Anyone here in the concrete biz?

[Dgraham225]

I'd try calling one of your local concrete companies if you can't find somebody. They should be able to recommend a contractor suitable to take care of it. I don't know where you are in Gonzales but I may would suggest Elray Kocke Service for the concrete, very good people and I'm sure that's still within their delivery zone.

My company Parish Ready Mix actually delivers from Walker to the prairieville/Galvez area almost daily but that's pushing our comfort zone..

 

[alex]

I've been in the business for quite some time, there have been some good suggestions here.

15-20 yards is a pretty fair estimate depending on grade and compaction. Please remember concrete is VERY heavy at 140-150lbs/cu.ft. So it can and will sink an additional inch or more without good compaction.

Footings are never a bad thing, here in Louisiana we don't generally have the need to pour them separately as we don't face the freeze/thaw cycles like up north. A monolithically poured slab is much more common and less hassle. Do you NEED footings? Naa not unless there's a need for load bearing capacity for building a structure like a shop, etc.. I've seen many shop floors poured a straight 4" with as little as thickened edges.

Plastic and wire mesh would be the basic requirements in my opinion, should be plenty for your intended purpose. As stated previously, fiber mesh in the concrete does very little for strength but works great for tensile strength to help fight off shrinkage cracking.

And now to expansion joints.. That's preference as well on a slab that size. If you don't mind the possibility of a few surface cracks here and there, you could skip the joints.. They wouldn't be a detriment to the integrity of the slab, mostly appearance. Concrete cracks, simple as that. There are methods to minimize cracking but stopping it entirely is not an easy task. Placing the concrete at a decent slump (3-5") helps keep the water/cement ratio low. Proper curing is also very important, something not very common here since we have the blessing of high humidity. But still very important. Microfiber in the concrete is an effective solution as well. Personally I'd prefer control joints such as metal keyway commonly used here, or even tooled or sawed joints work just as well. It's generally suggested that control joints be placed every 10' but up to 15' is acceptable IMO..

As a civil engineer (E.I.) I can back what this man says. I do not care for fiber nor do I care for plastic mesh when it comes to adding tensile strength. For aesthetic purposes (which is a big value-adder for homes) I suggest joints at distances said above. It's just the right thing to do, really.

 

[jussaddwata]

^^this is exactly how my 24x26 parking slab was poured. so far so good.. Mr Wilson used the metal key ways in my slab and it has worked good. He poured 2 slabs for me and a huge ass driveway for my neighbor...this has been a few years ago hopefully he is still in business...I'll see if I can find his number for ya.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I717 using Xparent Blue Tapatalk 2

 

[VM 2]

You want a slab with a thickened edge, not a footing. A footing is poured separately, thickened edge is poured when the slab is poured.

As far as joints, you can do a tooled joint if it eases your mind (basically, a small line carved into the green concrete) to promote cracking at that location instead of randomly.

Don't hear it called a thickened edge around here much, mainly footings or grade beams. Not saying you're wrong, just what I've seen on plans

 

[Dgraham225]

Yeap we call them footings too, occasionally "grade beams" on a commercial job where the engineer doesn't feel the soil can bear the load. They differ ever so slightly

My definition of "thickened edge" would be say 4" grade which drops down to 6-8" on the perimeter. Very crude by any engineering standards but adequate enough for residential lol!

May I suggest going with at least 3500psi concrete. Not a necessity but its cheap insurance and the price difference is slim

 

[Ske1etor]

Don't hear it called a thickened edge around here much, mainly footings or grade beams. Not saying you're wrong, just what I've seen on plans

I'm not an engineer, I'm an inspector (highway, not residential). We generally have a completely different language from engineers... If it's a pour, with a thickened edge (sloped to the edge) then it's a thickened edge. lol If it's a square or T shaped footing, then it's a footing.
I was incorrect on saying that footings are poured separately from the slab as you can do a monolithic footing.

I do agree with Dgraham on using higher grade concrete.