Is Concrete Heavy?

Is concrete heavy? Yes, concrete is a very heavy building material with high compressive strength. An average bag of Quikrete ready mix concrete weighs 80 lbs. Even lighter Quikrete bags weigh, 40lbs, 50lbs, or 60lbs. And those weights are before you add water. A yard of concrete weighs a whopping 4050 lbs. That’s over 2 tons, which is heavier than the average car. Concrete weighs approximately 150 lbs. per cubic foot. That’s only a 1 foot by 3 foot area at 4 inches thick. The average 10 foot by 10 foot patio at 4 inches thick weighs around 4500 lbs. A pallet of Quikrete contains 42 80 lb. bags which weighs 3360 lbs. That’s almost a full yard of concrete on a single pallet.

How much concrete weighs varies based on the form its in and its ingredients.

The average deck footing I build is 18 inches in diameter x 36 inches deep. That’s 720 lbs. worth of concrete.

The average 4 inch x 6 foot high fence post is set in a 12 inch diameter hole that’s about 3 foot deep. That’s 400 lbs. of concrete per fence post.

The average mail box with a 4 inch post at 3 foot high requires 200 lbs. of concrete.

A concrete basement wall 8 foot tall x 12 inches thick is 1120 lbs. per linear foot. For an average sized 30 foot x 20 foot house that’s 112,000 lbs. worth of concrete just to build the basement walls. The 4 inch thick concrete slab floor weighs about another 26,000 lbs. Add another 20,000 lbs. of concrete for the 12 inch x 18 inch footings. So a small 600 square foot 30’x20′ house with an 8 foot high basement has approximately 158,000 lbs. of concrete.

Why Is Concrete So Heavy?

Concrete is such a heavy building material because of the ingredients that make it. It truly is a material that’s the sum of its parts. The average concrete mix is made from

Sand, cement and stone are all heavy materials all on their own. When mixed together with water, the cement creates a paste that binds the ingredients together to create concrete. The new mass retains the weight of all of it’s ingredients combined. This makes concrete weigh approximately 150 pounds per cubic foot. That’s very heavy when compared with other building materials of the same size.

Concrete’s weight is typically measured in volume and not area. However, you can find out how much concrete weighs p.s.f. at different depths by doing a simple formula; length x width gives the square footage x depth = the total weight.

What Is Heavier Than Concrete?

There’s are plenty of materials that are heavier than concrete. Let’s look at the weight of various materials per cubic foot which is a cube 12 inches tall by 12 inches wide x 12 inches deep.

• Concrete weighs 150 pounds per cubic foot.
• Lead weighs 708 pounds per cubic foot.
• Gold is really heavy at 1206 pounds per cubic foot. That’s worth over $25,000,000 dollars at the time I wrote this article in case you were wondering.
• Copper weighs about 559 pounds per cubic foot.
• Silver weighs 665 pounds per cubic foot.
• Platinum is a very heavy material at 1230 pounds per cubic foot.
• Aluminum weighs 169 pounds per cubic foot which is funny because it’s considered a light metal but it’s still heavier than concrete.
• Steel weighs 489 pounds per cubic foot.
• Granite is just slightly heavier than concrete weighing 168 pounds per cubic foot.
• Diamonds weigh about 200 pounds per cubic foot.
• Iron weighs 491 pounds per square foot.

As you can see, concrete is a very heavy material coming in at approximately 150 pounds per square foot. But there are lots of things that are heavier than concrete.

Summary: Is Concrete Heavy?

Is concrete heavy? Yes, concrete is a very heavy building material with high compressive strength. An average bag of Quikrete ready mix concrete weighs 80 lbs. Even lighter Quikrete bags weigh, 40lbs, 50lbs, or 60lbs. And those weights are before you add water. A yard of concrete weighs a whopping 4050 lbs. That’s over 2 tons, which is heavier than the average car. Concrete weighs approximately 150 lbs. per cubic foot. That’s only a 1 foot by 3 foot area at 4 inches thick. The average 10 foot by 10 foot patio at 4 inches thick weighs around 4500 lbs. A pallet of Quikrete contains 42 80 lb. bags which weighs 3360 lbs. That’s almost a full yard of concrete on a single pallet.

The average deck footing built to current building code is 18 inches in diameter x 36 inches deep. That’s 720 lbs. worth of concrete. The average 4 inch x 6 foot high fence post is set in a 12 inch diameter hole that’s about 3 foot deep. That’s 400 lbs. of concrete per fence post. The average mail box with a 4 inch post at 3 foot high requires 200 lbs. of concrete.

A concrete basement wall 8 foot tall x 12 inches thick is 1120 lbs. per linear foot. For an average sized 30 foot x 20 foot house that’s 112,000 lbs. worth of concrete just to build the basement walls. The 4 inch thick concrete slab floor weighs about another 26,000 lbs. And add another 20,000 lbs. of concrete for the 12 inch x 18 inch footings. That small 600 square foot 30’x20′ house with an 8 foot high basement has approximately 158,000 lbs. of concrete in the basement alone. Not counting the patio, stairs, walkways, sidewalk, driveway, etc. So yes, concrete is heavy.

If you have any questions or comments about concrete, email any time.