SHOULD I USE REBAR OR WIRE IN CONCRETE ??? (MIKE HADUCK) 

Hey Mike, long time viewer here. Sorry for the long post, but here are a few points of interest everyone might like. Fiberglass rebar has actually been around about a hundred years. I'll get back to that in a sec, but first some quick history (just the high points)... the French "invented" or popularized the use of steel rebar in the mid 1800's. In the days of few building codes, it was slow to be adopted in the US. Then, in the early 1900's, a bell tower near San Francisco was built using steel rebar. Many engineers of the day made fun of it, and said using steel rebar was overkill, and a big waste of money. But when that bell tower was still standing after the great San Francisco Earthquake of 1906, a trend set off in America for using rebar in concrete. This trend was "reinforced" a few years later in 1910 when 10 construction workers were killed by a masonry wall collapse. The blame was given to "not enough rebar used" when in fact the failure was caused by the premature removal of some critical shoring. Big stories like these hitting the newspapers (going viral) back in the day - that's how the stupidity of steel rebar really took over in this country. Engineers bought into the hype without really knowing the facts. Any Chemist, Geologist, or Geophysicist could have told them that concrete is a sponge and steel rebar is NOT a good thing to mix with it. Anyway, both fiberglass and basalt rebar have been around longer than most people realize. Up until a few years ago, it was WAY more expensive than steel rebar, but that's not really the case any more. It was traditionally only used in marine environments, so even though it was costly to buy up front, the savings on later fixes made it actually cheaper in the long run. Fun Fact: Walt Disney used a ton of it the construction of his parks. Years later (1998) when they went to demolish the old "Submarine Voyage" ride in the Anaheim park, they had a terrible time tearing out the old concrete because the fiberglass rebar concrete was still extremely strong. The concrete was too thick in places so cutting wasn't an easy option, and the concrete was held together with such monolithic strength that they were all scratching their heads at first. Eventually, they had to hire extra-heavy equipment to remove it and it took a lot longer to do so. And after 40 years of being in place, it was noted that the rebar was "still like brand new." I wish we could say the same for all our bridges in the US. By the way, the Mckinleyville Bridge over Buffalo Creek in WV built in 1996 is the first vehicular bridge in the U.S. to be done with fiberglass rebar. Well, it's a start... one down, and 617,000 or so to go (there are roughly that many bridges in the US). FYI, if anyone is going to get into non-steel rebar, please don't buy the junk that comes from various places overseas. It's no good. There's a place in Texas that makes it called Kodiak, and I think they're one of the few who actually manufacturer it here in the US. They may be the only one. A lot of companies will tell you they make it here, but they actually just sell the imported junk. These companies will "assemble" it here in the US (eg. they'll make the corner bends here) but then they dishonestly say it's 100% "made here." Don't be fooled. Now, I don't know the guys in TX, so I'm not trying to plug them, it's just a fact that they actually make it here in the US. FYI, the psi of fiberglass rebar is 75,000 to 150,000 depending on which size you get. That is CRAZY strong! You would have to pay big bucks for grade 40, 60 or 75 in steel rebar to get those kind of psi strength ratings, and you'd still have the rust problem. So if you need strength - fiberglass or basalt rebar is a lot cheaper than steel compared to the same psi for steel. And you won't EVER have to redo your project due to rusting, cracking, spalling, etc of the concrete... heck, even your great, great grandkids won't have to redo it if you use fiberglass rebar from the get-go. One last thing... the worlds strongest concrete according to rigorous scientific verification is a section of breakwater/seawall in the Bay of Pozzuoli, near Naples, Italy. It's the strongest and it contains no rebar. Mainly because it was built there in 37AD by the Romans. This concrete is actually stronger than the day they installed it nearly 2,000 years ago. It actually gets a little stronger ever year (thanks to a process called Al-tobermorite crystallization). Thanks for all your great vids over the years Mike. Pin this to the top if you want everyone else to see it.

Extremely comprehensive, logical and intuitive.

Thanks to this guy, I started picking up stone on the side of the road on the way home for over 2 years and built a stone patio in my backyard. Thanks I guess Mike, my wife hated me so much! She loves it now though.

Thanks Mike, for passing down more of your knowledge..

Mike, my Grandfather was a bricklayer in Cleveland, Ohio. He had such pride in his work and as a kid he would show me different styles of bricklaying. He also built a lot of stone fireplaces and floors. He and my grandmother were my favorite people ever!!! Your accent and teaching style remind me so much of him. He would have loved your RU-vid channel, I am sure.

Mike, thanks for another informative video. It's a no brainer that every time you release a video it's getting a thumbs up from me. You are absolutely correct about how other countries get projects done more efficiently than we do here. When I spent time working in Zurich Switzerland, I would see several men laying cobblestone by hand in intricate decorative patterns in the morning as I passed by and later in the day as I came back by the entire street would be done and no evidence that earlier in the day the entire street had been redone. Thanks again. TP

you do a great service educating everyone on rebar in concrete. it's wonderful you make these vids, thanks mike. AND I ordered more tshirts!

I always learn something from you mike. You have a vast amount of experience but even greater than that you have wisdom and common sense to go with it.

I do mansonry in nyc and its a niche part of construction not too many young people coming in im 25

Just wanted to say ... learning concrete (and the science behind). I started learning from all your experience. Thank You for sharing!

Another great video! The sill seal is a must and really works good. Like you have said and people are realizing... concrete needs to "float" or be independent of everything. As soon as you lock things in to tight....BOOM there's your first crack. Thanks Mike

I'm a contractor and this is excellent information. Thank You for the video.

thank you for this video, a wealth of information!!!

Great job Mike. Thanks for the insight.

another satisfying video Mike. I feel like I learn a lot from you. Thanks

Back in the late 70s I had a contract on military bases building walls for substations. The plans called for rebar every 12” in the walls which were underground. We rodbusted, built forms and did concrete to save money. If we spaced one 13” the inspectors would act like they caught John Dillinger. Pretty sure tax payers have have paid to replace those......with the same specs. Nice video, very helpful....use common sense.

Thank you. You've just made my new garage much better.

Learn something every time you put out a new video. Thanks Mike.

Thank You so much for this video Mike ! you are very educated man God Bless You !

Thanks Mike for your information and videos 📹,, I learn a lots from you, I appreciate you 🙏

Great video. Makes me second guess using rebar for my sidewalk. Thank you

I enjoy all of your videos. Thanks.

Great video. I'm constantly looking for information like this. Mostly to share with home owners and GCs. Common Sense ain't so common

some great information here. just about ready to do my garage base now i have some new ideas to make it last. thanks.

Mike ❗️ Always great to watch you epitomizing common sense 👍 I salute you wise man❗️ ✋😎👍 Greetings from Greenwich London ⚓️⛵️🏰

Excellent video. I watched several more after seeing this. Thanks for the information.

Interesting subject Mike. Thanks for sharing.

Mike, you sure proved your point with those shots of the bridges and loading dock and angle iron. OMG that must have been an avalanche when that whole brick wall came down. So much for wall ties. The idea of slapping a brick facing onto a block wall always struck me as kinda dumb and that disaster confirms it. Thanks as always, for your continuing education classes.

Mike Haduck for President!!! Man, this is awesome common sense stuff. Not too common anymore. Thank you!!! :-)

Great video Mike. One of your best. Thanks /John

Besides “fall of cabal “ all 10 episodes this is the only video that I ve watched to the end you are very interesting thank you so much for all the information and I will check your videos out you’re awesome

Great video Mike, very informative. Thanks

I enjoyed this thoroughly

Very informative. In my neck of the woods, there's the compounding damage from water getting into a crack or alongside the rebar-concrete interface and freezing. The expansion power of freezing water breaks mountains apart so preventing or minimizing water entry in the first place is essential maintenance.

Thanks for the insight,

Awesome information, thank you.

Outstanding video. We shared this information with a friend who lives in Mendocino County, CA. They have a lot of rain and moisture. He's going to purchase non metallic rebar for his pato and walkway. He's also introduced in the fiber mesh for concrete strength...... We are very grateful too you for sharing your knowledge. God bless 🙏

Great video very informative I learn a lot from your videos

Hi Mike just got done repairing my porch. I watched your videos on this. It was all broken up so dug it all out cleaned the area applied material spread it out and then sponged it all out and It came out looking nice. My wife was very happy. Thanks for the training and tips. Now on to my chimney.

Hi Mike I always look forward to your great videos .

Thank you, Mike

Very​ good​ information, thankyou for​ many uploaded​ clips.​ I have learned​from​ you a lot.​ Americans people​ are nice and​ kind sharing kwowledge.​

Mike, I’m a structural engineer for 43 years, rebar is used for tensile forces, concrete is strong for compression but when there is bending you need rebar in the tension zone. That’s why the rebar is 3” up from the bottom of the footing, not on top of the footing.

Great video as usual Mike waiting on more truck repair videos!👍

Great video Sir. Very informative and interesting. You're an obvious craftsman. God Bless You...!!!

Expert advice. Thank you

Great explanation! I feel like I definitely learned what I came to this video to learn and then some

I love this guy he is spot on!! Subscribed and thumbs 👍

mike another great video on masonry and i like your background music

excelent morning coffee video. thanks.

Good video. Well put together, I learned a lot.

Great observation at the end of the video. You really do learn a lot when taking things apart - what works and what doesn’t work. Real world environment and performance can sometimes be different from lab tests and predicted engineered performance.

Thanks Mike, you take a lot of time to make these videos and i have learned a lot from you. I have learned a lot by fixing things that were done the wrong way.

Thanks Mike.

for patios, I like to use welded wire fencing thats coated with rubber. its like water proof rebar

i really like that wrap the pipe or piece of wood idea, i'll add that step to my posts

Very relevant considering what happened in Florida with condo collapse.

Mike did u ever consider being a masonry teacher in your days at a regional school, I could listen to y'all all day every day. Ur a very well rounded mason with knowledge like no other. Ty 4 all ur information. Ur the man

I just found your channel! I love it. I am about to do a little patio and steps. I like the fact you slip a little verse in this one too! Shalom.

great video mr mike

I love your videos! Your experience is invaluable and I love how you travel the world and look at stone and masonry work through out history to gain perspective and learn from the past! Regarding the use of rebar in concrete. One thing that I think could have been better communicated is that rebar inside of concrete isn't just to hold it together when it cracks, it is also there to give concrete structural rigidity. Concrete without rebar wouldn't be able to span the same distances or carry the same loads. The two work together; rebar provides the rigidity and concrete provides the compressional strength. You could build with out rebar but you would have to use much more material and every span would have to be an arch.

What happened to the original title of "Rebar Can Equal Fubar?" Rolls right off the tongue, Mike!

Living in Northern Utah, I just had a new driveway poured last fall and they used no rebar. Contractor told me I didn’t want it for this reason and I now I see why.

Very informative.

Always awesome Mike! nice work on the Bible Proverb! Thanks.

Good advice Mike. I'm born, raised and work construction in the San Francisco Bay Area. We remove and replace concrete with steel that was placed 60 + years ago and some of the steel comes out without serious corrosion. Depends on the site but the best advice comes from you: it all depends on where you live, everything is different in other parts of the country. All the best MH, I enjoy the videos!

Epoxy coated rebar has been used on many jobs I have worked over the past few years. One of the earliest uses of reinforced concrete on the East Coast was the Traymore Hotel in Atlantic City built in 1914. I think the extensive use of road salt in PA and other states does more to destroy concrete than people realize. Once that salty water gets soaked up by the concrete the salt works it's way to the rebar and the destruction of the rebar is accelerated by the salt. Same thing happens to concrete exposed to salt or brackish water. I've watched it happen to facilities along the Delaware River over the years.

Mike I love this video and all your stuff, would you be interested in doing an Interview? About concrete and rebar vs fiber rebar or whatever

That post by Qool Qoin made a lot of sense. Side bar TBH I didn't think it was too long for what was said. Not an engineer but have wondered for some time about putting metal in concrete. Just didn't make good sense to me but figured the "experts" knew what they were doing. Boy was I wrong. Thanks again. And Mike, thanks to you for all your informative videos.

More like Amazing Mike

Great video

@Mike, i alway enjoy listening and watchig you read and illustrat books, plans, maps etc. The sound of your voice, of the paper as you move fingers across it, its sorting southing and hipnotic. Other than that. Nice video mix of pervious work :-)

We now use ice and water shield to wrap out posts. Works to prevent moisture from getting in and doing damage!

I played architect when we built our house in 85. The mason did not put the rebar I specified in the footer when he poured it. We negotiated, and we settled on durawall every other course. Here I thought I was cheated all these years, but the good Lord was looking out for me! Our cinder block walls are as perfect today as the day they laid the 12 inch block! Thanks again Mike for your great advice and experience.

Very good video. @13:07 Where you say you learn more when taking old projects apart than when doing new projects. This is spot on. A comparison is with mechanical watches. Arguably the best manufacturer of mechanical watches in the world, Greubel Forsey, started out repairing watches. And he (Stephen Forsey) said he learned how to build the best watches by taking apart old watches to see what worked and what eventually fell apart.

Putting steel in concrete makes it a "temporary" construct. My house is 25 years old and, the lintel above my garage door is expanding and cracking the mortar joints above it. The first house I ever remodeled was a brick two flat in Chicago. All the windows were arched as you described and, the brick was in perfect condition.

Good stuff.

Good info

good video, very interesting

Thank you Mike 🥀🥀🥀

Interesting seeing more polymers coming in like fiberglass rebar. Wondering if carbon fiber or kevlar will be a thing? Glad you're sharing the wise old wisdom. Guessing if steel, stainless steel holds up better then the galvinized? Seems I've seen where some use I forget which polymer on the rebar/mesh... maybe that was road or bridge work. Thanks for sharing!

I agree with you on the rebar and wire, we post a video pouring a floor no wire you get the comments. We post a video of no rebar in a wall same thing. People think if you put rebar in a wall it won't crack it's just not true. If you don't put wire mesh in the floor same thing it will crack. Concrete will crack because it shrinks during hydration a 100' wall shrinks 3/8 so it will crack probably 3 times in that distance could be more. The rebar is just a threaded rod holding the crack on both sides together until water gets in and moisture and oxygen cause rust there is the cycle. Same with the floors.

The answer is always YES!

I heard the PH of the concrete would preserve the rebar unless it gets constant water infiltration. I have been coating my concrete work with heavy duty Concrete paint that comes in 5 gallon buckets with some kind of a grit like material in it shortly after I remove the forms...Every now and then I’ll see a 5 gallon bucket of it at the big box store in the oops / Clarance MisTint area and pick it up for $10 or $20 versus $120 regular price. I also try to use a zinc rich primer and some kind of paint over anything that’s getting buried in the concrete pour. I always feel sort of OCD when I’m doing this stuff but I hope it last a little longer.

Your absolutely spot on ! Steel and concrete are a terrible combination. The bridges here in Connecticut are failing . You can see where the rebar has rusted and expanded causing the concrete to crack and pop off. Also in the winter when water gets in the cracks and freezes. This just accelerates the process. New bridges are now being built with a type of epoxy coated rebar. Should last a bit longer

Hi Mike new subscriber here!! I just had cement slab poured and they used fiber just like that bag u showed us.so I will see if it cracks or it last I’ll keep u posted!

What I wouldn't give for an old school artisan like you here in south Texas.

In the UK it was found that a lot of the concrete Cancer was caused by the Rapid Hardening Additives that were added during the mixing process,the reason being the two that we used were acids, they were CCS, Calcium Cloride Solution, another type was Hydrol which we were told was Hydracluric Acid , after this concrete cancer was diagnosed we had to sign our names to our order if we wanted any additives in the mixes.

Yes Sensei.

Mike, I enjoy your sharing and common sense approach. Would you recommend a galvanized lintel over steel for an outdoor fireplace.

Having been a truck mechanic I can attest to my hatred of shredded fiberglass in a floor. Spend a day working under a truck or piece of machinery. Your arms will be full of it. Every time you reach for something on the floor or have to crawl under a low spot where you can't roll under with a creeper puts more and more in your skin. Ahhh the good old days... I just wish they polished concrete floors back when I spent my days laying on them. Anyway, thank you again for a well put together and thought out video.

Local building code where I live specifies sidewalks, driveways, patios, etc. have no rebar. This was done for concrete recycling purposes, they don't have to separate the steel from the concrete, only crush it for recycling. Rebar is put into concrete for strength when the concrete has tension forces as concrete is good under compression, but not tension. Structural usage such as footers, columns, etc. assumes the concrete will be subjected to both compression and tension which is why building codes require rebar. What is the alternative to rebar for strengthening concrete for tension forces?

Great video. I got criticized for using fiberglass rebar on one of my own jobs even though we know steel fails. About 15 years ago I poured a set of 8 steps and used a piece of galvanized cyclone fence for reinforcing. Not a crack so far, our climate is the same as yours.

Great perspective. Sadly, common sense is not so common anymore. Thanks for the insights.

I was about to waste time and money putting iron in an 8 x 8, 2 foot tall stoop (cabin in the woods, no permit needed). Thanks for the common sense!

My neighbor just redid his driveway and the city would not allow him to use rebar. I said that’s stupid it’s gonna separate. Later on he mentioned your required to use fiber. That coupled with what you said and us being in the Chicago area makes sense. A specific psi plus fiber is better for our environment as long as the base is good and there’s no shifting.

trained as architect and structural engineer and we learn new things everyday, see things that scratch the head - and KISS technique is awesome, we use to joke in school about the LARS design method - (Looks about Right) - but caveat in the MHSOCS - not using rebar or welded wire for fully support concrete not suspended is a big ticket item to right if the substructure is not fully prepared correctly - (concrete is no good in tension) and for masonry support and horizontal reinforcement - to keep the brick stone from falling over - either a true masonry wall with a big base like they did in catherdrals then no rebar- old school (awesome amounts of stone work in those still standing no steel reinforced structures ) but veneers need something to "Tie them back if gaining any real height - and we use always take into consideration the environment when having to design concrete structures - epoxy coated rebar, post tension coated cables - things that help retard erosion - but yup. concrete cracks - we tell all our clients - anyone saying different is not being truthful - great video school session -

In the end I am left with the doubt. I have already put rebar in the foundation of my house and was thinking of putting it in the concrete belt joists between floors and under the roof. I am making the house of stone and concrete. I just need him to last 40 years, then I'll be dead and I don't care (hahahah) Thank you very much for your videos and greetings from Spain.

Loved your rebar and rust video. Rebar only temporarily solves the problem. Job security for thr bridge repair profession. Question: I would like to build an insulated slab on grade home with in floor heat. Would 6" fiber mesh concrete or 4" concrete with pink rebar work the best on top of Owens Corning R15 XPS in Custer, SD? I also am going to use 8" thermal studs (t studs) for walls and have ground mount solar panels for trying to be energy efficient. At 72 years of age I have one last chance to do it right ! I used a water heater 20 years ago to heat a gypcrete floor in a sunroom remodel project and let it run wild keeping the floor about 82° with the house stat controlling the rest ($350 water heater boiler vs a $3000 boiler). My wife suggested putting the radiant supply tubes in the middle of the floor with the returns near the outside walls. Great idea, worked well with less heat loss due to the cooler temps neat the outside walls. She said we sit in the middle of theroom not near the outside walls. Being a retired eng, I know she is smarter than me! Thanks for the informing videos. Elmer

Wow this video was an eye opener. Thanks Mike Can plastic mesh be used be used instead in a garage 5” slab in RI?