Thirty years of distribution teaches you things no brochure mentions. A few of them, free:
OPC or PPC — which bag for which job?
PPC (Portland Pozzolana) is the plastering and brickwork bag — smoother finish, fewer hairline cracks, gains strength slowly for years. OPC 53 is the structural bag — high early strength for slabs, columns and beams, so centering can come off sooner. Buying one bag for everything? PPC. Casting a slab the engineer will inspect? OPC 53.
How many bags do I need?
- Plastering: roughly 1 bag per 100 sq ft at 12mm thickness (1:6 mix)
- Brickwork: about 1 bag per 350–400 bricks (1:6 mortar)
- RCC slab: approximately 4–4.5 bags per 100 sq ft at 5″ thickness (M20)
These are field estimates — your engineer's bar bending schedule wins. Message us your slab size on WhatsApp and we'll help you count.
Storing cement so it doesn't die
Cement absorbs moisture from air and slowly sets inside the bag. Store bags off the floor (on planks or pallets), away from walls, covered in plastic during monsoon, and use within 60–90 days of manufacture. A bag with lumps that don't crumble between fingers has lost strength — don't use it in structural work.
Why fresh stock matters
Cement loses roughly 20–30% of its strength in 3 months and up to half in a year, even in a sealed bag. This is the quiet reason distributor-direct beats a shop where stock sits: our bags move in days.
Slab-day checklist
- Order cement the evening before — morning delivery, before the centering team arrives
- Count bags at delivery, check for tears
- Keep 2–3 bags extra — running short mid-pour is how cold joints happen
- Water-cure for a minimum 7 days, ideally 14