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Measuring slab thickness without drilling

brota

Well-known member
Joined
Aug 12, 2015
Messages
57
Location
Andover MA
Hello does anyone know of a way to measure slab thickness without drilling a bunch of holes? When my floor was poured years ago I had a section dug out to be extra deep for a lift. I need to confirm the area (because I forgot to mark it years ago). I have seen some thickness testers on amazon. I don't see one that seems to include concreate. I have also seen some more expensive tools that can measure it. Does anyone have any experience with those and possibly where to rent or hire someone? I can not imagine I will need it more than an hour or so.

Thank you!
 
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PCustoms

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Jul 23, 2011
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22,238
Location
VT
Not that I can think of. I am north of Boston Ma
Ought to be able to find someone no problem.

There's a thickness tester used in road construction too, no idea what it is called. There's probably an inspection/cert company that would gladly bill you $$ to map out the pad.
 

308guru

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Joined
Jun 17, 2017
Messages
459
Just wondering if tapping various areas with a deadblow hammer or similar would offer differences in resulting sound?
 

john.k

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Jun 4, 2024
Messages
979
The ultrasonic testers used on steel are reasonably cheap online..............they work on boat hulls,so maybe they work on concrete
 

rlitman

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Oct 18, 2010
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24,578
Location
Long Island
Not a bad thought someone suggested a thermal camera to see if there is differences in the floor
I'm sure a thermal camera will highlight the difference, but you might need a big change in temperature for the cooler or warmer parts to show up on camera.
 
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Rusted Nut

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Dec 11, 2022
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1,800
Location
PNW
There are probably ground penetrating radar companies in your area, call them for costs. Most are around $200 an hour. Some tool rental places may rent a scanner you could use. Make sure the scanner will scan concrete depth, many only locate rebar. Drilling is cheap and easy though, but yea, leaves holes.
 
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brota

Well-known member
Joined
Aug 12, 2015
Messages
57
Location
Andover MA
There are probably ground penetrating radar companies in your area, call them for costs. Most are around $200 an hour. Some tool rental places may rent a scanner you could use. Make sure the scanner will scan concrete depth, many only locate rebar. Drilling is cheap and easy though, but yea, leaves holes.
I have not found a rental place but I will see if I can find a company. Yes I will drill once I have an idea where it is. Thank yout!
 

Beerhippie

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Oct 13, 2023
Messages
9,627
Location
Far NE Oregon
Just snap a nice gridwork of lines on the floor and drill at the intersections. Then you can use a crack filler to seal them and claim they're for strain relief.
 

T444e

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Joined
Feb 25, 2016
Messages
448
Concrete coring outfits in my area also offer scanning services. Might be tied to getting concrete coring or cutting done.
Quite often scanning is required to ensure bar is not cut through or get engineers approval to cut the bar if the core/opening cannot be relocated.
 

Tools4Me

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Joined
Jun 22, 2021
Messages
546
If I was in the same situation I would probably try one of three things. You might be able to achieve your goal with a standard hobby type metal detector, assuming you have rebar or steel mesh placed in your concrete slab. The mesh or rebar is usually placed towards the bottom of the slab, so it should be located deeper under the concrete surface in a place where the slab is thicker. If you adjust a metal detector so that it lightly beeps when moved over the top of the metal mesh where you know the concrete is thin you might be able to hear that beeping sound disappear or lessen noticeably when you go over an area of the floor where the steel is located an inch or more deeper down in the concrete.

An alternative solution might be to use water. Wet the surface of your slab as equally as possible all over and watch it closely as it dries to see if a certain square or rectangular section of the floor either dries more slowly or more quickly than the rest of the slab. Basically, it's a poor man's version of a thermal camera, because the water will evaporate a tiny bit slower in an area that's a little bit colder than the rest of the slab. This technique probably wouldn't work if you have any sort of epoxy or a similar coating on your slab.

Lastly, rent or purchase a rebar locator. It is a tool that works just like a stud finder, but it can be used to find rebar in concrete instead. They often also give you an approximate depth of the rebar in the concrete as well, so you would look for an area of the floor where the rebar is deeper down in the slab.

Something similar to this- https://www.amazon.com/Zircon-Metal...-Detector/dp/B09DZ5W3R5/?tag=atomicindus08-20
 
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