I have sand on my floor of 3 of my aviaries and cement on one.

 

I had this judge/ breeder come the other day to help sort out my birds and he told me that after I have cleaned up the floors that I can lay cement onto the sand and rake in all in then put more cement on top then wet it down and it will be rock hard just like a cement floor,

Has any one done this?

I only put new sand which is coarse down last week so it is fresh and clean.

 

Would like some advise

Interesting....maybe more details needed from the judge/breeder ?

I would be interested to hear more too, haven't erected my Aviary yet as I thought I needed a slab?

Going to ring him tonight, Did a new holding room and it is rock hard but still not sure about throughing the stright cement on top as the birds might be able chew at it, The holding room is for the birds in the holding cages, they won't be loose in there.

I used to have a paved aviary but was sick of ants and mice climbing in through the bottom. With much help form here and especially Dave, I decided to concrete it. I used rapid set concrete, poured it out and spread in around and down the cracks... then added water. It worked quite well. It's not real flat as it was hard to get access and if I did it again, I'd do it in sections, but it serves its purpose. Here's My topic if you want to have a read

Thanks Maesie I read you post and it was real helpful but I can't go that way.

Plus I think it would cost me a futune to cover 3 aviaries with the ready made stuff.

 

I have to mix the cement into the sand because the sand is already and it is about 4 inches deep.

 

I have decided I need 5 or 6 bags of pure cement to mix into the sand, so 2 bags for the bigger aviaries each and 1 for the smaller one and one for the escape cage.

 

I am going to test it out on my new little holding room today.

 

I will put the sand in which will be about 4 to 5 inches thick then I will mix I hole bag of cement into it, then throw a bit of cement on top then spray it down with water and see what happens.

The bit that worries me is the pure cement on top if the birds chew on that it might kill them. :question:

I mixed cement and dolomite sand together to make a hard floor in the boys rabbit cage as rats were burrowing in, but I kept the rabbits out while it dried. I only used one bag for a cage about 1.5m x 1.8m with about 7 cm deep dolomite. It did the job, I could see the rats had burrowed underneath it from the outside but couldn't get up through it. I mixed the dolomite and cemet together in a wheel barrow before I put it in the cage, but didn't add any water until it was on the ground.

Why dolomite and not sand.

Only because I had been using it as a base for paving and had some left over. I think it might pack down a bit firmer than sand, hence the reason its used for a paving base. If you've already got sand in there definitely use that but I think you'll have to stay off it until it goes off, whereas I could walk on the dolomite straight away.

Edited November 27, 200816 yr by Hills

Will do, thanks

Going out to it now, wish me luck :question:

Good luck!! Don't breath in the cement dust its bad for you! :question:

okay just finished doing the holding room and I am worn out hard yakka mixing all that sand into the cement with a rake. Anyway tryed to level it out best I could then chucked some cement over top then wet it all down so far so good. The cement I chucked over the top washed away from the walls when I wet it so see how long it takes to dry.

Edited November 27, 200816 yr by splat

It would pay to level it out with a very slight slope so that any water will drain away rather than pool. (unless of course you want a bird bath in there :question: )

How is the cement bad for as I have already breathed in

I tryed to do slope on the floor so it drains.

The birds won't be loose in that room it is only for holding the birds in cages for show prep and seed bin storage because I was runnung out of room in the main breeding room

Now I am trying to con him into making me a door so I have direct entry from my baby aviary but so far no good. :bow:

So I have to go out side and walk down the side past my rooms to get into it it has an outside door not a internal door.

But you never know he might come around.

Now I am trying to con him into making me a door so I have direct entry from my baby aviary but so far no good. :bow:

So I have to go out side and walk down the side past my rooms to get into it it has an outside door not a internal door.

But you never know he might come around.

 

Psychology 101............. for reluctant husbands and partners

 

Start doing the new improvements yourself...and look really helpless and exasperated. Keep coming into the house looking for bandaids. Ask lots of "do you know where and "do you know how" type questions.... like..."do you know where the rivets are ? Do you know where we keep those 1 inch self tapping screws ? Do you know which setting on the drill I should be using ? Whats the best way to cut tin ?" and so on .....

Swear and mutter under your breath..... all within sight and earshot of the reluctant other half.

Works every time

 

PS the door you speak of will be great as it creates a safe area in the shed for access to that aviary.

:bow: Tried all that Kaz, if I want something I have to do it myself and he knows I am pretty handy

But the other day asked again and he reckons it would wreck a perfectly good building, where is I reckon it would make it look much better.

Any way I said to him I will do it myself and he laughed and said I would wreck his building completely so I really thought I was on to something then, thinking he would cave in and do it for me.

BUT you know what he said this is my house not yours, WHAT a rat

So I have given up for a while, he might come around one day.

How is the cement bad for as I have already breathed in

I don't know, but it says on the bag not to breath it in. I have breathed in small amounts too and not suffered any ill effects, but it would be best to wear a face mask in future, just in case. :bow:

Psychology 101............. for reluctant husbands and partners Start doing the new improvements yourself...and look really helpless and exasperated. Keep coming into the house looking for bandaids. Ask lots of "do you know where and "do you know how" type questions.... like..."do you know where the rivets are ? Do you know where we keep those 1 inch self tapping screws ? Do you know which setting on the drill I should be using ? Whats the best way to cut tin ?" and so on .....Swear and mutter under your breath..... all within sight and earshot of the reluctant other half.Works every time

Aha!!! Is that why!!!!

I didn't even read the bag lazy on my part.

But will use a mask when I do the aviaries.

Wow my cement floor for my holding room is working like a dream hard as a rock nearly not completely dry yet. But it is great.

the only thing is when I do my aviaries I will not be chucking pure cement on top I think I will buy that made up mix and throw that on top

Wow my cement floor for my holding room is working like a dream hard as a rock nearly not completely dry yet. But it is great.

the only thing is when I do my aviaries I will not be chucking pure cement on top I think I will buy that made up mix and throw that on top

 

BRILLIANT!!! I'm glad it worked well. I look forward to seeing photos of this masterpiece when you get a chance :rofl:

Edited November 28, 200816 yr by maesie

Wow my cement floor for my holding room is working like a dream hard as a rock nearly not completely dry yet. But it is great.

the only thing is when I do my aviaries I will not be chucking pure cement on top I think I will buy that made up mix and throw that on top

Cement on top will be fine...anything left after drying just hose off.

I;m so glad to have read this post, it's giving me such great ideas for when I move next year

I haven't finished experimenting yet MB because with the pure cement on top Greg thinks if that was in the aviary and the birds managed to chew at it he thinks it would kill them.

So in a few days or so when I get time I am going to start my aviaries, I will start with the smallest one and I will use 1 bag of cement with the sand and the I will put a couple of bags of the ready made cement over top.

But the problem is I will have to wait for the bottom layer to dry I think,

 

Anyway I will keep you posted on how it is going.

 

But what I have done is great rock hard and no mice

If you were worried you could always put some sand over the top of the cement, easier to clean that way anyway

That's what Geoff said.Well he said to do what I did then chuck sand over top of the pore cement and it will all mix in and set together and just sweep away the sand.Maesie when you use the rapid mix, you did 2 inches think right, if so how many bags did you use.

I mixed cement and dolomite sand together to make a hard floor in the boys rabbit cage as rats were burrowing in, but I kept the rabbits out while it dried. I only used one bag for a cage about 1.5m x 1.8m with about 7 cm deep dolomite. It did the job, I could see the rats had burrowed underneath it from the outside but couldn't get up through it. I mixed the dolomite and cemet together in a wheel barrow before I put it in the cage, but didn't add any water until it was on the ground.

Hills when you mix the dolomite and cement and spread it out and then you wet it right. Well what I was wandering did it look grey like cement once dry ir did it look like sand but rock hard.

Edited November 28, 200816 yr by splat