ATTENTION VIEWERS! Someone is impersonating me in the comments on this video. MY replies will have my name highlighted in gray with a checkmark next to it! Thanks for watching!

It looked like the slab cracked while driving on it, only because the ground under the slab became soft and gave. You can see the ground flexing when you drive over it. one of the shots the slab lifted and can see its solid but the ground was giving.

I found your previos video randomly (or rather the YT algorithm offered it to me not so randomly). As a structural engineer my first thought was 'no way in heck that works'. But that was just because it's so different from what we were taught about making structures from concrete. Structures that are consistently and predictably strong enough, that is. After watching two of your vids about dry pouring and giving it some thought I can absolutely see why it has the potential to be even better for some applications than a traditional mixed and poured structure. One of the biggest problems in making really strong concrete is the water content of the mixture. Usually you have way more water than the cement needs to cure because you absolutely NEED that much to achieve a consistency you can work with, even with the best additives. But then when the excess water evaporates there WILL be pores in the concrete. This porosity determines its strength as much as the quality of the cement you use. The dry pour method you showed can be used to make a slab or whatever structure where the soaked outer layer is more like a traditional concrete but the inner core gets only the amount water required for the cement to cure, or just very little excess. So at least in theory it can be made even stronger. The one huge caveat is you have very little control over exactly how much water gets to the inside. If you want optimal results you need to have your method laid out and executed with extreme precision. So in conclusion: multi-storey building - nope; sidewalk, driveway, shed foundation - doable or even preferred, especially if there is no risk of freezing (mild and hot climates or absolutely no chance of water touching your concrete). For now I found no solid info on this but the idea might not be that new. It just never caught on in the industry as a whole because making a mixture you can control has the advantage of being predictable and repeatable which is a crucial aspect of designing and building structures.

I guess a fair comparison would be with a wet pour and dry pour and do the same test under the same conditions. Dry looks pretty good though.

Based on this video, I dry poured a 4'x8'x6" slab using sakrete rapid set concrete and it turned out AMAZING! I used a gravel base, put rebar down as well, and used rapid set mortar mix for a smooth screed. I misted/soaked it for 5 days before removing the forms. It was my very first concrete project, and turned out incredibly well and strong. It serves as the base for a 2280 lb concrete staircase and is supporting the load just fine. Thank you for this post!! You helped me save a ton of money!!

Looks like it is golden to me, also keep in mind a weigh bearing pad is typically a 6" pour with rebar reinforcement. So the fact that the pour lasted that long with a soft substrate and a thin, non-inforrced pour, is very impressive.

You are teaching me so much!! As a senior woman, and trying to do stuff myself, you encourage me to just do it!!! Thank you!!! 🥰

I bought a form to make concrete stone look walk, and could never get started cause mixing concrete is not my favorite pastime. I can see this will work like a charm for my use, and if I do one a day in couple weeks I can finish it with minimal effort. Thanks!

I've dry-poured fence corner posts for 20 years on the farm- it draws moisture from the ground around the post. Works well and eliminates the need to hauls water out to remote areas.

If the slab were larger, had a more compact sub base and didn’t rock back and forth while you drove over it, I don’t think it would have failed. Great video, I’ve been thinking about using this method to poor a patio extension for an out door kitchen. You’ve convinced me to try it.

Your concrete pad seemed to hold up under the compression load which was pretty light 30-50psi. What broke the pad IMO was the tensile load caused by a soft sub-grade.

I feel that if the pad was level with the ground around it, the pad would have held up much longer. I have an area where I drive off my driveway, which was doing fine until the soil washed away. My driveway is now cracked where I pull on and off and this was a traditional poor. Thanks for the video.

Wet pour of that same sized slab would have failed the truck test also. Having the edges of the slab fully exposed is what makes the pressure too great. Had Michael just filled in dirt around the slab it would not have failed. I have a concrete mixer I might be listing for sale after watching these.

Lol, I'm still not sure about dry pour, but I'm going to do it as an edging border under my new fence. Hopefully will save time weed eating and keep the metal panel fence secure. Much easier than my 60 year old body mixing concrete! Great video, and does give people options. Thanks Michael

I’m thrilled with this outcome! Thank you, thank you thank you, Michael, for your efforts to do such a thorough test. And you still have more coming. 😃 I can’t say enough about how helpful this is. You rock.

I'm glad to see someone actually approaching this from a somewhat scientific approach instead of pushing an agenda by intentionally doing it in such a way that would guarantee failure.

I'm not a big fan of the dry pour idea....BUT! If there was wire mesh in that slab with a good gravel base it would have never failed IMO. Nice video Mike

Love your enthusiasm. Amazing - you can see it deflecting. One good thing about dry pour is that it's impossible to get the concrete too wet. A very common mistake is adding too much water. That weakens it.

I think mostly the concrete failed because the substrate gave way. Probably would work great for a patio.

Caught this video at the right time. Deciding whether to have concrete floor or raised wood floor joists for a 10’x16’ shed. Probably cheaper to use concrete. Also your a great show host. You seem to have the personality and attitude for being in front of the camera. Also a stand up, speak up, sit down presentation. Looking forward to more videos.

Sunday breakfast and a Michele Builds great way to start Mothers day!

Nice to see people testing this dry pour slab method. In 2005 i built a 20x16 pole shed/barn. I dumped dry quickcrete and troweled it out very similar to this. 18 years of parking a 5000lb tractor in and multiple different atvs, no problems. I’m not sure mixing the bag concrete beforehand makes much difference other than huge amounts of time and work. I used remesh though. Pour it a couple inches deep, smooth it out put the remesh down and then put the other half on. Easy.

I’ve been waiting for this. 😄👍

Completed a dry pour 12 x 16 with 4 inch slab thick with rebar in the middle. Great results!! Buidling a 8x12 shed and workspace.

thank you!! this is the video I was waiting for. Someone who actually let cure fully before taking it apart! very good video. thanks!

It certainly would have worked for a storage building. If the base is properly prepared, you should be able to drive on top of it. Had there been a hard-packed rock base, it likely would not have cracked. Steel reinforced concrete helps spreads the point load out over a larger area, reducing the flexing in the middle. That tiny amount of concrete flexing each time you drove across the middle of the concrete was enough to mash down the soil underneath the middle of the concrete. That gap eventually became large enough to remove any base support. Dry pour can certainly be effective for some uses, but the major problem I see with doing a dry pour is breathing in the concrete dust. Regular face masks, even N-95, are not actually sufficient in keeping all the dust out of your lungs. Even very small amounts of concrete mix dust in your lungs are a huge health hazard, which may not become obvious until years later. I recommend placing a fan, powered by a small generator, so the fan is constantly blowing the concrete dust away from your face. You do not want even a light breeze blowing those tiny dust particles toward your face. You can’t actually see the tiny dust particles that can end up going into your lungs. If you can smell it, you are breathing it in, even if you can’t see it.

The dry pour worked great for filling cracks in my patio and gaps between the paver stones. Appreciate the tips and tricks as it was a time saver and looks good. Probably would not do it for weight bearing purposes, but for sugar coating stuff its the bomb.

I sure do appreciate the time you took in testing this!! ❤

I'm definitely with a lot of the other people here, if there had been wire or rebar in there I don't think it would have cracked; your non-scientific test just proved that for most around the house projects dry pour is a viable option. GOOD JOB !!!!

We are still subscribed to your channel because we love your content Michael !!!!❤❤❤❤

Hello Michael, I've been watching many dry pour method videos including yours and I'm definitely convinced that it works and I'm planning to do my porch this way. The only thing I've been waiting for is for someone to try the misting portion of the process with concrete color/dye to see if that works to give it some color. If you could consider trying that I think that would be something new for everyone. Thanks and continue what you're doing brother it teaches us alot.

I love the way you're testing the cement

Michael, Two words... "Excellent presentation." How can one NOT like this guy...

You need to put a dry pour and wet pour next to each other and do the same abuse to each one. All we know now is how dry pour performs, not on whether it performs worse.

You should definitely do a more real world test. Which would be with 1/2” #4 rebar at 12” each way for reinforcement which most slabs with loads on them would have placed into them

You were very fair in your assessment. I do believe that for my purpose it will work wonderfully. I’m only needing a small pad for a couple steps to get into my garage. I just wanted to give you kudos for your fairness and honesty in the testing process and your willingness to not automatically dismiss this

I did a dry pour slab big enough to put two dodge ram 1500's and my lawncare trailer on few years back. Hasnt cracked yet. If your going to be driving/ parking on it. Most of the important work is preparing the ground under it. leveling, sand, gravel, and a absolute crapload of tamping.

We’ve been curious about doing this method for an extension to our back lanai but weren’t sure how well it would hold up. We’re from the Midwest where weather is an issue but now live in FL where it doesn’t get -60 with the wind chill😂 so we don’t have to worry about the ground freeze like we once used to. Seeing so many tests done is a huge help so thank you! It answered a lot of questions we had to the strength dry pours could have. We’re excited to give it a try!

I like how you're looking into this from different aspects (plexiglass form to see water wicking; 24 hour vs 14 day curing strength,; cutting into samples of different methods to see cross-sections of the cured cement). Thanks for being thorough! I guess the only thing left to try is an ASTM strength test and see what percentage of strength can be achieved with dry mix vs regular mixed concrete.

Thank you. This could save me thousands, because I'm now confident I can put a simple walkway in my side yard using this technique.

Awesome to see inside one of these dry pours! Looks good to me. Better compacted base, and maybe some internal mesh/rebar for larger slabs and this looks really doable for certain diy projects. Thanks so much for testing viewer requests!

Let me tell you, there are few things more stressful for a DIYer than pouring cement. It's like walking a tightrope, but instead of falling to your death, you end up with a lumpy, uneven slab that's not even remotely level. Trust me, I know from experience. My first attempt at pouring a slab for my front porch was a disaster. I had all the tools and supplies, but I just couldn't get the mix right. It was too soupy, and it took forever to cure. The surface was rough, and it just looked like a hot mess. That's why I was so intrigued when I heard about the Dry Pore method. apparently, you don't even need to mix the cement. Just make sure the powder is thoroughly wetted, and the rest takes care of itself. I mean, it sounds like magic, right? But apparently, the powder is porous and acts like a wick, so it draws in the water and sets up just fine. Of course, there are some downsides to Dry Pore. For one thing, it takes longer to cure, so you can't exactly pour it today and build on it tomorrow. But if you're a patient DIYer who doesn't mind waiting a little longer, Dry Pore is a perfectly acceptable alternative to wet pouring. Personally, I wish I had known about Dry Pore before I attempted my first slab. I mean, I spent an entire day mixing and pouring and smoothing, and it was still a hot mess. If I had used Dry Pore instead, I could have saved myself a lot of time and headache. And the best part? I wouldn't have had to deal with the cement mixer. Let's just say that thing is not my favorite tool in the shed. So if you're thinking about pouring a slab for a DIY project, consider Dry Pore. It might not be as quick and easy as wet pouring, but it could save you a lot of stress and frustration in the long run. And who knows? You might even end up with a better result. Just make sure you do your research and follow the instructions carefully. And don't forget the metal mesh! Trust me, it makes a huge difference.

You proved it was cured all the way through. Nuff said.

I am not sure why folks are so suspect of dry pouring concrete when you understand that concrete is porous. Truly, if you ever tried to store a concrete bag in your garage and ended up with a solid brick you KNOW this to be true. Use whatever method works best for you.

I bought my first home 3 years ago and have severe allergies, so I want a concrete patio. I live in an affluent area but don’t have affluent money, lol. I ran across the Cajun couple, a few months ago and started researching. Called a guy and asked what he’d charge to pour me a patio. It’s a town home, ably 15 X 10 or so and there is a side walk already out there. So maybe a 5x10 slab. He wanted 1800 dollars. I cannot afford that, so been wracking my brain as to whether or not I should try the dry pour. I don’t trust me with wet cement and I have no where to keep mixing buckets after done, we have no garages. I watched you do this and I now feel confident I me and my daughter can pull this off. The clearing and digging will take us a bit, but I thunk I can do it, even if in small sections at a time. We won’t be driving on it, we’re little women so don’t think we’ll crack lol. I think I will finally have the patio of my dreams by fall. Now..can you show me how to build a safe free standing fire pit? Kidding. Imma just buy that. Thanks Michael!

It would be cool to see you do concrete bowls for planters or mini standing pond

For a DIY’er this is an absolute winning product and method. I’m extending my patio and I think I will be going with this method.

I'm a disabled girl and I'm doing this for my walkway! I've been wanting a walkway and couldn't afford it. Now I can break it up and do a little at a time with joints between and it won't break my pocket on a disabled income. I'm so excited.

Great video! I agree with a lot of people saying that you could have built that slab on level ground and inserted wire mesh or re-barb in the middle to help with stability. I'm glad somebody is experimenting with different types of dry poor methods and you will be the one to sort out the science behind it...😉

Thanks for the 30 day update on this dry pour. I think even with rebar in the center it would have cracked from the truck, only because the size of the slab, that size is more for walking on. I agree with the flea, a fair comparison would be with a wet pour and dry pour and do the same test under the same conditions.

One of the best things about the dry pour… is seeing people who are against it, absolutely lose their marbles over it in the comments lol.

I like the way you have fun doing projects. Really cool : )

I’m a construction project manager on huge projects. I would never do the dry pour method on anything. However, many smaller dams in the US are done with damp compacted concrete. The cement is brought to the site in regular dump trucks, and has the consistently of wet sand. It’s dumped out of the truck just like gravel or sand, and is spread with road grading equipment. It’s laid in 12 inch lifts, and each lift is then roller compacted with heavy roller compactors like those used in highway paving. It can be reinforced with rebar, fiber mesh, geo grid, etc. depending on the application. This makes for an incredibly strong & durable, laminated concrete. The problem with dry pouring is you don’t get even distribution in the slab, which means your concrete strength will be inconsistent. Another thing to remember is that there is a difference between drying and curing. Cement needs moisture to cure. During the cure time, a molecular change occurs as crystals form, and the molecules rearrange. This makes much stronger bonds. Maximum strength generally takes 28 days. If the concert structure is such that you can dampen your slab a little everyday, you’ll get an even stronger slab. Even just keeping it damp for a few days can have a huge impact on the crystallization and final strength. Soupy cement and dry cement can have the same problem . . . weak pockets in your slab due to inconsistent composition. “Wet, but not too wet”, is the general rule. But never dry.

I really like your plans for the dry pour . Will be watching for your projects. 👍🏻

Thanks for doing this series! Jumped on the wagon and did a dry pour 3'x3' pad this weekend. My takeaways were, you waste a lot of product because you need to overfill the form and you spend a long long time going back and forth finishing the surface. You also end up spending a lot of time while the product is in it's most hazardous state, light dust flying around, being careful not breathing it in or letting it get all over you.

I'm 65 yo and I'm needing to do some cement work and I'll be doing it by myself. Dry pour looks like a godsend. Found another vid about a civil engineering trick where rather than put rock and sand as a base to pour over, you mix 15 - 20% concrete into the dirt and let it harden. Cheaper and easier.

Why am I still subscribed to your channel?? Because in one of your previous dry pour testing videos, I asked for a 30 day test, I got chastised for even suggesting the test by another viewer, and you still did it. Thank you.

Maybe you should reattempt this with one of those fibre reinforced concretes. would be interesting to see those results

As long as it gets hydrated (wet) all the way through, it will likely have the strenght listed on the bag. It just takes a lot longer with dry pour. Its certainly easier than renting or buying a mixer and easiervto work with for non critical work like sidewalks, driveways and pads. You'd need to be really careful for structural applications because you'd need to wait much longer than normal

I 100% believe reinforced slab would not have cracked. Thank you for this video. I'm building a 4x7 lean-to, and I'm going to do a dry poor.

Very interesting I still think the wetter it is when you start the better. We did the similar thing while installing satellite poles just did a 6 inch cap .

Only thing that isn't clear to me, would the same slab not crack if it was done with a regular "wet" pour?

Mike: One thing to remember is that concrete is a powder which will absorb water, this is why dry pour is used for post holes. You could do a full driveway like this BUT you would need to use screen reinforcing to make the drive sturdy enough. And I agree with @larrytyler1578, there was a bit of rocking with the slab when you drove over. I think the cracking was due to the slab rocking and you just happen to go over it at just the right angle for the slab to be raised on when side and lower on the other causing a fulcrum action which caused the slab to crack.

you have officially convinced me to do a dry pour

thank you for the time you took to make this. the drilling really surprised me a lot.

Michael, we really appreciate you doing all these tests for us! …and making it entertaining!

Really looking forward to seeing the continuation of this dry pour testing series.

🎉🎉🎉More tests ??? Excellent I would love to see you break with a sledge hammer a dry pour and a wet mixed block to see the difference, it would give us all a great pint of comparison 👍🏻

If you are open to additional tests, I would be curious if you did a hybrid setup. e.g. wetted the ground, then filled in half the form, wetted pretty good, then topped off the form dry and followed their "top coat" watering (e.g. the hourly misting and so forth). Doing this would allow for the dry concrete on both sides to absorb the water faster, still not require any mixing, and allow one to do the dry troweling/prep to give the same surface finish. I'm going to be doing a 10' x 5' dry setup myself after seeing this, thank you for doing this!

I love that you're devoting some videos to this. This will be a cool playlist for anyone who wants to know the ins/outs/successes/fails of dry pouring. For you, it'll just be another tool in your belt! I mean, another segment of your channel. lol

I am so happy to see you more active on KZfaq! Can not wait for more concrete video!

Waited all day yesterday for this, after watching ALL your videos (in one day). Glad I found your channel. So many ideas I now have

One day I would like to see someone compare dry pour with standard pour by putting both in a press to get real numbers on things like comprehensive strength. I'm convinced that dry pour is perfectly fine for many non-critical projects, but it would be very interesting to know exactly what kind of difference in strength between the two methods... if any.

Thanks for testing this dry pour process. It may not be the answer to all concrete applications, but it is for many. I live in a northern climate.. so I wonder about freezing etc. And I wonder if this dry pour process will work with kitchen counter tops too?

I don't know if anyone else has commented on this but when they built the Hoover Dam, they used a nearly dry Portland cement mix. There is no doubt that it has withstood a serious load of constant And fluctuating pressure for a very long time. I am considering dry pouring my new sidewalk, as well as the floor for my new shed, maybe even my garage (if the cost works out, and considering building codes.)

Best DIY dry pour proof for certain projects. Good thinking

Hey Michael. Could you do a video on how the strengths of concrete is proven? Would be very informative and highly entertaining.

Forgive me if this was already asked, but did you try adding any super plasticizer to the water that you are using on the dry pour? It might allow the water to penetrate better. I was thinking you could add it to a soap or a chemical canister that attaches to the garden hose so that it mixes with the water

DIY weekender here -- Great! Now I see this after I bought a small mixer just for those small projects.

I’m definitely about to built a patio with this method 💯👌🏻

I am considering this for a small walkway through my garden.

I once poured a small pad under my outdoor faucet for my roll up hose. I dry poured several bags except for the top layer which I mixed and poured for working the fine finish. It has held the hose reel bolted down just fine for many years and was a good enough platform for running water over for washing things....... I got the idea because I've seen concrete bags ruined from being in a humid climate and the solid bag would not break. Dry pour has it's place I think especially to save an old guys back , "like mine", for a lighter need project........The key is as you said, leaving it to cure. It takes longer and in some cases that's fine for certain home projects.

i love the monolog at the end and i wholeheartedly agree...for this and everything else just keep an open mind and space in the toolbelt ..thank you for your time and effort into this. It gave me confidence to try!

"I'm just an idiot with a camera!" Love it. Me too but I don't have a KZfaq channel. I love your channel. I once saw a video doing concrete strength tests with a press. As I remember, the dryer the mix, the stronger the concrete. I cannot find the video now but I would love to see someone test dry pour against several normal mixes in a press.

on Nov. of 2021 we repaired an asphalt private road with dry concrete method. About 15' x 6' x 4 in thick is a triangular shape (patch) it was done with rebar, gravel, broken asphalt and rocks. All size cars and trucks drive over it, even dump trucks loaded with rock lol my skid steer been on it for hundreds of times. The repair has last all this time with zero cracks. so definitely dry pour has its place but if you want to insure your investment add some rebar and gravel or small rocks.

I dry poured a 12x2 patio extension. It worked really well.

This would totally work for a walking surface, I have wanted to do this between my patio and to continue my sidewalk on the side of my house. But have had many of the concerns you addressed in the video

I was highly skeptical about this when you first did it but figured it was very plausible. Glad you did this my friend!!

I am not in any way a handyman. But I saw the first video you referred to and I made up my mind right away to to try it! I will be making a walkway from my front door to my driveway. And to be fair, the original people said not to drive on it. But you test was great! Thank you.

The concentration of pressure in one particular area on any concrete, dry mixed or wet mixed, would have given the same result. The failure, if you can call it a failure, is a result of the sub-base/substrate giving way under pressure.

Love your videos man ! Answered all my questions about a dry pour for my smoker and blackstone. Tired of them taking up room on my concrete patio so i am doing a couple 4x6 pads on the side.

Great video, and also, you’re very entertaining to watch . Thanks for the video.

i did a dry poor for a 10'x60'x6" pad for the lean to attached to my pole barn. compacted sand as the base, #4 rebar. i normally part my f350 KR dually on it, mind you it has 180 gallons of fuel plus semi truck 22.5 wheels and tires. also park my 6k lb tractor on it. has been fine for the last year and drive the dually min of 6 days a week. sometimes park a international 4400 dumb truck on it too. been a year and 1 month, plus michigan freeze/thaw and flooding from the river behind my shop. any my lean to is anchored into the dry poor concrete.

6" to 10" thick will never be cracked when driving on! In this case, that's just too thin for driving on by the heavy truck, even with wet pour, still won't hold! Thanks for the test!

Color me impressed. I'm gonna do this for my shed. I will be adding some 3/8 rebar. Thank you for this video

Michael love your energy and humor, with the ability bring new thinking to sometimes old ways is awesome! Sub'd🙌

I never would have thought that this was going to work! Thank you for the video.

Great follow up! Proof that for a small application, the dry pour, when following CCL's method works.

One place dry pour worked well was in a space between the garage and the fence. The space to work in was 3 ft wide, 24 ft long, difficult to access, and the slab was 25 inches wide, 3-1/2 inches deep, 24 ft long. The dry cement mix could be moved in a bag at a time, the entire length of the forms could be 2/3 filled with dry powder before adding reinforcing mesh and the rest of the forms filled and the surface finished without worrying about anything setting up before finishing was done. While adding bags and laying the mesh the dry mix already in the forms could be walked on, which was pretty convenient. A 1/2 inch drip line with mist sprayers every 2 ft was hung along the fence about 4 ft above the slab. Used an irrigation timer to run the mist 5 minutes each hour for about 12 hours, then switched to 5 minutes every 3 hours for a couple of days. It rained about an inch three days after the pour, and the water was shut off. I'm really happy with the way out turned out. Started setting the bags in place at 3pm, turned on the mist at 7pm, didn't lift a finger after that except to change the timer. Using the mixer would have required a way to get the wet mix from the mixer to the forms, which would have been either a difficult wheelbarrow trip or hauling buckets. The long narrow space would have had to be divided up into sections small enough to be reached across to screed and trowel. There would have been plenty of clean-up to do, too. In this case mixing wet would have taken a lot more work and time.

Good video and fair testing. I use this method for decades - lazy way for "on ground" cement pour not thicker than 10-15 cm.- with or without metal or plastic rebar inside.After the "misty wetting" while still not hardened, it is possible to make some "relief pattern" on the surface.Good idea is to spread and cover the surface with very thin layer of pure cement powder (after wetting) for reinforcing that surface and making it smoother. Can also use cement dye for colouring the surface. Dry pour is nothing new.By the way, cement and its mixtures are hygroscopic and will harden like a rock even just on open air and time of hardening depends only on the air humidity and takes longer time if not wetted on purpose.