Concrete Floors and ICFs
May 18th, 2010 | Lets Get Technical!
Commercial and larger projects that require longer floor spans, fire rated and noncombustible floors or stronger and thinner floors can be constructed with one of the concrete floor options discussed below. Each of the options has its own advantages.
Precast Hollow Core Concrete Floor
Precast hollow core planks are manufactured at a factory and delivered to the job site. Overhead cranes are used to lift the planks into position. The planks are usually 3 or 4 feet wide with grooves on the sides. After the planks are craned into place side by side, the grooves are grouted together and a concrete topping is placed over the entire top of the hollow core floor.
The hollow core floor is connected to the insulating concrete wall by 90-degree bent rebar placed between the planks in the grouted groove area. The vertical rebar or vertical rebar dowels must extend past the first and second concrete pour a minimum of 40 bar diameters. The minimum bearing area, concrete wall and rebar connection must be designed by an engineer of record.
It is very important to pre-plan by figuring out the elevation of the floor with respect to the hollow core depth and the iForm height to optimize the construction efficiency and minimize form support. The iForm is usually stacked so that the top of the plank elevation will be at the top of an iForm course. This will minimize form support on the exterior of the wall.
The planks can be installed to either bear directly on the wall or to bear on the Ledge ICF. The Ledge Form from Reward, reinforced with the xLerator, has a uniform bearing capacity of 1,700 plf. The planks can not be placed on the Reward wall until the concrete in the insulated concrete form has reached adequate strength.
And for the daily followers out there there will not be a post until June 3rd due to blog master Troy leaving for a couple weeks to get married and to honeymoon in Hawaii.
Troy- They told me marriage is an honorable estate.( honourable estate, instituted of God in the time of man’s innocency, signifying unto us the mystical union that is betwixt Christ and his Church; which holy estate Christ adorned and beautified with his presence, and first miracle that he wrought, in Cana of Galilee; and is commended of Saint Paul to be honourable among all men: and therefore is not by any to be enterprised, nor taken in hand, unadvisedly, lightly, or wantonly, to satisfy men’s carnal lusts and appetites, like brute beasts that have no understanding; but reverently, discreetly, advisedly, soberly, and in the fear of God; duly considering the causes for which Matrimony was ordained.) I got married in 1982 and it has its moments, but good luck finding the estate.