Which - concrete or cement? Confused

At the far end of our garden (under an overhanging sycamore tree) is a totally useless 'concrete' path which we inherited. It's hard up against a fence and only 9" wide (about 10' long) and I want to add some width to it - being at the far end the 'join' won't matter and it doesn't have to 'look pretty', just be functional.

I've dug down next to the existing path, put in some hardcore, tamped and levelled it, put some smaller stuff on top, tamped and levelled that and put up some shuttering, so my question is ....

Do I buy ready mix concrete or ready mix cement? I know cement is an 'ingredient' of concrete but before I rush off and get a 'man' to deliver me some bags, I realised I've no real idea which I should use.

So suggestions would be helpful, please.

 

Here come the boys she whistled , hopefully.....

 

All the info's here:

http://www.wickes.co.uk/content/ebiz/wickes/resources/images/gil/13.pdf

If you only need a small amount then the bags of mix might be the better option, but for larger quantities buying seperate bags of cement and all-in ballast generally works out cheapest, unless you get left with a part bag of cement of course.

What's the dimensions of the void to be filled? (so the number of bags can be calculated and the cost of ready mix v. seperate bags compared)

 

My2p worth: Cement is like a plaster, you stick it over the top of things, and it can easily break.Its made from sand and .........

Concrete is what you make things from, including paths, reason is, it is much stronger. Its made from sand, cement and gravel.

If using concrete for a path I would say it should be at least 7.5cm thick, which may mean taking some of that nice ballast out. (but its not wasted, as it can go in the concrete mix) good concrete calculator (and other info) on this site

 

What a star you are Scrungee, always there it seems with the right info.and at the best possible price too. Big brownie point for you today,

 

The 'void' is about 9" wide, 10' long and roughly 3" deep - which I calculate to be, rounding it up, roughly 2 cubic feet.

Since, if I buy the separate bags, it means barrowing the contents from one end of my plot to t'other bags are going to be much easier.

 

That's 3.05 x 0.225 x 0.075 = 0.05 m3. The info on the Wickes link suggest 80 bags of ready mix per cubic metre, so 0.05 m3 would require 4 bags, but at Wickes they are a reduced price per bag if you buy 5, so it actually works out exactly the same price to get 5 bags - a good idea if those dims/calcs are slightly out, or some sinks into the hardcore.

The alternative would to mix your own and buy a bag of cement @ £5.98 (wouldn't all be required) and 4 bags of ballast @ £1.81 each, which would be work out around £8 cheaper (even more so if you bought instore and found torn bags that they've put inside larger sacks and they'll reduce by about 33%ish at the checkout).

 

Thanks Scrungee for working all that out for me, but since I'm going down the ready mix bags route, I'm still not sure which I should buy - ready mix concrete or ready mix cement?

 

There's no such thing as ready mix cement [1] as cement is the substance that's either mixed with sand and aggregate to make concrete, or with just sand to make mortar, render and screeds, so it's the former you require - ready mix concrete.

[1] I lied - as cement powder can be mixed neat with water to make a grout for the likes of quarry tiles. But I thought it might overcomplicate matters.

 

Hi Fidgetsmum, the site below explains all the wonders of cement , mortars and concrete . Its easy to understand , i.e I understand it .It goes over absolutely everything , Its a huge site
http://www.pavingexpert.com/

 

Do try and keep up, HarryS

 

Ooooops sorry Watergarden , must have nodded off for a second
Anyway great minds , and all that ...........

 

It you're buying the concrete mix from Wickes, there's supposed to be a £5 money off voucher in the Daily Mail this week - don't know which day/what the minimum spend requirement is yet. EDIT: It's £5 off £40, too high a spend to mave a saing on 5 bags of concrete

Especially in SE England.

 

Unfortunately it's £5 off £40 this time. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/home/prmts/article-2115497/5-spend-40-Wickes.html