Do you need wire mesh in a concrete slab?
Do you need wire mesh in a concrete slab?
That’s why thicker slabs of concrete are better suited to steel reinforcement. Do All Concrete Projects Need Reinforcement? No, they do not. Larger projects or slabs may need steel reinforcement to provide support or extra strength. Wired mesh can also help resist cracking. However, not every piece of concrete necessarily requires that extra boost.
What kind of mesh do you use for rebar?
Wired mesh is often paired with rebars, but not always. The steel mesh is made up of wires melded together into a flat sheet. The wires form a square, grid-like pattern. Like the rebars, mesh comes in varying sizes and thicknesses.
Do you put wire on bottom of slab?
As KootK suggested, if you want to keep the 4″ slab thickness, opt for fiber reinforcing instead – it more than pays for itself in saved labor, and headaches about big shrinkage cracks forming because the wire was lying on the ground at the bottom of the slab, and working to exacerbate the cracking.
How big of a concrete slab do I Need?
For a 12×12 exterior slab …I advise 4″ of compacted stone sub-grade, wire mesh, no fiber, low slump concrete, air entrained, 3,000 psi mix, and soft cuts creating a four-square pattern. The slab will definitely crack on the four-square lines but you will have done all you could. The rest is up to mother nature. Good luck.
That’s why thicker slabs of concrete are better suited to steel reinforcement. Do All Concrete Projects Need Reinforcement? No, they do not. Larger projects or slabs may need steel reinforcement to provide support or extra strength. Wired mesh can also help resist cracking. However, not every piece of concrete necessarily requires that extra boost.
Wired mesh is often paired with rebars, but not always. The steel mesh is made up of wires melded together into a flat sheet. The wires form a square, grid-like pattern. Like the rebars, mesh comes in varying sizes and thicknesses.
As KootK suggested, if you want to keep the 4″ slab thickness, opt for fiber reinforcing instead – it more than pays for itself in saved labor, and headaches about big shrinkage cracks forming because the wire was lying on the ground at the bottom of the slab, and working to exacerbate the cracking.
For a 12×12 exterior slab …I advise 4″ of compacted stone sub-grade, wire mesh, no fiber, low slump concrete, air entrained, 3,000 psi mix, and soft cuts creating a four-square pattern. The slab will definitely crack on the four-square lines but you will have done all you could. The rest is up to mother nature. Good luck.
