okay all... here is my issue.

 

I have an avairy and it has pavers on the floor. They are not 'great', but I can't remove them. What are my options for covering them with concrete or something similar??? The gaps inbetween them are causing issue (ants getting in, mic etc..) Can I cover them with concrete or something I can compact down??? How long will the birds have to out of the avairy for? I don't really have anywhere to put them for any length of time (only have some small quarintine cages). Any suggestions would be very helpfull!!!

Edited March 24, 200817 yr by maesie

A lot of breeders use tiles over their slabs.

I don't know how small your Q cage is.But 6 budgie could be held in a smallish cage till the concrete set,if that was the way you wanted to go.To fix your problem,

Thanks Kaz and George!... how long would it take for concrete to set? I guess I'd only need a thin layer (to fill the gaps and cover the pavers)

Concrete poured over top of slabs needs to be "keyed" in............it needs the slabs to be roughed up a little for the new layer to bond. Often times a thin layer over top will crack and seperate.

mmm, I had thought there might be an issue with 'a thin layer'

You can get concrete that is rapid set, so it is possible to do it very quickly. rapid set concrete can set in 15 minutes, so the birds only need to be out of the aviary for all of 1 hour at most, that gives you time to rough up, put dry concrete down in powder form, you simply hose it in, and this hosed in concrets should go over the gaps, use the back of a metal rake or something to spread it out nice and smooth, then it will dry very fast. One hour, you can put your birds back.

You can get concrete that is rapid set, so it is possible to do it very quickly. rapid set concrete can set in 15 minutes, so the birds only need to be out of the aviary for all of 1 hour at most, that gives you time to rough up, put dry concrete down in powder form, you simply hose it in, and this hosed in concrets should go over the gaps, use the back of a metal rake or something to spread it out nice and smooth, then it will dry very fast. One hour, you can put your birds back.

 

 

Thanks Dave!!! So... can you explain to me how to do it??? I'm not real smart when it comes to concrete... ... do I just put the dry concrete down, hose it and then spread it out??? How thick etc...I'm confused??? Or... do I mix it up, spread it out and then do the dry stuff. Sorry for all the questions.

You need to have some barriers up to stop the concerete escaping. best way to do this is to put some wood around the base of the sleepers so the wet concret cannot just slide off.

 

The concrete comes in bags of different size, depending on the size of the slab and the desired thickness will decide how much you need.

 

You empty the bag of concrete onto the pavers. Spread the powder out. Think of it like flour in a dough mix. the more liquid you add, the runnier the dough/mixture becomes. Same works here. You add water, and turn the water in to the conrete, once more like added liquid to a cake mix. the water turns your powder to concrete. I would make sure that it covers and is pushed into any gaps between slabs and the like.

 

remember not to add too much water at the beginning. You can always add more, but once added, you cannot take it back. remember, you have 15 minutes for it to set. So you do not have to rush or panic. If you want a smooth finish, get a piece of timber and drag it across the top, the will give it a smooth even finish.

AWSOME!!! You're a ledgend. Thanks so much. I'll give it ago over this easter weekend.

let us all know how it goes

 

Mayeb a before and after shot would be good. If you post a before shot, I might even be able to make asuggestion

Great idea Dave... here we go. When I first got my avairy I had no idea what I was doing. Dad and I 'think' we can build anything . Neither of us are real handy but we enjoy working on projects together and always sort of get what we sort of want in the end. I know now I should have done a lot of things differently, but thats life isn't it. In an ideal world I would have lots of money and I'd lay a big slab and have a huge avairy with inside and out etc... but that's not going to happen so I'm working with what I have. The first two pics are of my bird room and the last two are in the avairy. I've blocked the big gaps with wood and I'll be getting some 'no more gaps' to fill the smaller ones tomorrow. I've still got some pre concrete work to do tomorrow as I'm planning on concreteing on Sun. Any suggestions would be great. Also, Thanks so far Dave!

 

 

 

 

 

I've also got some more cleaning to do!!! Grrrr

Sounds like you are wroking your easter weekend like us but we are doing hearse and coffin renovations

Once you clean it all up, and then concrete, it should be fine. You probably want a layer of about 1 inch in terms of concrete. That will be thick enough. As you lay it, it will fill up the gaps naturally. Lay the far end first, do it in gum boots or something like that. Lay all the conrete, then work your way out backwards, smoothing it all over. You will need to be fairly fast with that as you only have about 15 minutes from start to finish once you wet the powder.

Edited March 21, 200817 yr by KAZ

Yeah Kaz... working most of the weekend. It's fine though as I can't sit still and do nothing!!! (Laughing out loud).

 

Thanks Dave. Sounds good and thanks for everything. I'll fill more gaps tomorrow (I ran out of 'no more gaps) and the shops are shut today. I'm then going to clean it all really good and then go for it on Sunday. The worst bit will be catching the birds but I have some gloves for the 'angry' ones!!! One more question. Do I spread the powdered concrete out to 1 inch think and then hose it... will the water penetrate down all the way? Thanks muchly!

 

If I don't post over the next few days, you'll know that I ran out of time and got stuck in the rapid set concrete . I'll be sure to post some after pics when I'm done. Cheers!

If I don't post over the next few days, you'll know that I ran out of time and got stuck in the rapid set concrete . I'll be sure to post some after pics when I'm done. Cheers!

 

Sounds like an awosome project.

 

I will be on standby with a jack hammer if you get into trouble

I must just need to contact you!!! It's 1800 GET ME OUT isn't it??? (Laughing out loud)

good luck, don't forget to tell us how you go..

I must just need to contact you!!! It's 1800 GET ME OUT isn't it??? (Laughing out loud)

 

Thats it My other number if that one is busy is 1800 IN TOO DEEP hahaha

 

You could also wear super sized gum boots so you can just slip your feet out and leave them stuck in the middle of the floor - they could make nice nesting sites or mouse free feeders - (Laughing out loud)

I must just need to contact you!!! It's 1800 GET ME OUT isn't it??? (Laughing out loud)

 

:hap: Thats it My other number if that one is busy is 1800 IN TOO DEEP hahaha

 

You could also wear super sized gum boots so you can just slip your feet out and leave them stuck in the middle of the floor - they could make nice nesting sites or mouse free feeders - (Laughing out loud)

 

:hap: ... Good one. I like the new feeder/nesting boot idea aswell. What would I do without you?!?!

Good luck with your new flooring Maesie :(Laughing out loud): You've got nice weather to do it.

Well... the concrete is down and I'm having some lunch and catching up on some posts/topics. I'm very unfit and had had enough after the initial preparation/cleaning . This is how my day has panned out thus far...

• I put together the two quaritine spare cages, gathered my supplies (net and gloves) and headed into the avairy...
  
• As soon as Bert and Ernie saw the net they were carrying on like I was about to probe them for something untowards... mmm. I actually ended up catching them no worries and the budgies were a breeze also. 1 point to me!
  
• Their time in the small cages has been mixed. Bert and Ernie have been fine and Ernie has now started 'talking' so he must not be too stressed.
  
• The Budgies... well. They are like a group of children stuck inside on a wet day. They go from sitting nicely one minute, to squabbling the next. "you're too close, you looked at me funny, your feather is touching mine..." and if that's not bad enough, Tweet Tweet is trying to 'do' Crackle on the bottom on the cage. He had her on her back and he was on top of her... classy!!! Needless to say I've had to tell them off many times and if you were one of my neighbours you'd think I was nuts!!! (you get that (Laughing out loud))
  
• So, back to the real work. After cleaning out the aviary, I proceeded to lug these huge bags of concrete into the aviary (((hang on, it's raining and I have stuuf on the lawn.... arrrrrrrrr)) okay... I'm back... yeah, so I had to carry these bags into the aviary on my own!!! My parents went out for the day so I was a solo worker...
  
• After quite some time raking and pouring, I was ready for the water... well the hose sprung a leak, the trigger ends I wanted to use with the light spray bit were broken, I got covered in water... but I did get the concrete wet and spread. It's not real flat, but not bad for a first timer in a small aviary ON MY OWN!!!
  
• So... the pack says 15mins... mmm I don't think so!!! It's been just under an hour. But, I didn't expect it to be hard in that time anyway... come on peoples...
  
• I wait... I eat... I type... I read... I listen to the words from Ernie and the screetching from the budgies... I check on the hardness of the concrete even though I know full well it wont be ready... mmm
  
• I'll leave my story here for now... nothing else to report...
  

Sounds like its going well so far

 

Now It's like watching paint dry before you can have fun redecorating your aviary

I had "visions" of you stuck in setting concrete Good thing you survived in one piece

I had "visions" of you stuck in setting concrete Good thing you survived in one piece

 

:hap: It was a bit of a worry as I'm home alone... Could have been a very long afternoon!