nirias
Civil/Environmental
- May 16, 2011
- 9
Hi,
I hired a contractor to replace the brick foundation on my two story house with an inverted "T" concrete foundation. The footing is 18" wide by 18" deep with an 8" stem wall. Reinforcing is #4 bars with 3" cover.
Only after the concrete was in the forms did he explain he had ordered the concrete with 2% CaCl2 in order to save some time. But I have read that CaCl2 should never be used with reinforced concrete because it will lead to rapid corrosion of rebars, with corrosion failures occurring as quickly as 10 years.
What is the typical experience with CaCl2, when there are no other sources of chlorides (The house is in San Francisco well above the groundwater so there are no salts from winter ice control or ground water table to contribute to the problem).
Is there any chance this foundation will survive for 50 or more years? Is there any mitigation, such as sealing the surface to minimize availability of oxygen, that is practical at this point?
thanks for any info you can provide
I hired a contractor to replace the brick foundation on my two story house with an inverted "T" concrete foundation. The footing is 18" wide by 18" deep with an 8" stem wall. Reinforcing is #4 bars with 3" cover.
Only after the concrete was in the forms did he explain he had ordered the concrete with 2% CaCl2 in order to save some time. But I have read that CaCl2 should never be used with reinforced concrete because it will lead to rapid corrosion of rebars, with corrosion failures occurring as quickly as 10 years.
What is the typical experience with CaCl2, when there are no other sources of chlorides (The house is in San Francisco well above the groundwater so there are no salts from winter ice control or ground water table to contribute to the problem).
Is there any chance this foundation will survive for 50 or more years? Is there any mitigation, such as sealing the surface to minimize availability of oxygen, that is practical at this point?
thanks for any info you can provide