Whether you are starting a new concrete construction company or looking to update your current concrete construction tools, we have you covered. Concrete mixers are an essential tool for perfectly mixed concrete for any concrete construction project. We have created a list of all the concrete tools that every concrete contractor needs and why B&S Commercial Power is the best supplier of concrete mixers.

 

 

Concrete Tools and Their Uses:

 

We have created the ultimate list of concrete tools and their uses that you will need when pouring, finishing, and testing your concrete.

 

Pouring Concrete:

 

These are all the concrete tools you will need when pouring concrete.

 

1) Personal Protective Equipment:

 

Before you start any concrete construction project, you need to have all the correct personal protective equipment. If you are starting a new concrete construction company, we recommend purchasing these items for yourself and your employees first. This will prevent you from running out of start-up capital and sacrificing your safety when working with concrete.

 

Rubber Boots: Rubber boots are recommended as they are water-proof and resistant against harsh wet concrete. You can step into the concrete without worrying about your skin becoming irritated. Steel-tipped rubber boots with a drawstring top to seal the boot is the best rubber boot for working with concrete.

 

Safety Goggles: Hard, clear safety goggles are important for preventing any wet concrete from splashing into your eye while you are pouring. Portland cement is a caustic substance and can burn your eyes.

 

Gloves: Contractor-grad gloves make handling wet concrete safer and easier. You need tight-fitting gloves to prevent any concrete from getting into the glove and irritating your skin.

 

Hardhat: Any worker or visitor on a construction site needs to wear a hardhat at all times.

 

Face Mask: A face mask is important to prevent the inhalation of dry cement powder or concrete dust.

 

Earmuffs: Earmuffs should be used when cutting concrete or steel bars to keep hearing protected.

 

Overalls: Long overalls are recommended to keep skin protected from pouring concrete.

 

2) Concrete Mixers:

 

Mixing concrete manually is time-consuming, physically exhausting as you need to ensure the concrete is mixed homogenously and can require hiring extra labour if you need large quantities of concrete for your construction project. Concrete mixers make mixing concrete for your concrete construction easy, fast, and reduces the risk of imperfectly mixed concrete.

 

Portable small batch concrete mixers are ideal for a concrete construction company as you can transport these concrete mixers to any work site. Small batch concrete mixers will produce quantities of concrete that are easy to work with. You can easily coordinate the amount of concrete you need for your project with portable concrete mixers. You can find small-batch Baumax concrete mixers at B&S Commercial Power.

 

 

3) Wheelbarrows:

 

You will need wheelbarrows to transport your concrete from your concrete mixers around the worksite. You can also use wheelbarrows to transport tools around the worksite to make work easier for yourself or your employees. We recommend choosing a steel wheelbarrow with sturdy pneumatic tires to be able to handle the weight of the concrete and the constant wear and tear.

 

4) Shovels: 

 

You will need square-ended shovels to move small quantities of concrete around your construction project. This may include removing concrete from the wheelbarrow, filling voids in a concrete slab, or removing excess concrete.

 

5) Buckets:

 

Keeping buckets on hand is essential for a concrete construction project. Buckets can be used to hold water if you need to cut concrete or to transport small quantities of concrete to the worksite.

 

6) Plate Compactor:

 

For concrete slabs, you will need a plate compactor. A concrete slab needs a stable and level subgrade and subbase. You can use a plate compactor to tightly compact the soil of the subgrade and the gravel subbase.

 

 

7) Laser Levels:

 

The subgrade, subbase, and concrete slab need to be level. Laser levels are the easiest, fastest, and most accurate way to set grades and level forms when doing concrete construction. You can use your laser level to survey the construction site, check for land elevations, and to demonstrate the slope grade to use for drainage planning.

 

8) Come-along Rakes:

 

Come-along rakes, also referred to as concrete rakes, are used to spread the freshly poured concrete into place. Come-along rakes have a scooped blade which makes spreading and pre-levelling of freshly poured concrete easier.

 

 

9) Saws and Concrete Cutters:

 

There are a variety of saws and concrete cutters you will need for your concrete construction. Reciprocating saws can be used to cut steel rebar if you need to install steel reinforcement in your concrete construction. Concrete cutters can be used during the demolition process if there is existing concrete you need to remove from the worksite. Concrete cutters can also be used to cut a portion of the dried concrete if you need to access a problem area. Groove cutters are useful when creating a concrete sidewalk, walkway, or driveway as you can create control joints. Concrete edgers are used to shape and smooth the exposed edges of concrete.

 

10) Dust Collection System:

 

Dust collection systems are machines that filter air through a suction system. They are especially useful if you need to cut concrete in an indoor venue to reduce the risk of inhaling concrete dust.

 

11) Vibrator:

 

Vibrators are used once the concrete has been poured. Vibrators will vibrate the wet concrete to help compact the concrete and remove any air pockets. This is essential to ensuring concrete strength. You can choose between an internal vibrator, surface vibrator, table vibrator, or form vibrator.

 

12) Water Pump:

 

A water pump will remove any water pools that have collected on your concrete surface after rain. Water pumps reduce the time and effort it would take to manually bail out the water. A water pump can be useful if the area of your construction site is prone to consistent rain, such as in the Western Cape in winter.

 

Finishing Concrete:

 

These are the concrete tools you will need when finishing and curing your concrete surface.

 

1) Bull Floats or Magnesium Floats:

 

Floating is the process of pulling a flat surface tool across the freshly poured concrete surface. Floating your freshly poured concrete slab is essential to creating a smooth concrete finish.

 

You get two types of floats, a bull float, and a magnesium float. A bull float has a flat surface and long handle that you can either push or pull across a large concrete surface to create a smooth finish. Magnesium floats are smaller, handheld floats that are usually used for smoothing the edge of a concrete slab or on very small concrete projects.

 

 

2) Kneeling Boards:

 

Kneeling boards are smooth, flat surfaces that you kneel on when you hand trowel your concrete surface. Kneeling boards keep the concrete surface smooth and keep the workers safe from directly touching the wet concrete.

 

3) Finishing Tools:

 

There are a variety of tools you can use to achieve the desired finish on your concrete slab.

 

Broom: You can use a broom to achieve a classical broom finish to the concrete surface.

 

Hand Trowel: A hand trowel is another concrete tool that is used to smooth the concrete surface.

 

Stamps: There are concrete stamps that you apply to the wet concrete which will add specific patterns to the concrete surface.

 

Concrete Grinder: You can also use a concrete grinder that will smoothen or polish the cured concrete surface.

 

Sandblaster: You can use a sandblaster on a cured concrete surface to achieve a textured aesthetic.

 

4) Vapour Cover:

 

There are various methods to cure concrete. The most common is sheet curing, where you use a plastic sheet to cover the wet concrete slab. Plastic sheet vapour covers prevent the water from evaporating too quickly from your curing concrete slab.

 

Tools For Testing Concrete:

 

We have listed three concrete testing tools that you can use for testing your concrete during the curing process and after it has been cured.

 

1) Schmidt Hammer:

 

A Schmidt hammer, also known as a rebound hammer, is used to test the strength of concrete. The Schmidt hammer will hit the cured concrete surface at a specific energy. The Schmidt hammer will then give a measurement between 10 to 100. The measurement of the rebound is dependent on the hardness of the concrete surface and the penetration resistance. This concrete testing tool is easy to use and can be used onsite, but results can be affected by large aggregates or rebars within the concrete surface.

 

2) Relative Humidity (RH) Test Kit:

 

Concrete slabs need to be tested for moisture conditions whilst the concrete is curing. To test moisture content, you can use a relative humidity (RH) test kit. You simply place RH probes at specified depths and the RH test will measure the overall moisture content of your concrete slab. The RH test is worth investing in as it is the most reliable and accurate method for determining moisture content.

 

3) Concrete Moisture Meters:

 

Concrete moisture meters send an electrical signal into the concrete. This signal is then used to measure the resistance, and the resistance is an indication of the moisture levels in the concrete slab.

 

The downside to concrete moisture meters is that they can only measure the moisture content in the surface of the concrete slab and not the relative humidity. Concrete moisture meters are helpful when trying to assess the moisture content on the surface of the concrete slab before you apply a sealant.

 

Concrete Mixers at B&S Commercial Power:

 

B&S Commercial Power is the best supplier of concrete mixers. We provide you with a wide range of Baumax concrete mixers that are high-performance, produce perfectly mixed concrete, and are affordable. Our concrete mixers are suitable for any start-up concrete construction business or an existing concrete construction company looking to upgrade its portable concrete mixers.

 

The reason why we stock concrete mixers of different sizes is so that you can find concrete mixers that will produce the perfect required quantity for your construction projects. Our available concrete mixers are the Baumax BS360L Concrete Mixer with Baumax RX200 Keyway Engine, the Baumax BS360L Concrete Mixer with Baumax RX200 2:1 Engine, and the Baumax 500L Concrete Mixer with Baumax RX200 Keyway Engine.

 

B&S Commercial Power also supplies other concrete tools you will need for your concrete construction business. Alongside our concrete mixers, we also have cement mixers, plate compactors, and concrete cutters. All of our concrete tools are of the highest quality and will be an investment for your concrete construction business.

 

If you need any assistance with finding the best concrete mixers or other concrete tools for your business, we will happily provide you with personalised advice. The B&S Commercial Power team is comprised of people highly experienced in power tools and the construction industry.

 

 

Find the concrete mixers you need for your concrete construction business at B&S Commercial Power.