Rebar touching wood framing - is that ok?

[jojoquil]

Hello,

I am in the under construction phase and have found lots of really helpful information on this site so thank you!

My question which I have not seen posted by anyone else is my rebar is touching the wood framing in a large number of places. In others it has been trimmed down to a 1 inch gap. This is very solid wood and i don't see how any gunnite could possibly surround the rebar - especially 1.5 inches of it. There is also one area of rebar that is at least an inch over the grass and below the grass is 5 feet of dirt and rock like the pool was not dug out enough?

Has anyone else had either of these happen? Is it ok? Do they remove the wood framing prior to shooting the gunnite? I don't see how but maybe they use different forms that are bigger? Has anyone else had rebar over their grass? We are deeply regretting our pool builder choice so any ammo you can give us (if this is an issue) would be hugely appreciated.

Jo-Anne

 

[ajw22]

Welcome to TFP.

Your pic just shows some ends of the rebar terminating at the wood forms. That is fine. The length of the rebar will be encapsulated by the gunite.

The wood forms stay on until after the gunite is shot.

 

[Griswald]

That looks wrong to me...

 

[revitup]

Deleted

 

[jojoquil]

Welcome to TFP.

Your pic just shows some ends of the rebar terminating at the wood forms. That is fine. The length of the rebar will be encapsulated by the gunite.

The wood forms stay on until after the gunite is shot.

Welcome to TFP.

Your pic just shows some ends of the rebar terminating at the wood forms. That is fine. The length of the rebar will be encapsulated by the gunite.

The wood forms stay on until after the gunite is shot.

I understand the wood forms are removed so then all the ends of the rebar will be exposed to the elements and not covered in gunite. We are not having cement put in surrounding the pool. It seems the rebar should be completely covered in gunite to what ive read to prevent rusting and comprimising the gunite eventually.

Welcome to TFP.

Your pic just shows some ends of the rebar terminating at the wood forms. That is fine. The length of the rebar will be encapsulated by the gunite.

The wood forms stay on until after the gunite is shot.

Thank you Allen So its not a problem that a large number of the rebar ends touching the form boards will be exposed to the elements above ground? We are not having the pool surrounded by a concrete patio type area - we will have grass and pavers. I had understood all rebar needed to be encased in at least 1.5 inchs of gunite or it will rust eventually causing all sorts of issues.

 

[setsailsoon]

What part of the pool is your photo showing? Can you provide another shot further away so we can see the whole structure?

Thanks.

Chris

 

[ajw22]

Have you asked your Pool Builder how he intends to finish the sides of your pool if it is going to be open and not covered by decking?

You are confusing the requirement to encase the rebar for structural support with keeping the ends from rusting. If the builder covered the ends with some hydraulic cement it would be sufficient to prevent rusting.

 

[sktn77a]

That's how they did mine for better or for worse..........................

 

[jojoquil]

So here is a picture of the entire pool. The rebar that is touching is against the wood framing on the top in spots all the way around. I posted the original close up to see the issue in question at a close view. The builder has indicated he will put some sort of sealer on the ends of the rebar and it will be fine. I had understood if the rebar started to rust it could cause issues all the way down the side walls. It would of course take years but in south Texas with the heat and random torrential rains the weather is tough on everything here. If I'm worried about nothing then please just say

 

[setsailsoon]

jo,

Thanks for posting this. Your previous photo looked like the rebar was up against a form board that is actually the outside edge of the pool and not an interior wall. This photo confirms that. In this location it's not likely to cause a rust stain inside the pool or around the outer edge since it's well below the surface but I would ask the builder to clip the ends so they are fully encapsulated by the concrete. In my experience coatings don't work very well since there is literally no way to prep the steel to ensure it will adhere. At the very least I would ask the PB to show you the material's instructions that indicate the material he's proposing requires no surface prep.

As a side note this illustrates why I always require stamped structural drawing for any foundation work. There are almost infinite ways to space and size rebar with different strengths of concrete. I always want my inspectors to make sure any dimensions or other requirements called out on those drawings are met before the pour begins so I have an "owner hold" at these points. Usually there will be a spec for overlap in rebar that is some number of diameters and numerous other details. If it's specified on the drawing it means the engineer used these to do the calculations and they are required for the proper strength of the structure. If you don't have the drawing you can't possibly know what is a good installation and what is not. And for our owner build pool construction project the inspector is usually the owner. Since we are usually not trained inspectors we should at least be able to see what to inspect for based on the drawing.

I hope this is helpful.

Chris

 

[jojoquil]

jo,

Thanks for posting this. Your previous photo looked like the rebar was up against a form board that is actually the outside edge of the pool and not an interior wall. This photo confirms that. In this location it's not likely to cause a rust stain inside the pool or around the outer edge since it's well below the surface but I would ask the builder to clip the ends so they are fully encapsulated by the concrete. In my experience coatings don't work very well since there is literally no way to prep the steel to ensure it will adhere. At the very least I would ask the PB to show you the material's instructions that indicate the material he's proposing requires no surface prep.

As a side note this illustrates why I always require stamped structural drawing for any foundation work. There are almost infinite ways to space and size rebar with different strengths of concrete. I always want my inspectors to make sure any dimensions or other requirements called out on those drawings are met before the pour begins so I have an "owner hold" at these points. Usually there will be a spec for overlap in rebar that is some number of diameters and numerous other details. If it's specified on the drawing it means the engineer used these to do the calculations and they are required for the proper strength of the structure. If you don't have the drawing you can't possibly know what is a good installation and what is not? And for our owner build pool construction project the inspector is usually the owner. Since we are usually not trained inspectors we should at least be able to see what to inspect for based on the drawing.

I hope this is helpful.

Chris

Very helpful explanation thank you. Unfortunately our specs do not say anything about specific gunite coverage around rebar. It says wall will be 10" thick etc. We are meeting with the builder next week and have put a work stoppage in place till our concerns are addressed. We have consulted with several concrete specialists and they say the same as you that you cannot coat rebar effectively it needs to be covered in the cement.

 

[AQUA~HOLICS]

Jojoquil, All reinforcement steel is to be incased within 3” of Shotcrete, see the attached file photo of proper installation of steel cage and how the Dobies are keeping the cage the proper distance for the 3”.