rebar cutting?

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Folks....I've been several weeks trying to get bids for a 4' X 24' poured concrete pad across the front of my new shop. Until this is poured and the gravel driveway is in....I can't finalize the landscaping and get grass down. SWMBO is putting a lot of pressure to get something done before our families get here to celebrate our grandaughters graduating from HS. One contractor wanted $1000 and the other wanted $2000.......I know I can pour that pad myself for a lot less than that. I haven't priced concrete lately but I'm betting locally it's less than $90/cu yd. I'll get prices today. Question....what do most people use for cutting 1/2" rebar? I want to reinforce the concrete and will need something to cut it to length...........hand grinder? :confused: ........do I see a new power tool in this? :confused: ;) :D

[James Mudler]

I always used a torch. You may want to reconsider letting the pros lay your slab. It is a lot of work and expensive if a mistake is made. Just my 2 cents

[Nick Adams]

abrasive cut off saw...can find them for under 100 bucks. Torch works too.

[Mike Leonard]

Ken,

A gas axe is the best method I know of.

[Boyd Gathwright]

Ken,

.... Wait until you find out the price of concrete these days!!:eek: :eek: :D And as far as cutting the rebar, the afore mentioned is what I would have suggested also ;). Check this out for cutting Ref: http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=11444

Boyd
.

Folks....I've been several weeks trying to get bids for a 4' X 24' poured concrete pad across the front of my new shop. Until this is poured and the gravel driveway is in....I can't finalize the landscaping and get grass down. SWMBO is putting a lot of pressure to get something done before our families get here to celebrate our grandaughters graduating from HS. One contractor wanted $1000 and the other wanted $2000.......I know I can pour that pad myself for a lot less than that. I haven't priced concrete lately but I'm betting locally it's less than $90/cu yd. I'll get prices today. Question....what do most people use for cutting 1/2" rebar? I want to reinforce the concrete and will need something to cut it to length...........hand grinder? :confused: ........do I see a new power tool in this? :confused: ;) :D

[Tim Sproul]

Get a 7 inch abrasive wheel for your hand held circular saw. I wouldn't go using a Festool for this application :) ....a saw more dedicated for construction work is called for.

[Jeff Sudmeier]

I have always used a Big bolt cutter. It really does work great. It is about the biggest bolt cutter I have seen, but it works great. Once we were at menard's buying rebar and we were going to get 10 foot peices (as long as we could haul). They were like 75% of the price of 20 foot peices. So we went and found the biggest bolt cutter there we could find and bought 1/2 as many 20 foot peices. Came out ahead by about 20 bucks :)

Good luck!

[Mac McAtee]

My father built houses for 50 years and never cut re-bar with anything but a hacksaw.

The metal is rather soft and cuts very easy. To cut re-bar with a hack saw there is a special technique or trick. If you look a a piece, you will see there is two ribs that run length ways on the stick of re-bar.

Turn one of those ribs up, start your cut with the hacksaw on the rib and cut about 2/3rds of the way through. Then bend the bar at that cut and it will break right off. It takes about 15 seconds to make a cut and break it off.

It would take longer to make a cut with any power tool you have named so far. The other option is a good pair of bolt cutters, for 1/2" bar you want a minimum of 3' handles. But a hacksaw is about as fast and way cheaper. Just have a half dozen blades and change blades when you see the teeth starting to get shinny.

Tink would lay the re-bar in the foundation, go to where a cut was needed, pick it up, hold it on his knee, saw and snap it off. No measuring needed, cut it in place and move on to the next piece.

[Mac McAtee]

And by the way. For a 4' X 24' pad you wouldn't use re-bar anyway, unless you are pouring a footer around the perimeter. Get a length of 6" square reinforcing mesh. It comes 4' wide, for a 4' pad you would want to cut one row of squares off so the wire isn't exposed along the edge of the pad. You'll find that in the same area that you'll find the re-bar in the store and it is made for pads or floors. Re-bar is only needed in a footer.

[Alan Mikkelsen]

Ditto what Mac says about the mesh. Pouring concrete is not rocket science, but I think your estimate of price is a bit low, at least around here. BTW, Ken, I might be getting to know the Lewiston area a bit better this year. Our son-in-law just accepted a job in Lewiston and will be moving there mid summer. I hope to get to know the Clearwater and do some fishing!

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Alan....if you're a flyfisherman and can handle catch and release....try fishing the Lochsa River starting at the base of Lolo Pass. The native western cutthroat can be a lot of fun on that river......Single barbless hook, catch and release only. A couple of retired marine friends of mine often have 50 fish days and most are over 16".

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Mac.......yes I'll use the 6" mesh in the body. I am also going to put some crubs/edging along the driveway and want to reinforce it with rebar.


I just priced concrete.....6 sack mix....$85.60/cu yd...delivered....3 yd minimum or $65 short load fee.

[Steve Stube]

Ken you may want some rebar to hold/tie the new pour to your garage floor but no more than that on only a 4' wide pour with compacted sand below. Drill and insert the rebar horizontal between the new and not so new pours at maybe 4' centers. 1 cu. yd. = 81 sq. ft. @ 4" thickness so you don't need a lot. There is a premium for less than 4 yds. here, last I knew it was $30.00 per yd. extra on top of $95. per yd. If you insist on reinforcing the 6" X 6" mesh would be the ticket and you may be able to get 24' piece form your ready-mix co., otherwise it comes in 4' X 50' rolls. The advice to keep it back from the edge is correct. I bend the first row over but not tight so that it provides a foot to insure the wire is up in the concrete. Use a hook or hoe to pull the wire up on the rest. Screeting to an already existing wall is extra work (young mans work) and taping some poly up to protect your new shop from any splashing might be worthwhile also. Have fun.

[Scott Banbury]

Ken,

If you already have an angle grinder, Harbor Freight has an inexpensive jig that converts it to a mini chopsaw. They were on sale last week so I got one and it works alright on small angle. I believe it would be perfect for rebar.

Scott

[John Shuk]

Hacksaw 3/4 through and bend. You will then have 2 pieces. You could get a cheapie grinder if you like but the hacksaw is quik and cheap.

[George Matthews]

<snip> I bend the first row over but not tight so that it provides a foot to insure the wire is up in the concrete. Use a hook or hoe to pull the wire up on the rest.<snip>.

The reason... Concrete has little 'pull' (tension) strength releative to compression strength. The reinforcing bar/wire should be in the area of greatest expected tension load. For a concrete pad, that would be near the bottom. The rule of thumb is about one thind of the thickness from the bottom.

PS
If you will be exposing the rebar and mesh to road salt, I'd also ensure the mesh is coated.

[Harry Goodwin]

A 4 1/2 inch grinder cut off wheel will cut nearly anything and cheap. The reason to keep metal away from edges I was told to keep rust from developing in contact with the elementes and disappearing. Harry

[Michael Perata]

Ken

Apologies to those recommending mesh - waste of time if there is any heave to the soil.

My recommendation is to dowel the slab to the adjacent slab with a #4 every 18" and to use tied #3s 12" OC laid across dobbies for the pad. Use 3/4" aggregate @ 2,500 psi and keep it wet for at least two days. (#3s can be cut with a bolt cutter.)

If you can afford it, power trowel and then broom the finish. (Stops surface cracking)

[Norman Hitt]

I have always used a Big bolt cutter. It really does work great. It is about the biggest bolt cutter I have seen, but it works great. Once we were at menard's buying rebar and we were going to get 10 foot peices (as long as we could haul). They were like 75% of the price of 20 foot peices. So we went and found the biggest bolt cutter there we could find and bought 1/2 as many 20 foot peices. Came out ahead by about 20 bucks :)

Good luck!

Ken, Although a "Gas Axe" is the easiest, I normally don't have one available when I've needed one, so like Jeff, I bought a 3' long H.K. Porter bolt cutter that is rated for 1/2" rebar, especially for this purpose. It is much faster and less work than a hacksaw, and much faster than a grinder or saw, and is easy to transport to any location. (doesn't cost much to operate either). :) :) :)

I disagree with those saying rebar not necessary, as I've replaced a lot of walks & pads that had the wire mesh after heaving or shifting due to a heavy rain year in our desert type area caused widespread cracking of walks, driveways and patios. I've had very good luck, however, using 1/2 or 3/8 rebar tied on 12", and even 24" centers. Another thing is that if you drill into the garage/shop foundation to insert the tie in rebar stubs, drill the holes (two at about 30 degree opposing angles into the foundation about 4" to 6" apart), and place these "two connectors" about every 4' along the length of the pad. This will hold the pad against the foundation as well as keeping it level in case of heaving.

I would suggest also, that you prepare the project for the pour, order the concrete yourself, but contract out the actual pour and finish to a finishing crew. I've done this several times in the past on customer projects and it worked quite well and was very cost effective, (especially since I HATE finishing Concrete, and my Bursitis really appreciated it also). :D :D

[Richard Blaine]

I agree that the pad is not too small to use rebar, and definitely dowel it in to the other slab.

Another thing is to make sure you put in stress joints every 6'. People will tell you that you don't have too, but when their concrete crack, they just mutter that you have to expect cracks. I've never had a crack with 6' joints.

I can't believe nobody's mentioned the all-time favorite construction power tool. You can use a Sawzall with a milwaukee Torch blade. It works great, and as mentioned earlier, You don't have to cut all the way through.

[Bill Lewis]

I just priced concrete.....6 sack mix....$85.60/cu yd...delivered....3 yd minimum or $65 short load fee.

Wow, that is really really really really really cheap. The last time I priced concrete aroound here it was close to twice that price, and that was easily 6-8 years ago.

Maybe concrete is getting cheaper, or maybe a yard is getting smaller, just like everything else.

Rebar Cutters in order of my preference: BA bolt cutters, Sawzall with metal cutting blade, abrasive wheels of any kind, hacksaw.