rebar in block to hearth

[mrpbjnance]

I am going to fill the core of my blocks tomorrow.

does anyone have any good tips?

Can the rebar stick up so that it will tie into my hearth or should I cut it off?


thanks
Mike

[dmun]

It's great if your rebar sticks up into the slab to tie it to the base: Just don't let it get near the surface. Rusty rebar can grow and cause cracks.

For the block holes you aren't filling: Just jam crumpled cement bags into the holes to block them up.

Good luck, thats LOTS of work.

[mrpbjnance]

Thanks DMUM

I am going to use concrete backer board and leave it there.. so that will cover thoe holes.. only kicker there is i will need to cut holes in thebacker board for the rebar.

I had help for the slab and have stacked the blocks .. I was hoping filling the cores would be easy... I think mixing the cement for the hearth willbe the most trouble but I do have a mixer.

Hope my back holds out.

Thx again

Mike

[christo]

Glad you have a mixer. Make sure you have plenty of concrete materials.

Filling the cores, even every other one, took more concrete than I thought. I think I remember it was ~.25 cu ft to fill both cores of a standard block.

Finally a small break from the +90 degree weather we've been having. I'm going to play with my oven project today!!!

[KISS4me]

The suggestion to use crumpled up cement bags to prevent the hearth pour from going down the empty holes is a good one. I was wondering how I was going to overcome this problem. My question is in regards to the layer of blocks over the stand opening resting on angle iron.

Should each of these holes be filled? What is the simplest way to stop the concrete from coming out the bottom between the angle iron?

Steve (still planning, sourcing materials, and finding the time to get started)

[maver]

I did not fill these. I think the purpose of filling the cores in the stand is to create a rigid column. Since the blocks over the opening are single layer there is no added rigidity by filling them - just extra work. If you wanted to fill the voids (did you spend extra time coloring all your drawings in kindergarten ) then you could support a wood form under the opening during the pour. You would be depriving spiders of a nice home.

[CanuckJim]

No doubt, you'll have lots of brick and block pieces lying about. Drop a couple down the cores of the angle iron block where the gaps are. Sure, you'll get some water leakage, but not a lot. Works.

Jim

[redbricknick]

When we poured our hearth slab, we came up with what we thought was a pretty cool innovation. We put rebar in all of the cores, and left it five and a half feet above the top of the cores before filling them. After it was cured, and our form was built, we bent the rebar over to create the rebar mesh for our hearth slab.

[dmun]

I found I couldn't bend re-bar at all. It was too tough to bend, and if i scored it at the bend point it broke off. Any hints on re-bar bending?

[redbricknick]

Originally Posted by dmun

I found I couldn't bend re-bar at all. It was too tough to bend, and if i scored it at the bend point it broke off. Any hints on re-bar bending?

To bend our rebar, we first had it anchored, then slotted an eight foot metal pipe over it to bend it. A vice would suffice if the rebar wasn't anchored into cores like ours was.