Concrete Foundation Wall Rebar

Rebar reinforcement has been used to provide concrete with the support necessary to withstand tension forces for over 150 years.

Concrete foundation wall rebar. Rusting and exposed rebar can reduce the structural strength of concrete. The steel is there to hold any cracks. The placement size cover tying and tolerance in steel reinforcement are considered to achieve ultimate efficiency of the footing. Concrete surfaces expected to carry heavy trucks or machinery do need concrete rebar reinforcement.

Calculate the amount of rebar needed for reinforcing a wall. Most basement and concrete foundation walls are a minimum of 8 thick. Strength reduced from 136 7 to 114 9 in kips. This calculator assumes that you are using 20 foot long lengths of rebar.

Resulting in cracks weaken foundations and slabs as well as leaks in basement walls. Allow the footings to fully cure before building the concrete block wall. If your wall is over 40 feet long it will add 2x the amount of overlap required. Not all surfaces need concrete rebar reinforcement but adding it makes concrete stronger and more resistant to large cracks.

Lap the additional rebar to the adjacent bar for a minimum of 18 inches and secure with tie wire. Remember that plain concrete sometimes called unreinforced doesn t mean that there s no reinforcing steel only that the steel strength is not relied upon in the design. In aci 332 section 8 2 8 discusses horizontal reinforcement for both plain and reinforced concrete foundation walls. Strength of reinforced concrete sections amount of rebar a s the project calls for 5 10 and 5 12 are used.

Contents placement of rebar in footings1. Although concrete is a very durable material and is great for supporting huge amounts of weight. 2 5 clear to strength steel 5 12 rather than the designed 5 10 bending strength of the section has been reduced by about 16. Steel reinforcement forms an important part of concrete foundations.

Pour the footing concrete. An 8 inch poured concrete wall costs 12 75 per square foot or 1 224 poured on average. Ready mix concrete costs 119 to 147 per cubic yard and an 8 inch thick basement wall measuring 12 x 8 will use 2 37 cubic yards of concrete so concrete alone costs 282. It s not great for tensile strength unless it has reinforcing in it such as rebar.

Thus good placement of horizontal and vertical rebars in a footing is of utmost importance as placing concrete. As a minimum 4 rebar 1 2 inch is spaced vertically at 36 inches on center continued to within 8 inches of the top of the wall placed on the tension side the inside face of the wall.