- 1). Choose a cement at your local hardware or home improvement store. Read the back of the packaging of your cement; it will tell you how much area one package of that particular cement will fill. Purchase enough cement to pour a standard 6-by-6-foot, 4-inch-thick slab foundation. Ask a store employee to pre-mix the cement for you.
- 2). Use scrap-quality wooden 2-by-4 lumber to make a pour frame for your cement foundation slab. Gather your boards, nails and hammer in the area where you plan to pour the foundation. Pick up the end of a 6-foot board, and place the end edge 1 foot from the end of an 8-foot board, tightly against the flat side. Use two to three nails, hammering them into the flat side of the 8-foot board in a line to secure it to the edge of the 6-foot board. Lay the other 6-foot board 1 foot from the opposite end of the 8-foot board that you attached to your first 6-foot board, and attach them with nails as you did the first 6-foot board. Position one of the flat sides of the second 8-foot board up against the free end edges of the 6-foot boards. Make sure that each end of the 6-foot board is 1 foot from its corresponding end of the 8-foot board. Check that the 8-foot boards are even and parallel. Nail the 8-foot board to the ends of the 6-foot boards like you did the other ends. Measure the length and width of your frame with a tape measure to ensure that it is a 6-by-6-foot perfect square.
- 3). Place three 2-by-2-inch wooden pegs along each side of the frame, separating each by approximately 2 feet. Use a hammer to sink each peg halfway into the ground. Use a hacksaw to saw off the tops of all of the pegs, so that they are as even as you can make them with the top of the frame. Do not simply hammer the pegs even with the frame, as they will be difficult to remove later from that deep in the ground.
- 4). With a standard garden shovel, make a trench that is 4 inches deep all around the inside perimeter of your frame and no wider than your shovel spade. This trench will make the outside of your foundation heavier, which will give your foundation slab strength. Use a garden hose with a fine mister attachment to dampen the dirt within the frame. With a long-handled tamp, tamp down the moistened soil until the surface is as evenly flat as possible.
- 5). Cover your skin completely to protect it from the cement. Cement can become dried on your skin and leave burns. Put on a pair of safety goggles and a pair of work gloves. Wear long sleeves, pants and shoes that entirely cover your feet.
- 6). Transfer all of the cement from the store packaging into a wheelbarrow. Push the wheelbarrow to the edge of your framed area. Tip the wheelbarrow, and pour enough cement into the frame to completely cover the soil and compose a 1-inch-deep layer. Use a shovel to spread the cement around until the layer is fairly level and even. Lay a 5-foot-long reinforcing rod into the estimated center of the cement in your frame. Place #3 rebar around the inside perimeter of the frame, approximately 2 inches from every side. Bend the rebar gently at each corner to wrap it around. Overlap the rebar and reinforcing rod where they meet. Use tie wire to secure the overlapped areas so that they do not move freely and rub together.
- 7). Tip the wheelbarrow again, and empty the remaining cement into the frame so that it is filled to the top. Tap the sides of the outside of the frame with a hammer. This will get rid of any bubbles and allow the cement to settle well.
- 8). Level the surface of the cement initially by dragging a screed along the top of the frame by wording it back and forth in a sawing motion. Do not choose a screed that is too heavy; unlike concrete that has aggregate to bolster it, cement will sink under a too-heavy weight and create a depression.
- 9). Sweep a finishing trowel or a rubber float over the slab foundation in wide arch shapes to smooth the surface. Allow the cement to cure for 20 to 30 minutes. Again smooth the surface of the cement with your trowel or float. Let the cement cure again for another 20 to 30 minutes. Smooth the surface one final time. Allow the cement to sit until all of the water on the surface evaporates.
- 10
Smooth the cured surface carefully with your trowel or float. Shape the surface until you are happy with the finished product. Allow the cement to cure for three days. Each day, lightly spray the slab foundation using a garden hose with a fine mister head attached. After the three days, lift off the wooden frame. If the frame does not come away easily, use the back of your hammer or a crowbar to pull out the nails and disassemble the frame from around the foundation slab, then remove the pieces.
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