How to Build Wood Concrete Forms

Concrete is a durable material which you can use to complete a wide variety of projects around your home. You can use it when installing a walkway or patio, a concrete slab to provide additional parking on your property or as a foundation for a shed or an addition to your home. When installing a concrete slab, one of the first steps is building the form to contain the concrete as it sets. Traditionally, the form is made of wood.

Spray paint
Wooden stakes
Hammer
String
Shovel
Rake
Tamp
Expansion strips
2-by-4 boards
Nails
Motor oil

Instructions

- 1
  Mark off the area where you will pour the slab with spray paint or by driving stakes into the ground and tying string to them.
- 2
  Remove the sod from inside the area that you marked off in Step 1.
- 3
  Rake the soil smooth and tamp it down to compact it.
- 4
  Install expansion strips on any edge where the slab will meet an existing structure to allow for the concrete to expand or contract.
- 5
  Drive wooden stakes into the ground every 3 feet along the edge of the pour area. Drive the stakes deep enough that the tops of the stakes will be the same height as the top of the board forms.
- 6
  Place the 2-by-4 boards that you will use for the side walls of the form against the wooden stakes so that the tops of the 2-by-4s are even with the tops of the stakes. Nail the 2-by-4s to the stakes.

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