Tearing out existing garage floor question

[JBAUTO]

Hey guys bought a house and im tearing out the garage floor its cracked and chipped and what not.

This is a attached garage on a house and has a brick footing.

Now my question is im going to do infloor heating and im going to lay down vapor barrier and 2" foam insulation and i was told that 6x6 wire mesh spaced up 1.5" on a 4" concrete slab would work fine?

Now my question is. Is 6x6 wire mesh not enough for a garage floor or will this crack ?

Or should i do rebar?

 

[koditten]

Your floor is still going to crack, wheather you use rebar, stell mesh or fibermesh concrete. The only real purpose is to keep the cracks from getting bigger. I have used 6" steel mesh on all my projects. I went the route of vapor barrior, foam, tubing, mesh then poured the concrete. I know most people recomend that the tubes be on top of the mesh, but I didn't think 5/8" of an inch difference was worth the hassle. With the mesh on top it made it easier for the mesh to be closer to the center of the concrete pad, thus my cracks would be controled better. I also didn't have to worry about the jagoff concrete laborers pulling up my tubes and making them too close to the surface. I was able to make my expansion joint cuts without worring about cutting the tubes as well.

One of my best friends is a cement contractor. His favorite saying is" I garentee your concrete is going to do 2 things...it's going to cure and it's going to crack". He is kind of a smart ***.

Don't forget the perimeter foam. The cold blocks around the outside of your new pad will **** the heat right out of your floor. I got another buddy here in Central Michigan who skipped on the perimeter foam. It is amazing how far into his yard the snow gets melted from the heat of the building.

 

[JBAUTO]

Thanks alot koditten the rebar guy told me that wire mesh is more then enough for a small garage like what im doing. Im in the same method of doing the piping bellow the rebar also. I have the perimeter foam all cut with a 45 on top .

Thanks alot

Josh

 

[Ryan Hill]

JB
I am about to start the same project. I posted a similar question the other day and got some good feedback. I'll get you in the loop if I receive anything else from members that might help you as well. The race for a new floor began!!
Ryan

 

[JBAUTO]

Thanks RH

 

[GarageEnvy]

In my area it's all 4-5" slab on 2" fill but my designer said mesh would be to code but he always specs rebar. Apparently it is pretty common for concrete guys not to pull it up into the slab appropriately. The concrete contractor told me that the rebar was the way to go and far superior to mesh. Just repeating what I was told. I am guessing this slab will float and not be tied into your brick perimeter.

 

[6768rogues]

Although you cannot eliminate the chances of cracking. you can minimize it and its effects. Don't add water to the concrete after it is delivered or trowel in bleed water on the surface. Dampen it during the cure as a long cure is better than a short cure. Prepare the base adequately so there will be little settling. Have the base accurate in elevation so the concrete is uniformly thick. Cut control joints so that cracks tend to follow your pattern. Use a structural reinforcement such as mesh or rebar. Use concrete with a strength that is adequate for the load.

 

[cyamaha2007]

Use rebar and 2in chairs. Alot of concrete guys i know hate the wire mesh and tend not to pull it up after they walk on it. We dont use that wire mesh at all at my work. We make rebar cages for everything. I just dont like it i guess.

 

[katit]

I had rebar AND mesh installed. My contractor installed "zip strip" which I didn't even see. Basically, it's a plastic strip embedded into slab vertically dividing slab into 2 pieces. This strip is about 1" lower then surface. It's like expantion joint and if slab will crack - it will crack in a straight line.

P.S. My contractor in addition to 2 warranties mentioned above gave me one more warranty that "nobody will steal it"

 

[dirttracker18]

I have said it before on here for similiar posts. I was told always rebar if you want it too last. My buddies much smaller garage was done with msesh and cracked. Mines is rebar 30 X 36 with one tiny little crack where the concrete was over the foam on the outside at the service door. Maybe 4 inches and hairline. My buddies smaller 24 X 24 cracked right across.
My experience has been if you rebar and it's done right your cracking will be minimal if any. Those done with mesh always crack. Spend the extra for the rebar and hire a good concrete guy.
You will be much happier with the results 2 years down the road.

Completely mine own opinion by a guy that is not a concrete person but have a look at my 30 X 36 floor after two years and you might agree.

Edit: There are no control cuts in my floor. One big slab of concrete and I live in the north with deep frost.

 

[kmacht]

Keep an eye out on craigslist. I scored a bunch of 20' long rebar for really cheap. I was able to do rebar for about the same cost as the wire mesh doing it this way. Also, consider having them add in fibers to the concrete. It is only an additional $6 per yard to have fibers added. You also might want to think about going to 6" thick if you are planning on putting in in-floor heating. 4" is pretty thin by the time the piping is placed.

Keith

 

[1jjpop]

Been around concrete for 40 + years,Go rebar with chairs holding rebar up,,Read once that 95% of wire ends up laying on the ground[ don't help the strength of concrete laying there.]

 

[GarageEnvy]

Keep an eye out on craigslist. I scored a bunch of 20' long rebar for really cheap. I was able to do rebar for about the same cost as the wire mesh doing it this way. Also, consider having them add in fibers to the concrete. It is only an additional $6 per yard to have fibers added. You also might want to think about going to 6" thick if you are planning on putting in in-floor heating. 4" is pretty thin by the time the piping is placed.

Keith

I know this is probably specific to my area (because friends from Oregon, Washington think it's crazy) but in my area the inspector will not pass a foundation that has rusty rebar. I got delayed in my pour a month because the weather was 4 days sunny 1 day rainy for weeks. Contractor was worried he'd have to remove and clean all rebar. I thought it was BS so I checked with a few others in the area and all confirmed it. If you're shopping used rebar make sure you don't have a silly requirement like this in your area.