The first thing that is to be considered when building a carport, patio, or an outdoor storage area is to concentrate on the concrete slab.

If the concrete slab is the foundation for a house, then the slab should be leveled. If you are planning to add plumbing to the slab, consider it in the design of the slab. If you overlook plumbing or even electrical installations within the concrete slab, you will have to trench or patch the slab. This can be a tedious task, and will damage the slab.

What you need

• Hammer and stakes (wooden)
• Mason’s string and a lumber for the form. The lumber should measure one inch by four inches. You should also use a two by four inch stud. You can use aluminum screed in place of the stud.
• Cutting pliers, shovel, wire mesh (steel), tie wire
• Selecting and laying out the slab location
• Identify the location of the slab, the design of the slab, and its size. Use the three, four, five method of squaring to ensure uniformity.

Preparing the form

Using a trenching mechanism, apply the principles of trenching around the perimeter of the slab footing. The trench lends more stability to the slab. Level the ground surface inside the slab location.

Now apply the steel mesh in the footing. Use the tie wire to connect the steel mesh to the footing – use the pliers for this purpose. When you use the mesh, you are adding more rigidity to the footing. Since the footing area has the highest pressure, you have to strengthen this area more.

Building the form

Use the one by four inch lumber to form the sides of the layout form. The form ensures that when the concrete slab dries, it does not lose its position and is still in place. Use the string line to ensure uniformity of the form.

Use nails to connect the form together. Use the stakes to drive them into the form. Apply stakes to the sides of the form to secure it firmly.

Pour the concrete

Use portable cement mixers to prepare concrete. Pour the concrete to one end of the form’s surface area. You then use the shovel to apply it uniformly across other areas.

Screed the form

Use an aluminum screed tool to level the form. Use the tool to level the form’s top. You then keep the concrete as it is for at least five days.

Repairing concrete

To repair concrete, you follow the same process as preparing concrete. You can revisit any one section of the process. For instance, if only one part of the concrete is damaged, you pour concrete into that area and do the screeding.