Lbear
Veteran Member
Posts:2740
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| 15 Jun 2012 03:24 AM |
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In the name of flow ability, mixes that are watered down rear their ugly
heads later on. Case-in-point, a commercial courthouse building costing
$34MIL has been rendered uninhabitable due to the failing concrete. Oregon Structure Failed Engineering TestsTurns
out the contractor used a watery mix and this caused the concrete
structure to start to crumble and fail. It will have to be demolished.
$34MIL in the toilet, taxpayer toilet that is. I've known of an
ICF pour that when they removed the EPS a month later, the concrete
crumbled when tested. The contractors blamed the concrete plant and the
concrete plant blamed the contractor. They had to demolish the entire ICF structure and start from scratch. Big, big $$$$ The problem was the mix was NEVER tested when it arrived on the job site. I wonder how many bad pours there are out there but the people just don't know it as of yet?? Has anyone here experienced a bad concrete mix? |
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ICFHybrid
Veteran Member
Posts:3039
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| 15 Jun 2012 08:59 AM |
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You want to inspect and test that concrete, you really do. If the jobsite is too close to the mix plant, it is entirely possible to have trucks arrive with good mixes that haven't properly developed due to the short road time. If you think that either the truck driver or the pump operator will notice as it goes into the hopper or comes out the tube, you could be mistaken. |
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smartwall
Veteran Member
Posts:1209
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| 15 Jun 2012 10:20 AM |
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Something doesn't sound right. I have much smaller job being poured next week and they are sending an on site engineer to test the slump and keep samples for later inspection |
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Alton
Veteran Member
Posts:2164
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| 15 Jun 2012 10:56 AM |
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Commercial projects are much more likely to have the concrete tested than residential projects. I think this is because most residential projects do not involve an engineer or architect.
What is the going rate for testing cylinders of concrete? |
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Residential Designer &
Construction Technology Consultant -- E-mail: Alton at Auburn dot Edu Use email format with @ and period .
334 826-3979 |
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Lbear
Veteran Member
Posts:2740
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| 15 Jun 2012 06:28 PM |
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Posted By smartwall on 15 Jun 2012 10:20 AM
Something doesn't sound right. I have much smaller job being poured next week and they are sending an on site engineer to test the slump and keep samples for later inspection
Why doesn't it sound right? On my residential job I will have the slump tested, twice. Better safe than sorry. ICF walls can hide a lot of nasty surprises. |
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jonr
Senior Member
Posts:5341
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| 15 Jun 2012 07:43 PM |
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You mean you aren't supposed to add water to whatever point it is easiest to work with and then add more as it sets to keep it like that? You can always proudly say "I ordered a 5000 psi mix". :-) |
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Alton
Veteran Member
Posts:2164
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| 15 Jun 2012 07:45 PM |
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A slump test in and of itself is not enough to assure quality concrete. |
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Residential Designer &
Construction Technology Consultant -- E-mail: Alton at Auburn dot Edu Use email format with @ and period .
334 826-3979 |
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cmkavala
Veteran Member
Posts:4327
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| 15 Jun 2012 08:52 PM |
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Its not just pouring the concrete into the test cylinders, there is a certain protocol to follow:
Test Cylinders
otherwise you will get bad results |
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| Chris Kavala<br>[email protected]<br>1-877-321-SIPS<br /> |
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Alton
Veteran Member
Posts:2164
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| 15 Jun 2012 09:40 PM |
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Yes, there is a certain protocol to follow. My experience has been that very few residential concrete masons are excited about having someone to test the concrete. |
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Residential Designer &
Construction Technology Consultant -- E-mail: Alton at Auburn dot Edu Use email format with @ and period .
334 826-3979 |
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Lbear
Veteran Member
Posts:2740
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| 16 Jun 2012 01:05 AM |
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Posted By Alton on 15 Jun 2012 09:40 PM
Yes, there is a certain protocol to follow. My experience has been that very few residential concrete masons are excited about having someone to test the concrete.
A qualified mason should actually embrace a concrete test. As you mentioned, commercial projects are always tested, too much at risk without the test. In my opinion only a unqualified mason would fear a test. They are doing concrete work on the highway near my home. I've seen them out there testing the mixes on a daily basis. I am pretty confident to state that some ICF homes out there have bad concrete within the walls. Unbeknown to the owner. |
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Lbear
Veteran Member
Posts:2740
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ICFHybrid
Veteran Member
Posts:3039
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| 16 Jun 2012 09:57 AM |
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My experience has been that very few residential concrete masons are excited about having someone to test the concrete. Yeah, well, it's probably because they are worried about having already screwed it up. Either that or it shows that they care more about their work schedule than they do the client's final product. |
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