# Sakrete Versus Quikrete



## Canarywood1 (May 5, 2012)

greghamilton said:


> Me and my friend are thinking about getting into the fence building business to make some extra money. I was going to go with the yellow 80 LB bags of Quikrete because it was cheaper than the Sakrete Maximizer in the 80 LB blue bags, but a closer look at the specs of both show that it basically costs the same regardless of which of these two we would use, but with the Maximizer, we would be handling less weight, less water, less bags and in the end the Maximizer would have 5500 psi compressive strength versus the 4000 psi strength for the Quikrete.
> 
> Does anyone have any experience with these and have any recommendations? One thing to consider is how fast the concrete sets up. I know on the Quikrete datasheet it actually said to wait 24 hours before post is subjected to any strain whereas the Maximizer site did not say that. We would probably plan on setting the posts on one day and then installing the fence onto the posts the next day, so if we finished at 5 pm and then started the next day around 7 am, that would only be a little over 12 hours.


 
In the concrete industry the maximizer is called high early concrete,meaning it gains it's strength much faster than regular concrete,4000lbs. in 7 days and 5000 in 28 days,but it costs more so if you can justify the added cost fine.

Should also mention that the maximizer uses light weight coarse aggregate,if it makes a difference.

And for what you would use it for, compressive strength doesn't give you any advantage,it will just set faster if that helps.


----------



## greghamilton (Jun 15, 2013)

I jotted down some notes from each of their respective website datasheets below. If what they are saying is correct and I calculated correctly, it would actually cost 7 cents per hole less to go with the Maximizer. If that is true and I would not be giving anything up by going with Maximizer, I would sure like the part about only having to lift half the bags of concrete, which if you think about it, you usually handle each bag 2-3 times each depending on what the job is.

In terms of stregth as it relates to the strength & longevity of the fence posts to be able to stay straight & sturdy, how does the lighter weight coarse aggregate of the maximizer affect the posts versus the Quikrete yellow bag stuff? 

I guess the two biggest concerns I have regarding concrete are (in order of importance to me):

1) that the concrete keeps the posts strong in face of wind so the fence lasts as long as the warranty.
2) that the concrete is strong enough after about 14 hours that we can start screwing the lag bolts into the pipe grip clamps that hold the fence rails to the posts.

The volume I calculate of an 8" diameter hole that is 36" deep is 1.04 cu. ft. I did not take into account the volume of the hole that would be reduced by the post that we put in the hole since we will be using 0.095" wall thickness steel posts that are hollow.

*Quikrete 80 LB Yellow Bag Concrete Mix:* 
One bag yields 0.60 cubic feet. 
7 days 2500 psi compressive strength 
28 days 4000 psi compressive strength 
Would take 1.73 bags per hole. 
Would cost $3.65 per bag. 
Would cost $6.31 per post for concrete. 
Website says to wait 24 hours before post 
is subjected to any strain. 
Website recommends hole is one third height of post. 

*Sakrete Maximizer 80 LB Blue Bag:* 
67% more by volume than standard concrete. 
7 days 4000 psi compressive strength. 
28 days 5500 psi compressive strength. 
Yield - one 80 LB bag - 1 cubic foot. 
Looks like could use only one bag per hole. 
Would cost $6.24 per bag per hole. 
Website says recommend hole is half the height of pole. 
Would handle less bags and less water, so maybe not so tiring.


----------

