Concrete Slabs
A concrete slab is a concrete structure, that in most cases, is meant to support some load on top of it. A concrete slab’s purpose can vary in many ways. A few examples of different types of concrete slab uses are: home & building foundations, driveways, roads, outdoor areas, sport courts, and sidewalks. There are more uses for concrete slabs, but the ones I mentioned are the most common concrete slabs we produce. A few great things about concrete as a foundation and flooring alternative is that: it’s long lasting, super strong, flat, and cheap. There are other foundation and flooring options besides concrete such as: asphalt, carpet, membranes, lumber and many more. The goal of a foundation and floor is to have the material characteristics high strength, stability, and durability. Concrete achieves all these traits way better than the other foundation and flooring alternatives I mentioned, and it does so at a lower cost.
One thing to consider when building a concrete structure however is that it is built right! If anything, big enough mistakes in concrete construction can be more expensive to fix than the construction of the concrete structure in the first place! Imagine having to demo out a bad concrete structure, and have to rebuild it! You always want to make sure you hire some one with adequate experience who really practices good concrete workmanship. We at Civil Concrete practice great workmanship with our services and always make sure to deliver on our promise of great concrete!
Concrete Reinforcement Types
Description: A type of dormant steel reinforcement concrete solution. After structure is formed, steel rebar is placed inside the area of the formed structure, forming a grid-like pattern. The concrete is then poured inside the formed area. Logical thinking might convince you tho believe that a higher strength concrete material should be used with rebar compared to that of the Post-Tension concrete material, since rebar is a lower strength reinforcement. However, higher strength concrete is more brittle, therefore needing a stronger reinforcement to compensate for the “brittleness”. If the strength of the concrete for a rebar reinforced concrete structure is too high, the rebar reinforcement might not be able to fully compensate for the high strength concrete’s brittle properties, therefore resulting in increased cracking of the concrete.
Post-Tension Reinforced Concrete
Reinforcement Type: Steel Tension Cables (For slabs, typically stressed at 2500 PSI)
Typical Concrete Material PSI (For Post Tension Slabs): 4000
Description: A type of stressed reinforcement concrete solution. After structure is formed, steel cables are placed inside the area of the formed structure, forming a grid-like pattern. The concrete is then poured inside the formed area, and concrete is let to be cured for 3-10 days. After this curing period, the post tension cables are pulled (“tensioned”).
Rebar Reinforced Concrete
Reinforcement Type: Steel Rebar (For slabs, typically #5 rebar)
Typical Concrete Material PSI (For Post Tension Slabs): 3500
Fiber Reinforced Concrete
Reinforcement Type: Plastic, glass, and metal fibers may be used. Each fiber is similar in size to a human hair. (For Sport Court slabs, steel fiber should not be used, due to surface corrosion, which would ruin the surface paint job of the sport court. Plastic fiber is also not recommended for sport courts, since it causes “confetti grazing” on the surface of the concrete, which sport surface paint may not be able to fully cover)
Typical Concrete Material PSI (For Post Tension Slabs): 3500
Description: A type of “mixture” reinforcement concrete solution. This form of reinforcement should be accompanied by rebar as the main source of reinforcemnt, the fiber is only additonal reinforcement. The purpose of the fiber is mostly aimed at reducing surface cracks. The concrete poured inside the formed area is already mixed with the fiber before the pour. After the pour, concrete is let to be cured for 3-10 days.