JAE When I said "a pan on site" I meant I have "the pans or are on site.
Following the input from this thread, my main goal is to develop a dense concrete that is a low water/cement ratio that will reduce shrinkage. Fiberglass additive will help prevent cracking. Air...
I live in the moutains of Virginia. Therefore, salty air is not a problem. My primary task is the deck. The cover for lower patio is secondary. Jae, you raise an issue of the vulnerability of using even galvanized composite decks for exterior applications. How do the road engineers resolve...
My use of deck as roof for porch below is not as high a standard as a finished room. The beams supporting the steel pans have a 3/8" per foot slope to drain water. Regardless of compressive strength, a lower water/cement ratio the mix, the higher the density of the resulting cured...
Thanks Taro for your response.
What mix would be non absorbing of water. One of my purposes in this deck is to be a roof for a porch below. What are the consequences of some shrinkage on composit deck. My understanding that the lower the water/cement ratio is the stronger the concrete is...
Thanks dbuz for your awnswer. The specs on the deck warn me not to use calcium chloride because of corrosion. From your statement I learn that calcium cloride will increase shrinkage. What about a super plastisizer?. I had hands on experience replacing a wood deck on my bridge using...
I am an architect in Virginia. I am interested in recommendations for concrete mix for exterior composite deck.
Recently I had a concrete finisher advise a client of mine that 4000psi concrete was more likely to shrink than 3000psi. In that case, it was being placed in an interior non...
I have learned the method of calculating concrete beams and slabs from the 9th addition of "Simplified Engineering for Architects and Builders". They describe a method of sizeing beams for balanced section properties. Locally the steel rebars are 60ksi. This book states that 40ksi...
Load capacity of toenails and nails in general is my question.
I am an architect in Virginia. I have specified 2x ledgers with number of 16d nails = #/LF X nail/100#. A contractor that has put one or two 16d nails/joist (1'-4") has challenged my assumptions about the required nails on...
I am intersted in using Aluminum for exterior deck elelements like newels, rails and pickets. I am interested in using stock extrusions. I am figuring that I can use the same forumalas for steel or wood using Section Modulus and Moment of Inertia to figure Max Moment and deflection. Can...
