Rebar tieing

[Anonymous Poster]

On the slabs I've done in the past, I've found that it was easier to leave the rebar laying right on the plastic to tie the crossings. When they were all tied (every crossing), I just lifted the bars up onto the plastic chairs. It's not too bad since you are only lifting up a small section of the steel at a time.
My usual setup is #4 at 16" - makes it easier to step between the steel. Since it's my (free?) labor I never go less than a 6" slab.
I also highly recommend using the chairs - 2" for a 4" slab and 3" for a 6" slab. They keep the steel stabilized while pouring and accurately keep it in the middle of the slab where it can do the most good. In most cases if you use mesh it either gets trampled to the bottom of the slab, or you have to spend time constantly pulling it up as you pour.
I also place additional steel, tied back to the main slab steel, at all door openings - the edge of the slab, even with perimeter beams sees some stress when those tractor tires drive over it /forums/images/graemlins/cool.gif

 

[Anonymous Poster]

<font color="blue"> I also place additional steel, tied back to the main slab steel, at all door openings </font>

That's a good idea even in auto parking slabs. I always space re-bar about 3" apart in those areas.

 

[CTyler]

Thanks everyone...

I'm using 3" chairs, the floor will be 6" except at the doors where its about 11" taper. Started out with box of steel chairs but the plastic is cheaper and better. These particular steel chairs aren't the best, I've seen much better. These will bend down to much stepping on the rebar unless you use a billion of them.

I'm almost done just have a 20x30 section left lay and tie, will get that done in the morning. Setting and Tieing rebar is about killing my back and legs and being slower than molasses at it doesn't help either.

 

[CTyler]

Here are a couple pics...

Pic of part of the roughins and a pic of the rebar. The floor roughins are all done an buried. The pic of the rebar is from yesterday when only 20x64 was done of 50x64. Thats mua in the background.

 

[CTyler]

roughin, part of it anyway. The other pics were to dark for some reason.

 

[Bird]

That's sure lookin' good.

 

[varmint]

C. T.: the picture of all the raised rebar looked like a commercial job site, where the government was footing the bill! Nice job. I didn't see any insulation board at the perimeter... since it says you are in Nebraska, don't you want to place 2' or 4' of, say, 2" rigid foam insulation board all around the edges? I can tell you, from many years of personal experience, that the expense of doing so never bothered anyone who had done it and lived thru a winter to enjoy a warmer slab underfoot. May be too late for your project, but then...

 

[CTyler]

Thanks.

You cant see it in the picture but I put 12" reflective double foil bubble insulation all the way around the bottom 2x6. The rest is folded down to go under the slab. The insulation is covered with the plastic so the concrete doesn't eat the foil in a few years.

 

[CTyler]

Woohoo...its done. I had some extra 10" pieces and put them in front of the doors. SO the rebar is 9"OC the width of the doors and 10' deep. I had ONE rebar tie left.....LOL!! Will have to take a pic tommorrow.

I can hardly wait for the floor to be poured Monday so we can start putting stuff in there. I'll wait a week before putting the tractor, car trailer or other heavy stuff in there.

Now, if it doesn't rain to much, I can start diggin the septic tank and leach field tommorow. After tieing all that rebar I was cryin for some tractor time!

 

[CTyler]

Well they poured my floor Thursday and OMG!!!!

It was supposed to be a 6 inch floor which is almost half way up the bottom 2x6. It was supposed to slope up to the garage doors and walkin door and taper to the floor drains.

Appearently I didn't make this clear enough to the Wife. Well when I drove out there they had already poured about 25% of the floor. HOLY COW they were pouring it almost to the top of the board everywhere!!!

The contractor commented to her that it was 9" thick in some spots. I knew it had a couple low spots where I ran out of rock and figured the heck with it, fill it with crete. It would only amount to and extra yard.

They told her they would do it for the 6" price. What should have been 62-63 yards turned in to 89.5 yards. GOOD GREIF thats an 8" average. I wasn't saying a word since they said the price was going to be the same. $2.50 a square foot, and there is 3200 square feet. Hope they're gettin a good price on crete. If I were ordering it myself it would be $62 a yard.

I had to laugh when a couple of the crew asked why the floor drains were so low.

I need to buy a Semi or a lot bigger tractor!!