Today's Topic: Cement

Today’s topic: Cement.

As a concrete salesman, I get to discuss cement on a day to day basis. People come in and ask me, I need cement for a driveway, I need cement for my patio. How much is cement these days?

My reply? $12 a bag.

A bag? A bag? $12 a bag? I want to buy my cement by the cubic yard! I need cement to pour a patio! Well, asking me for a load of cement for your driveway is like asking the bakery for a loaf of flour.

This failure to communicate is based on the assumption that everyone uses the same terminology. Merriam-webster defines cement as: “a powder of alumina, silica, lime, iron oxide, and magnesium oxide burned together in a kiln and finely pulverized and used as an ingredient of mortar and concrete” In short, cement is a powder, and if you poured your driveway with cement, it would blow away!!!

Our good friend Webster (Webster would be a great name for a dog, wouldn’t it?) also defines concrete as: “a hard strong building material made by mixing a cementing material (as portland cement) and a mineral aggregate (as sand and gravel) with sufficient water to cause the cement to set and bind the entire mass.”

So, unfortunately for me, the mis-labeling of these products causes me much heartache. The easiest way to remember the difference? Concrete is the finished product and requires cement, as well as gravel, and water (in it’s simplest form) that would be used in the pouring of a driveway.

So, the next time you go into your local ready mixed concrete supplier shop, please remember that we supply concrete, and not cement. The situation that I offered at first is very unrealistic. It is not realistic that someone would ask for a cement driveway, but it is unrealistic that I would correct someone on the term. , even though it may make our skin crawl every time it's used improperly, because the customer is always right. :-)