Tell me what you see here?

[ovrszd]

No rat wall either. That don't fly around here. Code is at least 4 feet around the perimeter including any door openings. When I poured my shop floor for the new machine shop, I used cattle panels instead of rebar and stood the PEX off the panels with plastic standoff's.

No 4" or 6" either, 10" thick, 4 bag mix. I have heavy machine tools on it. In the winter, I keep the floor at 70 degrees. Floor heat is wonderful.

Yep. I've only had it one Winter in our house. Two Winters in the shop . I love it.

 

[Streetcar]

Rebar is not needed for most slabs, the vast majority of pavement I have worked on is not reinforced. They did not show compactor, but they have used one. Based on dust comments the wet concrete appears to be from excess water.

What is a rat wall?

 

[Hay Dude]

Rebar is not needed for most slabs, the vast majority of pavement I have worked on is not reinforced. They did not show compactor, but they have used one. Based on dust comments the wet concrete appears to be from excess water.

What is a rat wall?

Its a wall underground to keep rodents from burrowing under barn walls
The wet concrete could show up as shrinkage cracks later

 

[Streetcar]

I have never heard the thickened edge of slab called a rat wall before

 

[Jstpssng]

I'm curious, if you have no reinforcement in the concrete and are putting up an unheated structure in cold climates; aren't you depending on good compaction, equal across the entire slab, and hoping that it will stay together when it cracks?

 

[3Ts]

I was under the impression that the purpose of rebar in residential construction was to hold the edges of concrete together when it cracks. Am I mistaken?

I'm aware that some concrete construction does not use rebar - i've seen parking pads for commercial jet aircraft without it.

 

[/pine]

It's obvious many are not discerning the difference between a structural and nonstructural slab...

In nonstructural slab pours the reinforcement usually either wire mesh and or fibers is there to prevent cracks from widening...

on simple monolithic slabs where a footer along the perimeter is poured at the same time as the slab (for load bearing purposes) rebar is usually placed in the footing...

 

[MossRoad]

Not only is the rebar to help prevent the cracks from widening, in frost areas it helps keep the cracked sections from lifting at different levels.

 

[5030]

I have never heard the thickened edge of slab called a rat wall before

A rat wall is a trench dug around the perimeter of a structure usually to the depth of the frost line (here 4 feet) and it's required by building code. What we call it here.

 

[Industrial Toys]

I think pouring concrete is a terrible waste of money without rebar or at least mesh. Concrete only has limited tensile strength. Steel is like a gift from heaven for concrete. Especially considering it odd, that concrete and steel have the same thermal expansion coeficient.