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.

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 KZfaq channel, I am sure.

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

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.

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

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

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.

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

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.

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.

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

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.

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

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!

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.

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.

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

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.

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

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.

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

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!

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

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

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 🙏

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

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

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.

Interesting subject Mike. Thanks for sharing.

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.

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

I'm not a mason or anything like that, but in NYC there is a mixture of old skyscrapers built with steel skeletons (like the Empire State Building) and more modern ones with rebar reinforce poured concrete skeletons. Some of these buildings are more than 50 stories tall. If there is a leak hidden behind the fancy interior design work, am I right in assuming that the metal rebar expansion and concrete cracking will also happen in these buildings? They might use special concrete but I'm not sure whether it will prevent water penetration for 100 years. Imagine you buy a condominium on the 40th floor, and several structural columns are compromised. The whole building would have to be evacuated for safety in case of collapse.

Very relevant considering what happened in Florida with condo collapse.

Rebar helps the concrete resist Tension and bending or when concrete is weak (not compression). They pretension the wires running through the concrete beams pour the concrete and release the wire Making a pre-stressed concrete beam When you stand on top of a beam, one side is in tension, and one side is in compression.. Rebar helps this loading and so does prestressed wires.

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

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.

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

I enjoyed this thoroughly

Hey Mike I’m a retired mason in Jersey,I agree with you 100 per cent about re-bar. I did a lot of commercial work and amount of steel re-bars the drawings required were ridiculous,and I thought the same way you do, because I’ve taken old jobs apart too, There is no need for it, you know as I do concrete is only as strong as what is under it,and if you pour it thick enough and expand it properly it will not crack nearly as much if it had steel re-bars in it. I did get a chance to work with solid fiberglass and it’s lighter,you have cut every bar you need to with a saw that makes fiberglass dust that you breath and itch,I would use a rod cutter(you know like a 4’ bolt cutter mounted on a 2”x8”) no dust,no noise,portable and electricity needed! But you can’t cut or bend the fiberglass because the ends shatter or get frayed. Also you can’t bend thru corners on footings. Sorry for the book here,Geo in Jersey

Awesome information, thank you.

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.

I am a retired Marine living in Baja California Mexico. All cement work is done with rebarr normally 3/8. Most rot away in 5-7 years. This is due to the salt environment because the area is considered a dry area. Our water supply contains a lot of salt and minerals plus the sand is not what it should be. I lay my foundations with sand and gravel of a minimum of two inches. Then I lay a two inch cement floor staying away from using rebar. This is for a normal patio or home floors. The footing is layer with 3/8 rebar with a heavy filler of rock and gravel. Pillars are reinforced with rebar with poly tubing covering the rebar. I remember my dad wrapping tar paper around the wooden foundations that was layered into the cement.

So informative with evidence. Great Video. Take care Sir

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

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.

The concrete expands and contracts with temperature causing cracking. This exposes the steel causing it to rust. The steel then spalls causing more concrete cracking and the process accelerates.

Great video Mike, very informative. Thanks

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.

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.

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 -

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.

That answers a lot but leaves me with the same question: to rebar or not to rebar? I live in the PNW where it rains a lot. I just bought a house that was built in 1912. The basement is a hodgepodge of stacked stones and cinderblocks and stacked stone and repointing on top of repointing. The stacked stone needs repointing. The cinderblocks look like they were added later. Secondary issue is water run off. Not just from the house but a parking lot from an apartment complex. The appropriate drainage is being put in however when putting in this drainage around the house is when the scope of the water damage was seen. So coming full circle: Should I keep the stacked stone and just repoint while reinforced with metal mesh or replace with cinderblock & rebar or just replace with cinderblock?

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

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

Use basalt rebar Lighter, stronger than steel Zero corrosion-- in any environment

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

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.

Rebar needs at least 3 inches of concrete for protection against humidity to prevent rusting...

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

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

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!

What about epoxy coated rebar or stainless steel wall ties? More expensive but should last much longer.

Most of the corrosion of steel reinforcing in concrete is the result of using salt to melt ice on roads and bridges, and in coastal regions, salt water misting comes off the ocean. The salt water penetrates the concrete because because it is porous. When the water evaporates the salt recrystalizes expanding to create micro cracking. This facilitates entry of additional salt water, and continues until the salt reaches the reinforcing steel resulting in corrosion of the steel. Corroded steel occupies more space than was provided originally and that permits further deterioration of the concrete. The use of air entraining agents in concrete has helped with this problem and is recommended for concrete exposed to corrosive environments. Fiberglass reinforcing, although useful, cannot come close to providing the level of tensile reinforcing that steel can provide especially in prestressed designs. This is because it has a low modulus of elasticity and also concrete does not bond as well to fiberglass as well as it does to steel.

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.

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

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

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

In Canada , ALL rebar must be epoxy coated so as to not rust in the concrete. WE don't repair bridges here, don't have to. The other thing is all bridges are straight and all approaches must be straight ( for winter driving ).

Some of the contractors I know who specialize in flatwork concrete where rebar is specified do use the non metallic product. They usually confer with the engineer or PE on the job and figure out what will substitute or be to code. Great tutorial Mike... Take care.

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.

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

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

Great job Mike. Thanks for the insight.

It's a difficult problem- steel is a necessary evil in most reinforced concrete work. We have learned that water can eventually get to steel and cause deterioration and modern research has provided a lot of ways to deal with this. All of these add expense and aren't known or used on smaller projects. There are ways to make concrete much more resistant to moisture but again it makes the concrete more expensive and makes it harder to place and finish. This type of thing is now required in building codes for larger projects, probably hasn't made it to residential construction yet. Steel doesn't add much strength to sidewalks or slabs on ground, but they do keep the concrete together better if it does crack for other reasons. I know that some highway construction was tried without reinforcing steel, they poured the concrete in blocks and used steel dowels to tie the blocks together but between joints there was no reinforcing. This did not perform well and I believe all highways now are back to using reinforcing steel. Things like footings and retaining walls need reinforcing steel to hold them together. I've seen plenty of older buildings that had no reinforcing steel that cracked and then the cracks opened up to be unreasonable in size. When you reinforce a footing or wall you need a minimum amount of steel, and a minimum is mandated by building codes, an amount that is beyond what you can get as a practical matter from wire mesh so you have to use reinforcing bars. In thin slabs you can get by with just wire mesh but anything larger you will need reinforcing bars. If you really want to make reinforced concrete last longer, you start with better concrete. You get a mix with low water to cement ratio, and you don't add water to the truck when it gets to the site. Yes this makes the concrete harder to finsh, but the water that you add will eventually leave and it will leave little voids where it was that allow water to get in in the future. If you start with good tight concrete it will help keep the water out. And maximum water to cement ratio is now in most building codes. Another thing that helps is to use air entrainment. Yes this costs more money too but it helps keep concrete from cracking due to being exposed to wet and freezing weather. This is also required by most building codes now. Do these things and you might double that 35 year number that you are saying but that only gets you to 70 years and some structures need to last longer than that. This is of course dependant on the climate, where I live we have some bridges that are 120 years old that are showing the signs of rebar corrosion and require repairs, but that is after 120 years not 35 years. And surely the concrete used around 1900 was not very good. If you are building a bridge or something that you want to last a long time people are using anode protection where they put little zinc modules tied to the rebar before pouring concrete. I'm not sure if this is perfected yet. If you're doing something really difficult like a water treatment plant you can get stainless steel reinforcing but this is very expensive. There is still research going on for other coatings for steel.

Thanks! I think I will skip the rebar for my small project

Mate really great explanation on this... But one point I didn't hear you say is concrete cover over steal I'm from Australia we have a minimum spec of at least 30mm coverage over steel... From my experience here the only time we have issues here with what you are talking about is when the steel is to close to the surface or ground if we do it to the right spec concrete will last 50 years or more I live on the coast so salt air and water Also play apart when we are near the ocean the coverage over steel is a minimum of 50mm and if it's in the ocean or on the beach we would use galvanised reo bar... This method works extremely well here... We don't get the freezing thawing effects like you guys do tho we do deal with other extremes like heat while placing and finishing.. Most of the timehere the cracking has all ready started before the concrete has cured because the heat sucks the life out it making it sink and that lets the water in that starts the reo to rust... And the old buildings you are talking about that are hundreds of years old used bigger stone in there mix the we do today... I've done airport run ways with heavy loads applied it had 40mm stones 80 mpa concrete and it would go in at a 60 slump with reo bar,wire,steel and poly fibre..like you said each situation calls for the right method... Needless to say it was all machine placing and finishing and extremely hard work... but like your video says

It would appear the main problem is water getting into the concrete and freezing. The expansion of the ice will crack concrete and rocks. Yes steel rebar will rust and expand, but the main problem is water. Rebar lends tensile strength to concrete. Compressive, tensile and shear strength are what resists breaking in concrete. Concrete is very strong under compression but can't be pulled because of it's weak tensile strength. Your example of wrapping a porch post in foam to keep the rust from expanding masonry columns will still suffer freezing expansion and cracking and rust. Even the wooden post will rot and fail when wet. The salt used in northern streets also leads to more rust when carried into the concrete by water. I think you've missed the point.

In Australia now we have the book reading brains trust interfering with repairs to old buildings now. My mate had to build a three foot doorway in a stone masonry home . They required that he use a t beam with a 1ft upstand over it. End bearing of 600mm or 2ft end bearing. The original lintels in the 3ft openings was 4x2 Douglas Fir with 6 inch end bearing. I have to get engineers calculations on openings in a stone home im renovating. They want the roof width so they can calculate roof load. There is 4 ft of wall above the opening to the roof. As you know Mike masonry work over an opening forms a natural arch, So a lintel only holds the masonry under that arch in place. That's why they only use a 4x2 Douglas Fir over a 3 ft opening. Ive put new lintels over doorways where the termites have destroyed the timber lintel. The only loose masonry is in the natural arch above the lintel. Unfortunately the powers that be are using criteria that only applies to the temporary garbage they build now to apply to the older permanent structures. Common sense is dead Mike. Fear of litigation has authorities running around costing people thousands unneccasarily

I bought a house down here in Baltimore that was a hundred years old, and the original cement steps were still behind the house and I had to remove them. They were so hard and firm that I gave up trying to break them apart and I am going to make one of them into a monument and put it in the garden with the original construction date of 1912 on a brass plate on it. There was no rebar in the steps. They used old bricks for filler inside the steps. I just poured some new steps for the front of the house and I used rebar in them. After watching this video, I wish I would not have used the rebar and would have just poured the steps thicker. I hate to think of those steps decaying in a mere forty years. I thought they would last for hundreds of years! I poured an inclined ramp at my parents' home forty-five years ago (without rebar) and it is as hard as stone and shows no sign of decay beyond just having some of the aggregate now visible as the surface wore away over the years. It looks like it will last 100 years to me. I'm glad I saw your examples of rebar decay because I plan to build a tower in the back of my home, and I have decided to NOT use rebar. When I build it, I want it to last indefinitely!

Those side walk pavers are brilliant. They probably don't have rebar in them either. They even look better than poured side walks. Poured side walks in front of houses is so sterile and lifeless.

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

Mike it's because the metal is installed less than 2" inches of concrete body after the metal. You need need but it has to be at least 2" inches of concrete body, plus! If you do this method it won't break. If the concrete is in a wet area, it's recommended to wrap rebar with tape if it's not dipped in a green substance on the rebar and it won't rust.

I heard as a rule of thumb, at least 10 cm of concrete over the rebar to protect it, but seeing how thick the bridge walls were over the concrete when you put your hand there it seems not to be enough. Here in Germany/Europe concrete slabs for sidewalks or driveways are basically nonexistent, everything is bricks/tiles. So we don't know anything about cracks, but we know very well about weed growing in between the bricks/tiles (which can be highly annoying and you wish you had a slab).

Would love to sit down with you Mike and talk for hours about this stuff over a few beers. Great video as always.

9:22 We use Tremco to coat the wood b4 putting the concrete in.

I worked on a waffle grid parking area under the Modern Woodmen building in Rock Island,Illinois. Rebar rusted,concrete fell and damaged cars.

Remesh reduces concrete shrinkage cracking during the (improper) curing process.

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

Thank you, Mike

I love the concrete sidewalks in Canada - I really did not like the UK paver sidewalks, because they settle and become tripping hazards over time. You only notice this when you live somewhere long enough.

I enjoy all of your videos. Thanks.

@ 8:48, you can coat the rebar, whatever it’s with asphalt.

Hi Mike I always look forward to your great videos .

I was always under the impression that the alkalinity of the wet crete passivated the steel during the pour.

Eliminate the problem of rusty reinforcement by using gold or silver. Spider silk is resistant to rust and is stronger than steel as well.