In-Situ Concrete & Power-Floated Floors

In-situ concrete contractors

Reinforced slabs, power-floated floors, machine bases and external hardstanding — set out, reinforced, poured and finished by our own crews, as part of the groundworks package rather than a separate trade to co-ordinate.

Price a Concrete Package → What We Pour

Constructionline Gold accredited · Trusted by Galliford Try, Costain & BP · Est. 2002

Finished power-floated concrete floor slab inside a commercial unit

20+ Years casting slabs, bases and floors

The Short Answer

What do in-situ concrete contractors do?

An in-situ concrete contractor pours concrete wet into formwork in its final position on site, rather than lifting in factory-made units. That covers reinforced floor slabs, pad foundations and machine bases, retaining structures and external hardstanding — set out, reinforced, poured, finished and cured in place.

In-situ suits anything that has to meet an existing level, an irregular shape or a cast-in fixing.
Pre-cast suits repeated units, where factory tolerance and the lifting plan are the advantage.
Most commercial packages use both — pre-cast frames landing on in-situ bases.
The surface regularity class has to be agreed before the pour, because it sets the bay and joint layout.
One contractor for the sub-base and the slab keeps the formation level and the finish with the same crew.

We erect pre-cast concrete as well, so a package can be split whichever way the design actually wants it. See the full service list, or Section 278 and Section 38 highway works for concrete inside a highway scheme.

What We Pour

In-situ concrete, self-delivered

The same crews that dig the formation, lay the drainage and prepare the sub-base cast the concrete on top of it — so there is no interface to manage between the groundworker and a separate concrete subcontractor.

Slabs and floors

Ground-bearing and reinforced slabs, inside and out.

Reinforced ground-bearing floor slabs, mesh or loose bar
Power-floated and power-trowelled internal floors
Tamped and brushed finishes where specified
Damp-proof membranes, insulation and fabric supports
Sawn, formed and armoured joints to the agreed layout
External hardstanding, yard slabs and service yards
Loading bays, ramps and plinths

Structures and bases

Everything the frame and the plant land on.

Pad foundations, strip footings and pile caps
Machine bases with holding-down bolts cast to template
Settings prepared ready for incoming steelwork
Reinforced walls, upstands and retaining structures
Bridge deck and parapet concrete within highway schemes
Chambers, headwalls and drainage surrounds
Formwork, reinforcement fixing and curing

Specifying It

Which concrete floor finish do you need?

The finish decides the programme as much as the slab thickness does. This is the short version of the conversation we have with estimators before a pour is priced.

Finish	How it is achieved	Typically used for
Tamped	Tamping beam drawn across the wet surface	External slabs and hardstanding needing grip
Brushed	Stiff brush drawn over a floated surface	Ramps, yards and vehicle routes
Floated	Skip float or bull float only	Slabs taking a screed or thick build-up on top
Power floated	Ride-on or walk-behind float, pans then blades	Warehouse and industrial floors taking a coating
Power trowelled	Repeated trowel passes closing the surface	Abrasion-resistant floors under racking and forklifts

Whatever the finish, the joint layout and the surface regularity class need to be fixed before the first pour. Changing either afterwards means cutting into a slab that has already cured.

Recent Work

Lincoln — drainage, bases and power-floated floors

A commercial development in Lincolnshire taken from deep drainage and excavation through to reinforced slabs, power-floated internal floors and external hardstanding — one package, one programme.

Foundation bases set out ready for incoming steelwork

In-situ concrete base cast with holding-down bolts

Power-floated concrete floor, finished internal slab

External concrete hardstanding, finished yard slab

See the full Lincoln and Manchester galleries.

Common Questions

In-situ concrete — the questions estimators ask us

What is the difference between in-situ and pre-cast concrete?

In-situ concrete is poured wet into formwork in its final position on site and cures there. Pre-cast concrete is manufactured in a factory and lifted into place. In-situ suits slabs, bases and anything that has to fit an existing level or an irregular shape; pre-cast suits repeated units where the lifting plan and the factory tolerance are the advantage.

What does a power-floated floor actually give you?

A dense, closed, hard-wearing surface that takes a coating or line marking directly, with no screed on top. The float closes the surface and the trowel passes burnish it, so the floor resists abrasion from forklifts and racking legs far better than a tamped or brushed finish.

What floor flatness can you achieve?

We work to the surface regularity class named in the specification and set the pour, the screed rails and the joint layout around it. The class has to be agreed before the pour rather than after: it dictates the bay sizes, the joint positions and how much slab can be poured in one visit.

Can you cast bases for incoming steelwork?

Yes, and it is a large part of what we do. We set out and cast pad foundations, pile caps and machine bases with holding-down bolts cast in to the fabricator's template, so the frame goes up on the dates the programme says rather than waiting on remedial grouting.

Do you supply the reinforcement and the formwork?

Yes. Mesh, loose bar, fabric supports, formwork and the joint system are all part of our package, and the same crews that excavate and prepare the sub-base cast the slab. One contractor carries the formation level, the reinforcement cover and the finish.

What do you need to price an in-situ concrete package?

The slab drawings with levels, the reinforcement details, the concrete specification and the surface regularity class. If there is a joint layout or a floor-loading schedule, send that too — the joints and the loading usually decide the programme more than the volume of concrete does.