Is This Homeowner CRAZY or a GENIUS?? Did He Go Overkill on his Concrete Slab?

[@brandontonti6236]

First comment. Been watching for 2 years now. Started with a small sidewalk project and some interest. Just dumped out 9 yards for a crawl space. Went perfectly. An honorable man you are for showing my generation this for free. Thank you Mike!

[@gordybishop2375]

Thicker the better. Thermal mass rocks. Get it hot, keep it hot. Less fluctuating etc.

[@sstocker31]

I'm watching because I used to pour concrete 40 yrs ago.....your process is so satisfying to watch, pros in action!

[@MikeDayConcrete]

Thank you

[@Unknown-pc9yq]

The GC saved so much money having his subs do all the work and likely got a hell of a deal since it was his home he can pour it as thick as he wants! Good for him, it will never crack and it will hold in all that heat much longer.

[@Aaron71304]

It will crack though.

[@medliningmachineworks8290]

If it’s just for a standard building, I think he did a wonderful job going on the heavy duty side. I am myself have a 16 inch thick slab that supports 8 inch thick poured concrete walls with a 8 inch thick concrete ceiling above it I did this years ago and to this day the slab it sits on, and the slab above your head has absolutely no cracks in it it has a tremendous amount of rebar in the 16 inch slab in the walls and then the 8 inch overhead slab. The steel in the overhead slab is a truss configurations, but the trusses are on the inside of the 8 inch slab going both directions width and length wise. A professor of structural engineering looked over my design years ago and says I have a load rating on my 8 inch overhead slab of at least 16,000 static pounds so I could park a tractor from a tractor trailer on it if need be. A yard of concrete is $150 a yard around here so it’s an extra 10 yards to make it extremely heavy duty. Many of the house foundations in my area crack because these poorly drained construction companies put a basement in a single-story house on top of an 8 inch thick footer. It’s only 12 inches wide. When someone’s paying hundreds of thousands of dollars for a home with an extra 1500 bucks to make sure that the foundation is extremely heavy duty. Do you know extremely heavy duty is the reason the Roman Colosseum is still standing after 2000 years after enduring numerous earthquakes going extremely heavy duty is cheap in the long run when you can sit in a lifetime of the building

[@MikeDayConcrete]

Thanks for sharing 👍

[@greenwolf401]

I think that with the greater thickness, once it gets to a constant temperature, will be easier to maintain due to the thermal mass of the concrete. And with the even thickness, the heat will be consistent throughout the slab.

[@nathangardner772]

My dad is getting really old and he forgets everything. Maintenance on his house has gone to the wind. I see my mom needs help with the house and the property. I’ve been building/remodeling for 24 years about an hour away. I’m going to fix up their property, because what kind of son would I be if I didn’t. Concrete will be a major part of it. Retaining walls, driveway in sections, maybe part of the foundation. I bought a mud mixer about a month ago and have been watching concrete videos pretty much every night. Thank you Mike. Your videos help me out. Im learning more everyday.

[@MikeDayConcrete]

That's awesome, thanks for watching

[@Yorkie285]

Your crew work together and as team, each know exactly how to wok behind each other to make the job easier and better.

[@Z-Bart]

8" seems like a bit of overkill but if that's what the home owner wanted, more power to him. Also, with 8" of concrete he should never have a worry about drilling into a radiant heat pipe. Looks like he did a great job prepping for the pour.

[@superiorasphalt]

Mike, why don't you post videos of driveway pours ? Do you not do driveways ? Thank you in advance

[@jonathanrighetti5897]

im in jersey and we dont see many rear discharge trucks by me, makes the work tougher

[@mikebartley4261]

In my opinion, I believe from what you have said about this mans work, and from what I can see here. It is not too thick, and this from the looks of it, he knows what he's doing, and what he wants.

[@tomthompson7400]

he did well , just a man with a good pair of hands getting exactly what he wants and saving cash along the way ,,, his savings there will easily pay for two inches of concrete , and that wont really matter in the overall cost of a house ,,, so hes winning all the way , and you guys in to ensure its perfect ,,, winning again, I like this mans style.

[@MikeDayConcrete]

Good point

[@henrykaiser3519]

Mike love your videos I've been watching them for a few years now. I'm about to start my garage in western mass. and was wondering what size footing to make for a block wall foundation also I'm building into a bank it will be about 6 feet higher than the finished floor height how deep would you go into the ground on those two walls ? On the other two walls I know I have to go 48 inches in the ground for frost, what are your thoughts?

[@oby-1607]

Those conveyor trucks are awesome. Hate to use the word "should" but the homeowner should have laid the perimeter foam first and since you are in Maine probably four feet down as well to help stop heat transfer and cold invasion.

[@BurtmannNautique]

Nice work all around. Nice prep work as well as the work team all being on the same page. 8” works for me

[@MikeDayConcrete]

Awesome, thank you!

[@1320pass]

Brilliant with the heated slab. Thick for the thermal stability. And an extra 2" will never hurt anybody 😉🤣

[@MikeDayConcrete]

Thanks

[@cporter1775]

Looks like he did good. but looks like the radiant tubes n mesh are just setting on the foam. For my radiant floor made 1 inch wood blocks to give a space, but only 4-1/2 thick floor inside footing and short wall foundation. Thanks for sharing

[@sr707ca8]

Give the customer what they want I say

[@coloradomountainman8659]

You would still need a frost wall if the garage is heated. Here in the Colorado Rockies, we need to have a 48" frost wall on a footing. The slab is either poured over the top of the frost wall or more commonly the wall is a bit higher and the slab is poured up to the wall but using expansion joint material between the two. Looks to me other than the absence of a frost wall, the homeowner did a stellar job.

[@electrake2063]

Commenting as requested:-) My gut tells me it isn't a bad idea. It greatly simplifies the preparation to go with one thickness, and having all that thermal mass does a great job at storing heat energy. I've poured several pads inside frost walls (I never like t he idea of a single pad without a frost wall here in Freeport Maine). The pads I've poured are generally 6" thick, I really dislike 4" pads, not only because I like the flexibility to put in a car-lift later on in my garages, but all of the pads I've poured have only ever shown hairline cracks, even with no relief cuts! The last one I poured was for an outside carport in Maine, and in 5 years, the 25'X12'x6" pad (with rebar around columns and wire mesh everywhere - AND fiberglass even - and NO relief cuts) has absolutely zero evidence of any cracks. It gets the full Maine winter, only protected by the rain - broom finish. Came out great. I swear the 6" thick pad made all the difference.

[@MikeDayConcrete]

I feel the thicker pad is better also.

[@jjll8450]

Mike, what did you charge him to come in and pour? I am thinking about doing the same thing. Thanks!

[@mikeknoll1130]

I used to do slab on grade foundations here in west Michigan they were 2’ in the ground on the perimeter..4” in the center. Now that way has been eliminated by code enforcement. A poured wall is now required 4’ into the ground, then pour the middle after compaction. We can still do some small buildings that way in the right soil conditions.

[@will5286]

If the slab bottom and sides are really well insulated-at least 4 inches, but preferably 6"+, of foam that is really tight and well installed-then it makes sense because the concrete acts as a heat sink that will reduce the heating system cycling by radiating for longer periods (and losing less heat to the ground). Back in the 70s & 80s, us back-to-the-landers were experimenting with passive solar heat being absorbed by a bare (or tiled) slab in the living area. Great idea-still valid-but back then we didn't really understand vapor barriers and didn't have access the the present day insulating materials.

[@cathiwim]

I think this homeowner is brilliant!

[@MikeDayConcrete]

Thank you

[@Patty-qh3lm]

I've never seen a monolithic slab without the reinforced perimeter grade beam.

[@craiguglandrealty3705]

Wet Set Rebar at Perimeter mentioned in the video.

[@patricklucero815]

To each thier own. I have a roll forming operation in a 50 x 110 shop. The steel coils weigh anywhere from 6k to 12k and the forklift required to move them around is about 25 tons. My slab is only 5" thick. The peninsula i live on is basically a sand bar about a mile wide, no rock in the soil. 4000 psi mix with fibers and mid range water reducer, but no rebar other than on the perimeter edge. saw cuts on a 10'x10' grid. Floor has been down for 11 years and there is only 1 crack where it makes a corner around my office portion which is not even an area that sees heavy traffic. Bigger isnt always better or needed, nothing beats a properly prepared sub-grade. So the main benifit i see with the 8" thick is the thermal mass.

[@petem6291]

Mike I think we need more builders that think like he does, that house may stand 100 years , the foundation work can never be fixed once the house is on it …it’s not overkill it’s insurance…

[@MikeDayConcrete]

He is a really good builder 👷‍♂️

[@stewatparkpark2933]

Completely pointless having the reinforcing mesh laying flat on the bottom .

[@davidworks7758]

It's about thermal mass, smart. The concrete will absorb the heat and distribute it slowly.

[@GrumpyAndCricket]

I find it interesting that in Maine you are pouring a house slab 8 inches thick and we are doing a shed slab for a 14' x 24' and the town it is in wants a haunch 1 foot wide x 2 foot thick. Cape Cod. Don't understand it they don't even show any re-bar on the perimeter. Hard telling not knowing!

[@mitchbeard8920]

How many of those conveyor trucks does Haley’s have bloody awesome idea

[@ezdeezytube]

Where are the footings though? If hes going for thermal mass I would have insulated the footings aned edges prior to the pour, instead of adding it to the edge afterwards

[@johnn.eropkin9895]

Where's the footing on the edges, that's where the weight of the house is. Building codes?

[@kookiethebear]

The perimeter footer should be thicker than 8in. One reason, it prevents horizontal slippage.

[@kdcustomwoodworking]

Hell yea the 8 inch , but I think you need more rebar to make sure all is reinforced. Good video watching because I have a slab to do and in are area not to many guys to get a flat slab so I want to learn. The reason I know is seen so many brutal jobs through out the years .

[@tylerkurfees4762]

Idk about up there but here in NC, we run fully loaded (88k+ pounds) tractor trailers over unreinforced 6” slabs. So yeah, thats wayyyyy overkill.

[@niveknospmoht8743]

Done quite a few garage floors that are 8'' thick. Pretty common here with people wanting to put lifts inside. House slab? Little overkill for a house slab, but not going to hurt anything. Personally don't do house slabs--hate 'em

[@danh4766]

Im ok with the slab thickness. More concerned if there was enough form support around base.

[@vincentstouter449]

The thickness of the slab and substrate is based on the design specification. For instance if he is going to park a 40K# diesel pusher class A RV, Tractor trailer or a bunch of cars on the slab then a thicker, reinforced, higher pressure concrete is warranted. Likewise if the soil has high clay content, then a thicker gravel layer and french drains may be needed to prevent heaving from trapped water which freezes.

[@fredperry2358]

Unobstructed clearance from re-bar, mesh or thermal tubing to finish floor elevation is normally 2” in my area (Pennsylvania). So, depending on steel and tubing placement, 8” is probably overkill.But if they ever experience power outages for a period of time, frost upheaval could certainly cause slab damage. The cost for remediation would be more than the initial cost of installing extra thickness In the beginning.

[@seancasey2444]

Looks like he did a pretty good job on getting it ready. And 6 inches thick is probably enough.

[@troyqueen9503]

Days of retained heat with a thicker mass ,especially in winter when your power is off.

[@ShonWolf]

Form stakes seem to far apart did the forms stay straight ?

[@bradbaker9856]

The prep work looks awesome 8in is a little over kill but it's his $

[@floydwilliams3321]

Well done

[@Ifishmo]

isn't there some IRC about slab edge thickness/reinforcement (rebar)? Slab prep looks great but with no footer/thick edge...nope-don't like it

[@D.Fie.]

............................ Adding subtitles to the Shorts is good... However, adding subtitles to video is not good. It takes away from watching the video.

[@ronaldoleksy8264]

Great prep. Thermo mass at a finest moment

[@MarkOstrowski-s7n]

Nice job mike day

[@Joe-jv5mm]

Educational, every Day a School Day 😉

[@trygveskogsholm5963]

Your foundation cracks, then your house cracks, then you get pests and drafts and it never stops. No 8" is not overkill. The deep profiles on the edges are worth it though, especially if you put stiff reinforcement down there like the fiberglass rods.

[@registrationhater]

A thicker slab holds more heat than a thinner one. Once you get it warm, it stays warm longer

[@jborn730]

Shit. That's genius. 8" is lovely. Will last forever.

[@100Proof-n5d]

Anything that’s overkill lasts longer. I hope you know this Mike 🎉

[@DanTaron-l5o]

Closed captioning was annoying

[@Nihilumbra]

Текст на видео прекрасная идея👍

[@adventuresofneric2624]

I guess my two questions would be. Did the homeowner actually save money or do you charge more when the workload is decreased? Legally are you responsible for any failures that occur with him doing the base work or did you have to liability form that out?

[@lachlanitis2311]

If there is already styrofoam there an 8 inch slab isnt necessary 🤔. But at the end of the day its his money and he did a good job prepping.

[@johnfahey7215]

yeah, come alongs! that’s what we called ‘em. I dunno, conveyers,water reducers,battery screeds and battery bull floats, I feel like we were cavemen back in the day 😂 We seldom saw even front loaders back then. Love your videos, I’ve even learned a few things! you can teach an old dog! imagine that 😀 The Old Retired Laborer

[@jacobbuckley8232]

Didnt see anyone pulling wire

[@joepfeiler5911]

If he used 2x10s and put 2 inches of Styrofoam inside them he did not end up with a full 8 inches. A 2x10 actually only measures 9,25 inches less the 2inches for foam is 7.25. . If that's what the customer wanted, I wouldn't have told him he was wrong,.

[@respeckmyname74]

small ass slab what is that a 1 bedroom micro house?

[@morg52]

You can have ten guys who never worked concrete before, don't know what they're doing. A guy in charge who has no leadership skills, screams at everybody, throws shovels around, and winds up with a boat anchor. Or you can have three guys who are a part of a well oiled machine who each know their place and have the skills, knowledge and perspective, to get the job done perfectly. If all the contractors I had to deal with for the past forty years or so were as good as you, I might not have been in as much of a hurry to retire.

[@movaughn20]

The question is... Did the engineer, county, or city sign off on plans for a structure to be built with no footing?

[@dougeing6521]

I don’t see how they could have signed off on anything. Regardless of a heated slab that will not stop the cold from freezing the soil and raising the entire building.

[@mikee8074]

Please get rid of the banner at the bottom. It's very annoying.. Stan, dirt monkey used to have one until everyone complained.. he removed it...thx Mike?.. we really live the channel..👍🇺🇲

[@MikeDayConcrete]

Ok sorry

[@user990077]

Hmm. It's a good idea to spell kumalongs with a "K", that's for sure...

[@Serious-Man]

KZbin already generates closed captioning. So whatever the jumping green words are all about, it's distracting and unnecessary.

[@markusjoseph5256]

Only builder would know .

[@chadfernelius9096]

Any creature can dig a couple of inches and get right under the house. Doesnt seem right.

[@dirkdiggler2052]

I didn’t understand the word “overkill”. I looked it up, it is commonly used by beta males or people that suffer from low-t.

[@garynelson3634]

What does it matter, that's what he wants, its what he's paying for