Comparison Between Ready-Mix Concrete and Site-Mix Concrete

The journey of concrete is quite fascinating. Before the concrete, mud was the commonly used construction material. With the advent of cement, construction experts were able to create a construction material that was strong, workable, cost-effective and reliable. The mixture of aggregates, cement and water was just superb.

For many years, construction workers kept preparing the concrete on the site manually. But, when the demand for concrete for the big construction projects arose, the construction industry in Lilongwe developed concrete mixtures that were able to mix concrete on the site quickly. However, the limitations of on-site mixing resulted in the rise of automated batch mixing. And with time, the concrete mixing technology became so sophisticated that it took the form of the concrete batching plants. Both the on-site and batching plant mixing are still used today, catering to the needs of the specific types of construction projects. Now the question is which one is better ready-mix concrete or site-mix concrete?

Here is the detailed comparison of the ready-mix concrete with the site-mix concrete:

Accuracy and Quality 

The accuracy and quality of the ready mix concrete are unmatched. Batching plants prepare the concrete as per the exact requirements. The automated systems are used to mix the ingredients of the mixture. You can set the ratio of the cement to sand to aggregate to water, and the batching plant picks the exact amount of each ingredient and mixes it in the controlled environment. Batching plants can do that accurately for each batch of the concrete. That level of accuracy in measuring the ingredients in large quantities is not possible with manual mixing. Also, doing so consistently requires massive efforts and supervision. 

 

Speed and Quantity  

The speed of preparation of concrete at batching plants is one factor where on-site mixing cannot compete. Batching plants can mix concrete in large quantities. A single batch can produce a large amount of concrete. To produce the same amount of concrete manually, it takes a lot of time. Thus, for large projects where there is a need to mix the concrete fast in large quantities, ready-mix concrete beats the site-mix concrete and working with building construction services in Malawi is the best bet. However, if you need concrete in small quantities, site-mix concrete is a good option.     

Storage 

On-site mixing of concrete requires material to deliver to the site and storage of the material at the site. Storing tonnes of the cement on the site requires a storage house and the supervision of the storage house to ensure safety. You need to invest in the resources to store and safeguard concrete at the site. On the other hand, ready mix concrete comes prepared at the site in-ready-to-use state. You just have to use the concrete. There are no storage requirements. There are no threats of vandalism.         

Less wastage

If you are mixing the concrete as the site, it is hard to avoid wastages. A significant amount of raw material is lost over the period during the storage and preparation of the concrete on the site. And not just that, due to the ignorance of the staff at the site, sometimes cement bags are left unsecured at the site. That results in wastage of cement in case it rains or water used for curing seeps into the bags. With ready mix concrete, there is no fear of on-site wastage. You can avoid unnecessary wastages by choosing ready-mix concrete.   

Transportation

Ready-mix concrete needs to be delivered on the site in transit mixtures. If the batching plant is far away from the site, the transportation cost of the concrete to the site increases significantly as retardants need to be added to the concrete to prevent the setting of the concrete, and also, the fuel cost adds to the final price of the concrete. With on-site mixing, there is no need to transport the concrete, but you have to transport the raw material, and also there is a need for storage. Hence, overhead costs of on-site mixing often equate to the extra cost of the transportation of ready mix concrete in the construction industry in Lilongwe. 

 

So this is the basic comparison of the ready-mix concrete with site-mix concrete. 

The Takeaway 

There is no doubt ready-mix concrete is a better option than site-mix concrete in many aspects. However, it is best to evaluate both the options before making the final decision. 

You can get in touch with our InstaCrete experts to clear up any doubts.