Concrete question

Which holds up better for a driveway--concrete with the glass fibers or plain concrete with wire reinforcement? I had some walks poured a few years ago and got both. I asked for plain so they put in the reinforcement then poured the fiber type. The contractor said that was all that was available that day. They stayed fuzzy for a couple of years, making it difficult to blow off the leaves and pine straw.

Reply to
G. Ross
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I don't know the answer, but you question reminds me of the difference between concrete and cement. I wonder if you mean, "cement with glass fibers"? Sorry, I don't know anymore about it.

Reply to
Bill

I believe either is going to be greatly dependent on the surface preparation before the pour.

I would probably go with the wire reinforced. At least that is how the driveways are done around here after the builder driveway fails. But soil conditions and ground prep will probably make a lot of difference in how long either holds up.

Reply to
Leon

Up here in frost country, fibercrete with steel re-enforcement, topped with "grout" which seals the concrete and keeps the water and salt out.

Reply to
clare

I think it will also have to do with the thickness of the slab, the area be tween joints and the compression strength of the concrete, assuming of cour se that the subgrade has been properly compacted/prepared. IMO, they are no t necessarily redundant. Proper cure will significantly increase the durabi lity/lifespan of the concrete.

Reply to
bnwelch

IIRC cement is the binder in concrete. Typically concrete has a stone aggregate and sand mixed in.

Reply to
Leon

For a driveway concrete with wire reinforcment.

Reply to
woodchucker

Once again, you are right.

As a cub superintendent pouring tilt panels, I learned the difference when the job structural engineer made it a point to embarrass (humiliate?) me in front of the old hands in the concrete crew.

There is no such thing as cement sidewalks, driveways, parking lots, founda tions, or anything else. Cement is a material of some type that is used to adhere objects to one another.

As you said, concrete is a manufactured product that is used in the above m entioned examples, that uses cement (usually a variant of Portland process) as a binder for the other ingredients.

I used to pour a lot of concrete, but that was years ago. I had no idea th at the glass reinforced stuff was being used for driveways and such. Can a nyone point me to a link?

I was looking around and all I have found is the glass reinforced concrete being used as it was years ago for cast columns, pediments, window treatmen ts, faux stone ornamentation, counter tops, etc.

Any direction would be appreciated. For some dumb reason I have always bee n fascinated with concrete.

BTW Mr. Ross, if you pour regular concrete, ask your contractor what the co st would be to go from 2500psi poured at a 5" slump to 3000psi. It shouldn 't be much, but it is a lot stronger. Also, find out what your city code m inimum is for steel reinforcement and add a little to it. Our code minimum here for driveways is 3/8" rebar on 24" centers with 1/2" bar treatments o n the perimeters. I usually go to 3/8" bar on 16" centers and it is much s tronger with a tiny increase in price over the project. It usually only ad ds about 6-8 pieces of steel on our regular sized double wide driveways, th at's it.

Looking forward to some info on the glass stuff; if anyone can post a link I would appreciate it!

Robert

Reply to
nailshooter41

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Reply to
hubops

Fiber and wire mesh both serve the same function, to minimize cracking and to hold the concrete together when it does crack. Neither offers any real structural advantage. The problem with wire mesh is that it's usually not centered in the slab very well. They normally lay it on the ground and pull it up as the concrete is being poured, thus reducing it's effectiveness. The glass fibers, on the other hand, get mixed into the concrete and are evenly distributed. So you end up with lots of little fibers holding everything together.

I used the fibers in my garage slab. The finishers didn't like it because it made it difficult to get a nice steel troweled finish. But, I thought it turned it very nice. My slab is about 5 inches thick, 24'x28' with NO control joints. 15 years later I only have one tiny hairline crack in one of the doorways. It's about 3 feet long, but you can't feel it with your hand. That said, my garage is mostly used as a wood shop, and only rarely sees the weight of our cars.

To add structural strength, you would need to add rebar reinforcement. Concrete is very strong in compression, but weak in tension (such as bending over a void under the slab). Rebar helps with that and/or you can make the slab thicker. Of course, it would be wise to start with a good compacted gravel base before you pour the concrete.

There's no reason you couldn't combine glass fibers to reduce cracking and rebar to add structural strength.

Good luck,

Anthony Watson

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Reply to
HerHusband

As one who causes a lot of concrete to be poured, the OP should view this as a good, informative post.

Reply to
Swingman

That was my experience in the home I built 20 years ago. I was very impressed with the fiber-crete.

Ahh, there's the rub, huh? A concrete parking slab is only is strong as the base on which it's laid... and it was never intended to be. A concrete pad is a concrete pad. A concrete bridge is another animal entirely. That's where the rebar comes in, as you described.

Way too many concrete pads are poured onto way too soft of ground. In my opinion, the base should be strong enough, alone, to bear whatever load is intended to be on the concrete.

Reply to
-MIKE-

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