Concrete Decking Issue!!

[el duderino]

So, our pool was shotcreted on Tuesday and they poured one of the decks that is going to be stone. All along, the rebar for the deck was on the ground, not blocked up, due to all the traffic in the area. My pool builder assured me that they would block it up prior to pouring it. I was there when they poured it, and looking back, I'm about 90% sure that they didn't raise the rebar prior to pouring. Therefore, the 4" concrete is over the rebar which is simply lying on the fill. My gut tells me this is a huge issue. Pool builder says they blocked it up. I really don't believe they did. What should I do? Should I insist that they tear it up and start over? Tear up a small portion to check? Please advise.

Thanks!

 

[eggman]

Any way you can get under the deck on the edge ... if they didn't block it you should find rebar on the bottom of the concrete

 

[stever]

I agree with eggman -- if you can see it underneath, it should be torn out. Might be difficult to tell, though.

There are testing methods (similar to an untrasound) that will give a rough depth of the rebar, but the testing might be more expensive than the deck (it is cool technology, though).

If you cannot tell if the bar is on the bottom or not, I believe you'll see the evidence pretty fast in the form of cracking. What is the spacing of the cut or tooled shrinkage joints?

Steve

 

[el duderino]

The decking area isn't that big, and the plan is to put stone over it, so they didn't put any expansion joints. They're removing the forms as we speak, so I will attempt to try and see if I can tell where the rebar is.

If I can't my suggestion would be to break up a very small section and see. I would be willing to pay to have that done and replaced IF I'm wrong. Otherwise, I need to propose something.

I'm waiting to hear what the PB is going to do or suggest. I'm hoping they take care of this without me having to push the issue.

For once in my life, I would be very happy to be proven wrong!

 

[Henry Porter]

4" it's around 100mm that is a pretty thick cast.
If you gonna put a material on the surface you won't have to worry about cracking of the surface.
I'm not an expert on this but to my knowledge there shoulden't be any problem if you not gonna load the edges of the deck with much force like a building of some sort. If you would do that you could experince stretching in the top of the cast.
Otherwise it's just the the ground pressure that not gonna make any problems for you.
It's a drag that they can't do the job carefully the way they should.

 

[el duderino]

Thanks for the replies.

Like I said, there is a possibility they did their job right. I'm just trying to determine what needs to be done to make sure of it and what to do if they didn't.

I plan to talk to the PB tomorrow, so any more advice is much appreciated.

 

[tsunami]

Like I said, there is a possibility they did their job right. I'm just trying to determine what needs to be done to make sure of it and what to do if they didn't.

I plan to talk to the PB tomorrow, so any more advice is much appreciated.

Like you, I'd definitely be concerned about it and let the PB know how you feel. Was there anyone else there that you could ask if they raised it? Why would they go through the trouble of putting in all the rebar and not follow thru with the final step of setting it in place and risk the chance of having to do it over?

I've seen some concrete pours where they don't block it up, but instead, as they pour the concrete over it, they lift the rebar to set it in place as they go. Maybe that's how they did it.

 

[el duderino]

I've gotta agree that they have done this enough that they should know better. Hopefully, I just missed it. The two guys that were here taking the forms down didn't speak English, so I wasn't able to ask them. At least, that's what they told me

Talked to PB Today and she said that she would ask the guy who did it, but doesn't believe they would pour without raising it. They seem to be taking a "wait and see" attitude. She said that even if it wasn't raised, it probably won't be an issue, but if it is, even 5 years down the road, they will fix it. She also said that she's seen driveways poured before on mesh that wasn't raised and they never had any issues.

My only fear is where will they be in 5 years? I'm not really sure how long it will take before we see signs of cracking if it was poured on top and not raised. I would be fine with wait and see if there wasn't going to be many $qare feet of $tone decking on top of the concrete!