curb guy
Well-Known Member
We have no problems burning floors in black with macro fiber. If there are any fuzzies sticking up afterwards, we just wave a brush burner over them and they disappear. It really is superior to rebar, in my opinion.
A 4000 or a 4500 psi mix is only a few dollars more around here and in reality if you place it at more than a 4" slump without using a water reducer and using just water, you will be at a 3000 to 3500 psi mix. There are a few contractors here that want a 4500 straight cement mix and will chute it in at a 10" slump for easy placement knowing that it will end up a 3500 psi when all is said and done.
I suppose what I'm getting at is don't order a 3000 mix unless you are placing it at a 4" slump, over design the mix and allow for the loss strength when you wet it up so it is workable.
Properly mixed, placed, and cured concrete will strengthen for 50 years. In 100 years it should be back to its original 30 day cured strength. In my 32 X 36 work space I compacted 2 ft. of sand under my floating slab. The edge is 12" thick in one foot and then a six inch slab. I put 2 rounds of 3/4" bar on the perimeter. I spaced number 4 bar at 18" on center. I used heavy gauge 4" sq. mesh over the number 4s. Lastly I used a 4,000 lb., fiber reinforced concrete, after thoroughly wetting the sand. We poured with a low slump, (3"?) no extra water added. No vapor barrier on the sand. I went this way at the advice of one of the better structural engineers I have ever worked with. The mesh and umber 4 bar are fairly cheap. It has been 16 years ago now and still no shrink cracks even. The edge only has to carry the building, which even in a 2 story is not many lbs. per lineal foot. A last word of advice for any concrete placement. The squarer you can keep your slabs between expansion joints, the less cracking you will have.
Sounds like a nice slab. How did you get the concrete in the slab?
OIH, is there a particular reason you placed at such a stiff slump? If you are trying to maintain a low water cement ratio, a high range reducer (super p), sure makes it a lot easier to put down.
BTW, I noticed you said it was delivered in rears, does anyone run fronts like Advance or Phoenix mixers up there?
The slab in my shop is 8" with two mats of #5 bar on 8" centers. 5000# mix. Burke (now Meadows Burke) has a whole array of inserts to place in your slab. I went with 1" ACME threads because the rod is easy to handle and screws in fast. Of the two dozen I placed when the slab was poured, I have only use three or four. But you put them in for the "maybe." I placed two runs 8" apart of 3/8 x 10" flat stock
so that pretty much the whole 3/8 thickness exposed. I used 3/4" Nelson studs every 18" to hold them in place. A little 90 weight on top of them works wonders sliding things around especially the older I get. All of this was done though with parts left over from other jobs so the concrete was my only expense. When things are free, you can go crazy if you want.
No, the shop is buried in "stuff" scattered about. and right now, I am phone free. The inserts were way over sized, half inch would be more appropriate for a normal shop, I just liked the 1" acme threads because of their ease in using. And, the price was free which improves my opinion of things immensely. You cannot do this for a normal residential person, like you said, price is everything.Do you have any pics of your shop floor and how you laid out the inserts and flat stock? What kind of work are the inserts good for? I've poured a lot of concrete but all residential and they just want it flat smooth (and cheap).