Concrete Wire Mesh Help Minimize Concrete Slab Cracking and Settlement

The chance of differential settlement depends heavily on the underlying soil. Where the soil is sandy and stable, settlement is less likely and the use of fibers alone may be a reasonable option.

However, in areas with clay and other expansive soils, correcting the problems caused by WWM elimination may be more cost effective in the long run than the initial cost savings associated with fiber screens.

Concrete Wire Mesh Help Minimize Concrete Slab Cracking and Settlement

In fact, the best way to minimize the chance of cracking and settling is to use both fiber mesh and WWM in the same slab.

As with any structural product, WWM will not work unless it is installed correctly. Unfortunately, this is not always the case.

Proper installation that provides maximum strength requires lifting the mesh off the ground so that when the concrete sets, it sits in the lower third of the slab depth. This means placing the wire on a chair to hold it at the correct height.

Wires not placed on a chair would not be effective, but to get the job done, some crews eliminated the chair and rolled the wire directly onto the dirt-covered plastic sheeting. When installers do use chairs, they must be careful not to knock the wires off the chair during the dumping process. If they do, then they need to reset the concrete screen.

Ensuring that all of this is done correctly can be a training and quality assurance challenge for builders, and avoiding this challenge may be one of the reasons so many people are choosing synthetic fibers for these applications.

But in soils that could lead to settlement, this type of oversight really needs to be a priority.