Engineers are not often involved in residential very small building construction. This building is the size of a big garage or workshop. Like I said, I'm doing a sanity check on the contractors proposal. Its not worth the cost spent to me to hire an expert when its not even necessary/required...
Thanks phamENG. I am a structural engineer but I've never done a building. There ARE other sorts of structures you know. I've done a wide variety of structures and worked with at least half a dozen codes and Federal regulations in my 40+ year career as a Professional Engineer. Never a...
This a pretty basic question so please forgive me for asking but my area of expertise doesn't include buildings. I am renovating an old building that I own and I would like to check what the contractor proposes for the roof system and its effect on the rest of the structure against code...
I don't like the new format either....on the most basic level. The font is way too small and text gets washed out by the very bright all white background. I can live with it but I don't like it. Using the site is now an unpleasant experience for that reason alone.
fel3, thanks again for your suggestions. I have already found and looked at (and studied) most of the references you listed but there are a couple of new ones in there that I'll take a look at. The overarching problem with all of them is that they cover standard practice and good details...
Thanks again fel3 for your willingness to help. All of the examples you mentioned in ACI 360R are for solving for post or tire loads ... essentially point loads or a grid of point loads. My load cases are line loads (300 to 400 plf) due to walls on the edge of the slab and a couple walls in...
fel3, thanks for the links. I am aware of both documents and I've already taken a look at them before I posted the question. I'll look at them again but as I recall neither document really fit my situation well. The problem with those documents is that my 4" slab and light loads(compared to...
Thanks human909. Your reasonable guide is helpful. The concerning issue is a little more than shifting loads around, though.
I'm completely changing the load paths. Right now the foundation is a slab on grade and the floor loads go straight to the ground (the nice thing about a slab). The...
I own a small cabin North of Atlanta, GA that is built on a 4" unreinforced slab. Structurally the slab details aren't good but it has survived almost 60 years with no cracking. There is no gravel below the slab and the slab doesn't have thickened edges to spread the edge load. The slab is...
Tomfh: Thanks. I appreciate your comments. Sufficiently "smearing" out the load has always been my objective. As always,the devil is in the details. Knowing that my plan, whatever it might be, adequately accomplishes that objective has been the detail I can't really quantify. I'd strongly...
TLHS: yes I agree the pads on top of the slab with saw cuts is a good, cheap and easy to impliment solution.
If you read back through the thread you'll see that I posted this a few days ago (oct 6):
In writing this post I've collected my thoughts and think that my best option is pouring...
XR250: Thanks. Not really helpful. garbage in = garbage out is a good admonition for an ignorant audience. Seat of the pants engineering and enveloping can accomplish what I want to determine. What I'm trying to determine is if the slab will crack or not based on some assumed loading...
Since no one commented on a good free tool for analizing my slab I've downloaded and tried about a half dozen different things. Most of them are too restricted to be helpful. HOWEVER, spMats from the PCA is both easy to learn quickly and the 15 day trial is enough time to get a good feel for...
jhnblgr: One third of the slab was a porch and most of that is spalled and powdery. The other 2/3 of the slab is uncracked. However, I'm completely changing the floor plan and the roof. The roof on the building currently is corrugated steel sheets supported only by Zee shaped purlins (no...
jhnblgr: I agree that I am underestimating the capacity of the slab. Ideas for an analysis tool that I can use was the reason/motivation for this post. So far I haven't gotten any any input on that. I've gotten a lot of suggestions and ideas I've already thought of. Modern analysis tools...
swcomposites: I already explored the slab topper idea and I haven't ruled it out but it has some disadvantages. The raised floor allows me to run plumbing, hvac and electrical anywhere I want to place it. I'm changing the floor plan dramatically so that is a big advantage. Also, I'm trying to...
swcomposites: yes, I plan to jack the cabin up a few feet and drop it back down onto the raised platform. The cabin is on Federal property that is leased from the Army Corps of Engineers. I am not allowed to tear it down and anything I do needs to be within the existing footprint. The...
Denial: Thanks for the link. I'll take a look at it. I don't really have good soil data so I've only been using beam on elastic foundation as a sanity check.
