A Day On Site With The Guys At Breedon

Breedon have a long-standing relationship with Metex, regularly purchasing their floor finishing tools, such as dapple bars, spazzles (AKA Texas Placers), and sprayers (Chapin 1949).

If you live under a rock and don’t already know, Breedon is one of the leading construction materials groups in Great Britain and Ireland, with a national network of over 200 ready-mixed concrete plants. Everything they do is supported by a dedicated team of local technical sales representatives (TSR) who work tirelessly to deliver for their customers!

There is no such thing as a typical day for a TSR. As with most groundwork projects, the nature of the work really does depend on the size of the job. Most days will start with a morning brief, where a plan for all activities taking place on site that day will be outlined, including any information regarding site-specific hazards and general progress. After the brief, a TSR can find themselves dealing with a broad range of site activities, but in a nutshell, a TSRs role is to ensure that the job is progressing as smoothly as possible.

Metex Category Manager Andy invited himself along to a site visit, graciously accepted by the local TSR, to see exactly what the process and steps were from plant to pour. The job was laying Breedon Flow (an easy to finish, high-performance self-compacting concrete) on a housing development site:

The day started off at the local plant, where the waggons collect the material needed for the pour on site. Once filled up and ready to go, we set off to the site located a few miles from the local plant. Once you’ve got to site and gone through the usual hurdles, correct PPE & permissions, and if your steelies are on the right feet…you’re off!

When you get to the pour site the site foreman checks all is in order, you have the right material and it’s the correct slump (the concrete is able to flow under its own weight in unconfined conditions) needed for the pour. As soon as he’s happy, you’re good to go. The waggon is guided to the pour site, the chute is placed where needed and the pouring starts. Like milk hitting your cereal bowl (or something less pleasant hitting a different type of bowl), it begins to spread evenly and fill the pour site – although sometimes with a little help from a one of the guys on site to ensure it gets everywhere in a timely manner.

As soon as the guys are happy it’s evenly spread, it’s time to grab a Metex Dapple Bar (used to release air bubbles and achieve a smooth finish) and start tamping. Once you have the desired finish, all you have to do is apply your curing agent (this helps reduce cracking and dusting while the concrete cures). Grab a Chapin 1949 fill it up with your curing agent (minimum curing efficiency of 90%) and spray this over the top of the pour site, and you’re done. It’s as simple as that!

Our category manager Andy said: “I loved my day on site, and I was astounded at how much faster it is to lay than traditional concrete, it only took 8 minutes vs 30 with traditional… Reduced labour, shorter placing and finishing times! Thanks to the guys at Breedon for the opportunity. I look forward to many more years of working together!”