[TowerTalk] Concrete Fiber

Mon Oct 17 18:51:56 EDT 2005

I just put in over 600 square feet of new floor space and 70+ feet of 
sidewalk at my house and we put a 20x19 floor in the garage at my new 
office.  I put fiber in all of it.  It's now called microfiber.  It's a bit 
harder to finish but not much.  You just have to keep your tools clean.

I can tell you that it did make a difference when the concrete was in those 
little clumps you get around the edges of your forms?  When you cracked them 
they still held together.  It was strange because a guy just couldn't bust 
up the little chunks of waste easily like I could years ago when I did my 
last concrete job.

The concrete guys I talked to before putting the fiber in all said that it 
wouldn't stop any cracking (and pouring 3 truck fulls on one 95*+ day proves 
it).  And both of my big slabs cracked within days.  Guess I should have 
kept them wetter longer.  What they did tell me was that even with the 
cracks they won't move.  I guess I'll find that out in the next 20 years 
:-).

My old sidewalk (which I also poured and also had pig wire and rebar in it) 
was about 30' long.  It had NO joints in it (I hate snow shoveling with them 
in there) and had cracked in 2 places over the 10 or 12 years that it was 
there.  We'll see how this new one holds up.  I'll try to remember to let 
you guys know sometime in the next 15 years!  hehehee  Oh yeah, no joints in 
this one either.

laters,
Marlon
(509) 982-2181                                   Equipment sales
(408) 907-6910 (Vonage)                    Consulting services
42846865 (icq)                                    And I run my own wisp!
64.146.146.12 (net meeting)
www.odessaoffice.com/wireless
www.odessaoffice.com/marlon/cam

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Dino Darling" <k6rix at earthlink.net>
To: "Doug Rehman" <rehman at surveil.com>
Cc: <towertalk at contesting.com>
Sent: Monday, October 17, 2005 1:18 PM
Subject: Re: [TowerTalk] Concrete Fiber

>I worked with concrete contractors for years.  They said the "engineers"
> love it, but the people who deal with it day in and day out said it does
> NOTHING for the concrete.  They said, and I witnessed, slabs and
> foundations with fiber still cracked.  It was also a mess when using the
> ride-on trowel machines I sold them.  The concrete had small "hairs"
> sticking out of the top like hair on your arms.  After the concrete cured,
> the "hairs" would break away.
>
> $10.00?  That's cheap, but you get nothing for it...in MY experience.
>
>
>
> At 10:53 AM 10/17/2005 -0400, Doug Rehman wrote:
>>I'm about to order concrete for a tower base. The concrete company offers
>>fiber reinforcement mixed into the concrete for about $10 per cubic yard.
>>I've researched concrete fiber and found nothing on Tower Pro and only one
>>comment here by K7LXC saying it wasn't needed.
>>
>>It appears that the fiber adds 5-10% additional compressive strength and
>>about results in a 50% reduction in cracking. (it is touted as a 
>>replacement
>>for embedded steel mesh in slabs.)
>>
>>I have been unable to find any literature indicating that it is
>>inappropriate for tower bases or even any negative consequences of its use
>>for such. For less than a 10% increase in the cost of the concrete, it 
>>seems
>>like it may be worth it- even if only for a belt and suspenders approach.
>>
>>Does anyone have any experience with concrete fiber use in tower
>>foundations?
>>
>>Tnx,
>>Doug
>>K4DDR
>>
>>
>>
>>_______________________________________________
>>
>>See: http://www.mscomputer.com  for "Self Supporting Towers", "Wireless
>>Weather Stations", and lot's more.  Call Toll Free, 1-800-333-9041 with
>>any questions and ask for Sherman, W2FLA.
>>
>>_______________________________________________
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>
> Dino...k6rix at earthlink.net
>
>
> _______________________________________________
>
> See: http://www.mscomputer.com  for "Self Supporting Towers", "Wireless 
> Weather Stations", and lot's more.  Call Toll Free, 1-800-333-9041 with 
> any questions and ask for Sherman, W2FLA.
>
> _______________________________________________
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> http://lists.contesting.com/mailman/listinfo/towertalk 