Product Guide

READY RECKONER

Mix Design & Calculation Chart

MORTAR SAND-CEMENT CONCRETE

•  Laying BRICKS • RENDERING walls • Laying PATHS
and BLOCKS •  TOPPING or • Setting POSTS
• Building STONE CAPPING on walls • Creating MOWING
walls • Brickwork BELOW STRIPS
•  P OINTING existing GROUND level • Light-duty
brickwork •  REPAIRING FOUNDATIONS
• RENDERING concrete
•  REPAIRING • SCREED for
concrete ceramic tiles

+ +
SAND WATER CEMENT

+ +

HYDRATED LIME GRAVEL

(Aggregate)

MORTAR SAND-CEMENT CONCRETE

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READY RECKONER – CONCRETE

The Ready Reckoner for concrete is a general guide

only. For specific engineering properties refer to AS3600
(Concrete Structures) or consult a professional engineer.
Mixing Raw Materials
Suggested mix proportions by volume
Materials Foundations & General use, General use, higher
large masses paths, floors etc strength
cement 1 1 1
sand 3 2.5 2
stone or gravel 5 4 3

For rectangular slabs, paths and driveways

1. First calculate the area:
Area square metres(m2) = length x width (metres)
2. Then use the following table:
Area Volume of concrete in cubic metres (m3) rounded up to the nearest 0.1
(m2) 50* 75* 100* 125* 150*
5 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.7 0.8
10 0.5 0.8 1.0 1.3 1.5
15 0.8 1.2 1.5 1.9 2.3
20 1.0 1.5 2.0 2.5 3.0
25 1.3 1.9 2.5 3.2 3.8
30 1.5 2.3 3.0 3.8 4.5
35 1.8 2.7 3.5 4.4 5.3
40 2.0 3.0 4.0 5.0 6.0
45 2.3 3.4 4.5 5.7 6.8
50 2.5 3.8 5.0 6.3 7.5
*Slab thickness in mm.

3. Decide whether to use:

(a) Premix concrete from a readymix supplier
(b) Bagged cement, sand and stone
(c) Bagged concrete
Estimating how much cement, sand and stone to order
Mix (as per concrete use) No. 20kg bags cubic metres (m3) cubic metres (m3)
cement sand stone of cement of sand of stone

1 2 3 16 0.5 0.8
1 2.5 4 13 0.5 0.8
1 3 5 11 0.5 0.9

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Product Guide
READY RECKONER – CONCRETE

Estimating how many 20kg bags of premix concrete to order

(rounded up to the nearest full bag)
Volume Cubic Metre* (m3) 0.02 0.04 0.06 0.08 0.10
No of bags 3 5 7 9 11

* 108 x 20kg bags of Boral Cement Concrete Mix will fill

1 cubic metre (m3).

Post Calculations
Example below based on the dimension given in the two diagrams
Step 1. Calculate entire hole volume.
Formula: TT r 2 h
= 3.14 x (0.15m x 0.15m) x 0.5m h 0.5m
Volume = 0.0353m3
Ø
Step 2. Calculate volume of post
Formula: TT r 2 h Hole diameter (Ø) = 0.3m
= 3.14 x (0.075 x 0.075) x 0.5m Hole radius (r) = 0.15m
Volume = 0.0088m3

Step 3. = Volume Step 1 – Volume Step 2

= 0.035m3 – 0.0088m3
= 0.026m3

Step 4.
= Multiply by number of 20kg bags h 0.5m
per m3 (108 bags)
= 0.026m3 x 108
Therefore = 2.8 bags of 20kg
Concrete Mix required to fix post in hole. Post diameter (Ø) = 0.15m
Post radius (r) = 0.075m

For fence posts and other round excavations

Volume of excavation rounded up to the nearest 0.01 cubic metres (m3)
is given below.
Depth of hole Cubic metres(m3) needed. Hole diameter (mm)
(mm) 300mm 400mm 500mm 600mm 700mm
200 0.02 0.03 0.04 0.06 0.08
400 0.03 0.05 0.08 0.12 0.16
600 0.05 0.08 0.12 0.17 0.24
800 0.06 0.10 0.16 0.23 0.31
1000 (1m) 0.08 0.13 0.20 0.29 0.39

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READY RECKONER – MORTAR

The Ready Reckoner for mortar is a general guide only.

For specific engineering properties refer to AS3700
(Masonry Structures) or consult a professional engineer.
Mixing Raw Materials
Suggested mix proportions by volume

General brick and block Marine and aggressive

Materials
construction environments
cement 1 1
sand 6 4.5
hydrated lime 1 0.5

Laying Bricks – Estimating How Much to Order

For every 1000 bricks Bricks without frog
hydrated No. 20kg bags cubic metres No. 20kg bags of
cement sand
lime of cement (m3) of sand hydrated lime
1 6 1 8 0.65 3
1 4.5 0.5 11 0.65 2
1 3 – 16 0.65 –

Buying Premix Bags

Using Brickies Mortar to lay bricks Estimating bags by brick number
No. bricks 200 400 600 800 1000
No. 20kg bags 12 24 36 48 60

WHICH CEMENT FOR WHAT CONDITIONS?

General High Early Special

Builders Off-White
Condition Purpose Strength Purpose
Cement Cement
Cement Cement Cement
General
no specific requirements   
Expose to sulphates (SO4)
<600mg/litre
  
600-3000mg/litre 
>3000mg/litre 
Marine Environment
 
Early age strength required
  
Mass concrete where rapid heat
evolution is to be avoided 

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