wssix99
Well-known member
^ That looks great. A few things to plan for as you get ready to build the cross section:
- Bearing area of the steel on the concrete core will be critical, so you may have to work around the vertical rebar that would keep you from getting that bearing.
- The first set of blocks you pour on top of the slab are challenging and will be difficult (just like the first course you put on the foundation) and I imagine they will have to be well glued. I expect Amvic will tell you to put tape over the block edges to keep spatter from spoiling the "lego" nubs, but floating the floor could also mess them up; causing a problem for putting that critical first course of block down. From my experience, I'd suggest getting some sacrificial "Height Adjusters" to put on the nubs to not only protect them from splatter but physical damage during placing and floating of the floor.
- You won't get the bearing of the steel decking perfectly flat. We were able to float these areas (for us - it was where our wood floor trusses sat on ledges) to within 1/4" of each other. At first, I thought this would be a problem for your application but now that I think about it - I guess not. Even if you get a little bit of wave in the steel deck, you'll just make up for it when you float the floor! (I went to an area of the house where we don't have any ceiling to take a picture of the ledge and show the shimming we had to do to illustrate this but... it turns out this are is one of the areas we got perfect and we have no shims!)
The area where I think you'll be pioneering here is blocking under the steel deck before your floor pour. You'll need to put foam blocks under the ridges in the steel so that the concrete you pour in to the wall cavity at the edges of the floor doesn't flow back under the steel and in to the space below. I would think spray foam would be too messy and hard to control (it could take up structural space underneath the floor, also) but if you could cut trapezoidal blocks and glue them in, that might be the easiest way. If you take a piece of decking (making a cutting tool) and heat it up with a torch, you may even be able to use it like a heat knife to cut perfect sections of Styrofoam for the blocking.
- Bearing area of the steel on the concrete core will be critical, so you may have to work around the vertical rebar that would keep you from getting that bearing.
- The first set of blocks you pour on top of the slab are challenging and will be difficult (just like the first course you put on the foundation) and I imagine they will have to be well glued. I expect Amvic will tell you to put tape over the block edges to keep spatter from spoiling the "lego" nubs, but floating the floor could also mess them up; causing a problem for putting that critical first course of block down. From my experience, I'd suggest getting some sacrificial "Height Adjusters" to put on the nubs to not only protect them from splatter but physical damage during placing and floating of the floor.
- You won't get the bearing of the steel decking perfectly flat. We were able to float these areas (for us - it was where our wood floor trusses sat on ledges) to within 1/4" of each other. At first, I thought this would be a problem for your application but now that I think about it - I guess not. Even if you get a little bit of wave in the steel deck, you'll just make up for it when you float the floor! (I went to an area of the house where we don't have any ceiling to take a picture of the ledge and show the shimming we had to do to illustrate this but... it turns out this are is one of the areas we got perfect and we have no shims!)
The area where I think you'll be pioneering here is blocking under the steel deck before your floor pour. You'll need to put foam blocks under the ridges in the steel so that the concrete you pour in to the wall cavity at the edges of the floor doesn't flow back under the steel and in to the space below. I would think spray foam would be too messy and hard to control (it could take up structural space underneath the floor, also) but if you could cut trapezoidal blocks and glue them in, that might be the easiest way. If you take a piece of decking (making a cutting tool) and heat it up with a torch, you may even be able to use it like a heat knife to cut perfect sections of Styrofoam for the blocking.
