Small pole barn advice

[gersus]

40 yards of concrete?!

 

[mopardude318]

yea. it turned into a 30x30. my footings were pretty large, and the foundation walls took a lot of concrete.

 

[ultrarunner]

Don't feel bad... my brother used the loader to prepare for a slab... he got carried away and when he formed it all up found he was way deeper than needed... 30 x 40 slab that now is a basketball court for the kids... but later will be a barn...

Anyway... the slab ended up being a minimum of 10" thick with one spot 13"

 

[mopardude318]

 

[Redlands Okie]

Orange compactor, orange shirts all to match that orange tractor. That’s pretty dedicated
Looks like a lot of hard work turning out nice. Congrats.

 

[EddieWalker]

Those forms and rebar look beautiful, but where are the chairs supporting the rebar? Nothing bothers me more then seeing concrete being poured and there isn't anything supporting the rebar so it remains in the middle of the concrete. Technically, the bottom 1/3 is the ideal location, but what really matters is that there is concrete all the way around the rebar and that it's not resting on the dirt below the pad.

Biggest lie you will hear when pouring concrete is that they lift it while they spread the concrete. Some will even do this for a few minutes when the pour begins, but nobody does it for the entire pour!!!! And then they are walking on the rebar, pushing it back down again, along with the weight of the concrete coming out of the truck that's pushing it back down too.

Guys working concrete have one goal, to get it smooth and flat. That takes everything they have to accomplish. Posing for pics and pretending to lift the rebar doesn't even enter their minds once the job gets going!!!!

 

[fried1765]

yea. it turned into a 30x30. my footings were pretty large, and the foundation walls took a lot of concrete.

The entire project certainly looks to be much more work than was necessary.
Obviously there was no need to remove material and replace with gravel.
Did you consider using concrete blocks for the stub walls?
I do prefer poured concrete, but for this application, blocks, on top of spread footings, would likely have been easier, and cheaper.
Did you use re-bar chairs in your floor?

 

[fried1765]

Those forms and rebar look beautiful, but where are the chairs supporting the rebar? Nothing bothers me more then seeing concrete being poured and there isn't anything supporting the rebar so it remains in the middle of the concrete. Technically, the bottom 1/3 is the ideal location, but what really matters is that there is concrete all the way around the rebar and that it's not resting on the dirt below the pad.

Biggest lie you will hear when pouring concrete is that they lift it while they spread the concrete. Some will even do this for a few minutes when the pour begins, but nobody does it for the entire pour!!!! And then they are walking on the rebar, pushing it back down again, along with the weight of the concrete coming out of the truck that's pushing it back down too.

Guys working concrete have one goal, to get it smooth and flat. That takes everything they have to accomplish. Posing for pics and pretending to lift the rebar doesn't even enter their minds once the job gets going!!!!

I would bet that the "reinforcing" in over 90% of all floors poured, is sitting on the dirt, at the bottom of the concrete, be it mesh, or re-bars.

 

[EddieWalker]

I would bet that the "reinforcing" in over 90% of all floors poured, is sitting on the dirt, at the bottom of the concrete, be it mesh, or re-bars.

I remodel homes for a living and most of the time I find the rebar in the middle of the slab when I'm moving drain lines around. If it's wire mesh, it's always on the bottom. I have never found mesh in the middle of a pad!! The few times where I've found it under the slab, laying on the dirt, there is issues with the pad. But in those house, I also have a lot of other issues with framing and usually everything else. Contractors that save twenty bucks on chairs will do the same every chance they get.

From what I've seen so far in the pics, it looks like he has a good crew, I just hate not seeing the chairs in the pictures. I can't figure out why they wouldn't put them in while tying the rebar?

 

[mopardude318]

Orange compactor, orange shirts all to match that orange tractor. That痴 pretty dedicated
Looks like a lot of hard work turning out nice. Congrats.

Thanks. I am happy how it is coming out!

Those forms and rebar look beautiful, but where are the chairs supporting the rebar? Nothing bothers me more then seeing concrete being poured and there isn't anything supporting the rebar so it remains in the middle of the concrete. Technically, the bottom 1/3 is the ideal location, but what really matters is that there is concrete all the way around the rebar and that it's not resting on the dirt below the pad.

Thanks. I took those pics before they were finished. Rebar wasn't all the way tied off yet. I didn't use those fancy rebar chairs, but I did use some recycled bricks I had lying around, which gives the same effect. I was out there the helping the whole time as they were forming and pouring. Rest assured, the rebar isn't just resting on the ground!

The entire project certainly looks to be much more work than was necessary.
Obviously there was no need to remove material and replace with gravel.
Did you consider using concrete blocks for the stub walls?
I do prefer poured concrete, but for this application, blocks, on top of spread footings, would likely have been easier, and cheaper.
Did you use re-bar chairs in your floor?

It certainly was more work than necessary! I won't dig like that again! I did consider concrete blocks, but I wanted one solid pour, so thats what I did.