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MRollins10
Silver Member
Excellent! The best part about mine, is that it will be free! I am excited to see how it all looks in the end.
My new barn / shop build
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MRollins10
Silver Member
Vapor barrier and rebar went in today. Should be pouring concrete tomorrow. The 15 foot section on the left with no vapor barrier will not be concreted. That will be the enclosed lean-to that i will have three stalls built into. Once my barn/shop goes up, i wont be able to see my neighbors HUGE 100x80 barn he has. Hopefully not being able to see his anymore should cure my barn envy. I wish i had money and room for something like that!!
Industrial Toys
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Maybe a dumb question. Why the vapour barrier? They don't do that around here. I put 2" of hard foam under my driveshed slab in case I ever thought of heating the building. Except for the cracks, I guess that's a vapour barrier too.
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MRollins10
Silver Member
Someone more knowlegable about concrete can also weigh in, but when i asked the concrete guys that, they said "it keeps the moisture from wicking into the concrete"
AllByteNoBark
Gold Member
They did that on ours too. Keeps the concrete from acting like a sponge is what they told me.
Edited: changed the image out to one that was right side up.
Edited: changed the image out to one that was right side up.
Last edited:
bridge4
Platinum Member
I think in the south and north there are different concerns. Up north we have to worry about frost heaves and winter stuff, so I think we tend to insulate around and under our concrete. At least we did on our house build last year. In the south Im guessing there are different things to combat, which might be why they do vapor barrier. I know when I lived in NC, encapsulating crawl spaces (basically sealing them from top to bottom with vapor barrier and some insulation) was a big business because of all the humidity. I'm guessing this is similar.
EddieWalker
Epic Contributor
One of the biggest lies told in construction is that they will lift the rebar as they pour the concrete. For the first five minutes, some will actually pretend to do this, but then they get too busy to pretend any more and they just walk on it. Chairs will cost another $100, so most don't do this to save money, it's a pain to have to step over and in between the rebar. Much faster and easier for them to not have to deal with rebar and lie about pulling it up then lying about how it will remain in the middle of the concrete while they walk on it.
Rebar has to be somewhere in the middle to lower third of the pad to do anything. That means an inch of concrete under the rebar. I prefer an inch and a half chair when using 2x4's for forms, or a 3 1/2 inch pad that puts it more in the center, but we're splitting hairs as long as the rebar is surrounded by concrete. That means there has to be chairs under the rebar to hold it up in the air.
Then the biggest thing that most will do wrong is add too much water to the mix. This makes it easier for them to spread the concrete, but adds volume to the mix which has to go somewhere when it evaporates. Once it's evaporated, all that volume is gone, and the remaining concrete has to crack. This is where you see those big cracks in concrete that happen a day or two after the pour.
People that do not put chairs under rebar are very likely to add too much water to the mix.
cjoffutt
Silver Member
Vapor barrier and insulation under my house/garage and under the pole barn we're pouring on Monday here in Indiana (provided it warms up slightly before then).
Used 4mil visqueen and 3.5 inch foamboard since it was reclaimed/used and super cheap, I think I paid around $5 a sheet at the time via Craigslist for it. So it went under the basement slab and the garage floor. As well as pex tubing for in floor heat in both slabs. I've yet to finish plumbing them up as I've yet to need it but it's there should the need arise.
For the pole barn, same 4mil visqueen but 2 inch reclaimed/used foamboard this time that was $10 a sheet. I'll be putting pex in the floor and most definitely will be plumbing it in to help keep heat costs down in the barn. Will also be using 1.5 inch foamboard between the girts on the walls and a layer of 1 inch on top of that instead of spray foaming it. Was quoted anywhere from $3200-3600 to sprayfoam the barn (36*48*14) at 2 inches thick. I can get the reclaimed/used foam for a total of ~ $800. I think I'll pocket the savings as I was already going to put fiberglass batt insulation up in the walls as well.
Completely agree with EW's point on the rebar not being pulled up during pours. During the porch pour of the house I actually caught them stepping on the rebar to bend it back down from the wall to the flat transition just so they didn't have to step over each one every 16 inches. Had to tell them to bend them back up as they were when they showed up that morning.
AllByteNoBark
Gold Member
Eddie is correct, the chairs are important and help keep the rebar where it should be.
ovrszd
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Used 3" chairs on 6" pour in my shop. 2" chairs on 5" pour in my house.
IT's wire mesh is one step worse than rebar without chairs. I've torn out concrete where that was used. It's 50% exposed under the bottom of the pour. Does nothing to add strength.
I'm not a concrete expert by any stretch. But I've sure learned a lot over the past 18 months. A very expensive learning experience. When the truck is there it's no time to "learn" or "correct".
MRollens, I am excited for your build!!!! When you get your shop up you'll not pay any attention to your neighbor's!!!!!
IT's wire mesh is one step worse than rebar without chairs. I've torn out concrete where that was used. It's 50% exposed under the bottom of the pour. Does nothing to add strength.
I'm not a concrete expert by any stretch. But I've sure learned a lot over the past 18 months. A very expensive learning experience. When the truck is there it's no time to "learn" or "correct".
MRollens, I am excited for your build!!!! When you get your shop up you'll not pay any attention to your neighbor's!!!!!
