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To: Mike McFarland who wrote (273)5/5/2008 2:48:47 AM
From: Mike McFarland  Read Replies (1) | Respond to of 379
 
I've had a 100lb bag of Portland Cement in my garage
for about a decade. Spring cleaning...

Wikipedia says...

Regular concrete is the lay term describing concrete that is produced by following the mixing instructions that are commonly published on packets of cement, typically using sand or other common material as the aggregate, and often mixed in improvised containers. This concrete can be produced to yield a varying strength from about 10 MPa to about 40 MPa, depending on the purpose, ranging from blinding to structural concrete respectively. Many types of pre-mixed concrete are available which include powdered cement mixed with an aggregate, needing only water.

Typically, a batch of concrete can be made by using

1 part Portland cement
2 parts dry sand
3 parts dry stone
1/2 part water.

The parts are in terms of weight – not volume. For example, 1 cubic foot of concrete would be made using 22 lbs cement, 10 lbs water, 41 lbs dry sand, 70 lbs dry stone (1/2" to 3/4" stone). This would make 1 cubic foot of concrete and would weigh about 143 lbs. The sand should be mortar or brick sand (washed and filtered if possible) and the stone should be washed if possible. Organic materials (leaves, twigs, etc) should be removed from the sand and stone to ensure the highest strength.