FAQ

A giant ready-mix concrete truck driving up to your house can be intimidating, but it doesn’t have to be if your site is prepared, you have all your tools at hand, and you’ve ordered the right amount. Dispatchers are quite helpful, but you should know the basics before you call so you don’t wind up with more or less than you need.

Based on the size of your project concrete delivery may be scheduled 7 days a week. Give us a call and we will let you know if we are open that Sunday.

No, we provide concrete ready mix to homeowners, home builders, and contractors throughout Orange, Riverside, and LA areas.

When you have measured the length and distance of the area you are interested in pouring, call our dispatch center and they will provide you with the exact yardage for your project or you can try it yourself by clicking on the concrete calculator on our home page.

We recommend referencing job site permits, checking city ordinances or checking with your contractor for strength requirements. If none of those are possible give us a call at our dispatch center and we can help you figure out what you need.

Curing is one of the most important steps in quality concrete construction and one of the most neglected. Effective curing is absolutely essential for surface durability. Fresh concrete must be kept warm and moist until the mixing water combines chemically with the cement. Without curing, the strength of the concrete is basically reduced in half.

It is important to cure concrete to retain as much moisture as possible in the concrete for the first three to seven days of its life. Curing also helps to maintain concrete temperatures between 50 and 90 degrees, which is helpful in the concrete gaining maximum strength. Curing is usually done by applying a coat of liquid curing compound to the concrete as soon as it is hard enough to walk on without making marks on the surface.

The possibilities are almost as limitless as your imagination! From an intermixing of multiple colors to matching the siding on your house, there’s sure to be a color you’ll like! Call us or come down to our plant to look at color samples and get color charts.

Extra care must be taken when placing colored concrete. It is important that the slump remains consistent throughout each load. Also, as with any concrete, you never want to introduce water to the drying surface.

First of all, don’t pick a contractor entirely on the basis of cost. In concrete work, as in any business, you get what you pay for. Cost should be a consideration, but it should not be the only consideration. Knowledge, competence, integrity and experience are the qualities to seek in a contractor. To obtain the names of qualified contractors talk to the dispatchers at Bender Ready Mix, Inc. Then take a look at a few of the contractors’ completed jobs, particularly some which were done several years ago. If you like what you see, you can feel easier about seeking bids from them, knowing that they do good quality work.

Good quality concrete-properly proportioned, mixed, placed, finished and cured-will give maintenance-free service for many years. Concrete work, properly done, will usually last much longer than the need for which it was originally installed.

Many concrete mixes can be placed successfully with a concrete pump. Some considerations that may affect pumpability are type of pump, cement content and aggregate size.

During periods of moderate to warm weather, new concrete could be opened for pedestrian traffic in 12 to 24 hours, or when the surface becomes scuff resistant. A general guideline is that new concrete should not be opened for vehicular traffic for a minimum of 7 days. This 7 day period can be significantly reduced by using a faster setting, stronger concrete mix. Please note that concrete gains strength more slowly in colder weather so more time may be needed before putting your new concrete into use.

Cement, or Portland cement, or Portland as it is sometimes called refers to a product obtained by pulverizing clinker consisting primarily of hydraulic calcium silicates: usually interground with calcium sulfate. Cement constitutes between 7 and 15% of the volume of concrete and forms the binding paste when mixed with water. Concrete is the combination of cement, water, aggregate, and sometimes admixtures.

Bender Ready Mix, Inc. utilizes state of the art computer batching systems to ensure consistency from yard to yard or load to load. The computers measure and weigh each ingredient and insure that those measurements are within a certain tolerance.

The sub-grade should be well compacted, uniform in depth, and well draining. Also, a fill of granular nature such as sand, rock, or crushed base then you will dampen this base before placing concrete.

Bender Ready Mix, Inc. recommends the use of fiber for reducing the possibility of plastic shrinkage cracks. Fiber is used only as a secondary reinforcement.

Concrete will set-up much quicker in hot weather. Ask our dispatchers to add a set retarder to your load. Make sure you have enough people on site to place the concrete quickly. It is recommended that the sub-grade is dampened before placement begins.

In Southern California our temperatures rarely drop below 40 degrees. Nevertheless, we recommend that when the mercury drops you use a set accelerator in your mixes. Also, pouring your concrete with low slump will help increase your set times. When Concrete is poured on a cold sub-grade set times also tend to be increased.

It is important not to over use a steel trowel while finishing. This has an effect that burns the surface of the concrete and seals in moisture. Also, you do not want to introduce any steel onto wet concrete until after all the bleed water has disappeared. Avoid using calcium chloride for flatwork.

Discoloration is difficult to fix. However, the earlier you treat the surface the more effective it will be. Scrub white vinegar onto the dampened slab and hose off the surface before the vinegar dries. Vinegar is slightly acidic and will often open up the pores of the concrete and allow it to breath.

Pervious concrete is concrete manufactured with zero fine aggregate. It allows water to pass through the concrete which eliminates storm water run-off. Pervious concrete pavement is a unique and effective means to address important issues and support sustainable growth. By capturing storm water and allowing it to seep into the ground, porous concrete is instrumental in recharging groundwater, reducing storm water runoff, and meeting EPA storm water regulations.