How thick should concrete be?

March 24, 2014by Jerald Sargent0

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Most settled concrete, with a number of cracks in it, has a couple of things in common; it doesn’t have any steel in it (rebar or wire mesh) and it is four inches thick or less.

Concrete has incredible compressive strength making it able to hold tremendous weight but does not have good tensile strength (it doesn’t like to flex) Slabjacking, or concrete lifting, places concrete in a vulnerable position because of its inherent weakness to crack when placed under a dynamic load.

Overcoming this weakness is best accomplished two ways; First, concrete slabs five to six inches thick have a much greater chance of staying in tact when placed under tensile load than do slabs three or even four inches thick. Since concrete is inexpensive, adding two more inches is a very cost-effective way to strengthen its ability to withstand flexing. Second, using an internal structure such as wire mesh, rebar or post tension cables, supports concrete as it flexes limiting movement, and, if a crack develops, limits any vertical differential between the two sides of the crack.

If you are dealing with sunken and settled concrete call the concrete raising professionals today.

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