging up the crusher dust and dirt.
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