will 1.5 inch concrete slab hold up to foot traffic

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djw2112

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Dec 30, 2018
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Location
East Texas
Hi, in the last two years my porch made from pallets and plywood has totally rotted away. It had gotten so bad i was afraid to walk on it anymore so i ripped half of it up, ill redo it half at a time.

I wanted to go with concrete this time as i dont want to worry about it ever rotting again however i dont have the budget for a 3 or 4 inch slab this time as i did with my sidewalk and shed slab. I want to do a 1.5 inch slab with wire this time, but i dont know if that will hold up to foot traffic without cracking and falling apart. I figure ill just 1x2 lumber which i have already in my stockpile for the form. I think i have enough rolled wire for this half, if not ill get a $9 4x8 wire sheet or a cheap bag of fiber.

Here are some pics.. I assume all that orange growth on that one pallet is either some kind of fungus or maybe from termites, not sure. Also one reason that it rotted is because the mole in the yard piled up dirt under it so it was touching the bottom of the pallets.

Has anyone here ever poured a 1.5 inch slab, did it hold up?
 

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Thanks i thought about using pavers as i have some but then i have to worry about grouting and trying to keep the grass out and keep the fireants from building mounds. The pavers i use are 2" thick so i was not aware they made them thinner which would be cheaper, thanks :)

The other thing i dont like a bout pavers is you have to make sure the area is perfectly flat and with concrete you just pour it and let the forms decide the slope.

Just fyi that bucket of sand grout stuff that you can spread out over pavers to fill the cracks and then wet it and it hardens is junk IMO. I always washes away after a few weeks. The stuff i got was $45 for a bucket and it was a waste of money. Similar to this stuff... www.lowes.com/pd/Sakrete-40-lb-Gray-Polymeric-Sand/4752128
 
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1.5 in will hold up to foot traffic, assuming you have a good solid bed underneath.
As soon as the under bed washes out, though, you will see cracks and crumbling begin within a few months.
Same with pavers. as long as the bed holds, so will they.
 
I'm no expert, but when I was checking into doing a patio, I was told that you have to have at least 4" if you are using wire reinforcement. I don't know why, but was told there is a minimum level of concrete under and over the wire for it to do any good.
 
larsmac - i have some caliche which should get hard and be a great base

chindog - hmm sounds logical i do have a 6 ft piece of rebar maybe ill cut that in half and make X with it just in case

i have heard if i make edges thicker than middle it wont crack but i dont know if that is true
 
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The quality of the concrete really matters too, are you going to be using pre-mix sacks, or having it brought in by the truck load? If truck load you might opt to add fiber reinforcement, it will add a little to the price, but not a whole lot.
 
5000 psi 60 lb bags of quikrete, the estimater shows it will take 18 bags for that half. I have 5 bags in storage so ill get the difference tomorrow. I will also look to see what kind of FG mesh they have.

Unless its a huge pour i never get the truck delivery, first they have a minimum amount and load, then they only give you so much time to do it, and then there is the delivery fee on top of that. So i just take my time and do what i can in one day and then just finish the next day, thats how i did my sidewalk and my storage shed slab and they turned out great.

each part of the sidewalk took about 35 bags, took me all day from sunrise to sundown to do it, had to keep it wet while i took my breaks.

Now if i ever decide to do half of my driveway by the street, then ill get a truck because it will be about 5 yards.
 

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If you can get your hands on some burlap material, cover the entire area and keep it damp for a few days. The slower it cures, the stronger it will be.
 
Thanks Rene, Sometimes i forgot how much i have done in just 2 years. When i got here in 2019 the lot looked like this, it was all weeds.

lotpic.jpg

Now it looks like this


newplace2.jpg


The plan is when im too old and broken to do stuff anymore, all the big hard stuff will be done. And then i can get a boat and fish everyday because the homestead will be complete. Im going to call it "one paddle ranch" even though its not a ranch lol

onepaddlegate.jpg
 
I made money at the dump today :) I took those old rotten pallets to the dump cost me $8 and i noticed they had a huge pile of different kinds of wire stacked up while i was there. So i got me some nice pieces of flat wire sections for all the concrete work i need to do. Saved me $20 from having to buy a roll of wire :)
 
The main reason thin pavers don't crack is their small size. A slab will need expansion joints to keep it from cracking. This is a pretty good article.
 
Thebar
thanks :) I usually only put expansion joints if its more than 8'. And expansion joint is usually only needed if there is a real pressure point where it is not allowed to expand naturally.

Utclmjmpr
The secret is to create a place for the concrete to crack so it cracks were you want it to crack and not anywhere else. What i do is use my concrete groover tool to place a groove across the middle so if it cracks it will crack there, and thats ok.
 
Utclmjmpr - (respect :))
hopfully by then ill have a house on top of it. Plan is to buy a prefab tiny home with just the outside done which is all the HOA cares about. Then ill do the inside.
 
well i got half poured and it turned out horrible. I know how to do concrete (previous images) but i tried to do it when my back and knees kept me from kneeling and so i was not able to work the aggrigate down under the surface and it was a scorching hot day so i knew it would not turn out well.

But now how to fix it. Another thin layer on top since its still a bit green, or let it cure and go over top with a thin layer of concrete patch?
 

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If you think it's horrible, then break it up and start over..>>>Dan ( The top "layer" will only be as good as the layer beneath it.. Then you will have two horribles )
 
Here is a different angle showing uneven surface and aggrigate showing.

I did some research on youtube, its not that much to fix, very affordable. Ill just put what they call a skim coat on it after its cured, durable, easy and quick fix :) I will be more prepared and do a much better job on the other half :)

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