The Rebar Man Cometh
Apparently, the Rebar inspector was scheduled to come this morning. I assume he did, and that we passed.
I tried to find something interesting on the internet about rebar inspectors to share with you all. But there just wasn't anything interesting on the internet about rebar or inspectors. Not to knock the trade! It is a necessary step in the building of a home that is intended to last many many many years.
So let's see... how about some factoids about rebar:
- "Rebar" is actually an acronym for "Reinforcing Bar". It's actually a Steel Reinforcing Bar.
- http://www.stainless-rebar.org is an excellent source of information about... yes, you guessed it... stainless steel rebar.
- It hurts to stub your toe on rebar. But if you absolutely have to have some rebar sticking up within toe-stubbing reach, there are many ways to prevent such injury, including but not limited to, creating a small slit in a tennis ball and sticking it on top of the offending rebar
I also did find this checklist for the "Footings Stage of Inspection (pre-pour)" and what I believe is what the Rebar inspector was there to do:
- Seismic Categories D1&D2: < 3 in. clearance of rebar to soil or
- < #4 (1/2 in.) vertical bar or > 4ft. on center {403.1.3}
- < #4 (1/2 in.) bar in top and bottom of footing/wall {403.1.3.1,2; see t 404.1.b; 1806.7.1}
- < 8.75 in. from soil sidewall to rebar at side in l2 in. walls {T404.1.1(3)}
- < 6.75 in. from soil sidewall to rebar at side in 10 in. walls {T404.1.1(4)}
- < 5 in. from soil sidewall to rebar at side in 8 in. walls {T404.1.1(2)}
- Monolithic footing: < one #5 (5/8in.) or two #4 (1/2 in.) bars in middle third of footing {403.1.3.2ex.}
- < 12 in. overlap at splice lap or engineered
- < 20 in. if 1/2 in. rebar {rec�d; rec�d; 1912.16.1}
- Bricks/etc. used instead of Adobies@ to raise rebar above soil {403.1.3; NA; 1907.7.1}
- Footings not on undisturbed soil {403.1; Fig. 403.1a}, [NA, NA]
- Wood foundation footings: basement with < 8 in. or crawlspace with < 6 in. stone, etc. footing
Uh. Ok. Whatever. Anyway - here's a picture of some of our rebar that was being inspected this morning. Because that is infinitely more interesting than the above commentary (That's sarcasm; I'm not fooling myself :-))
Comments
It also makes a great grounding rod to keep your home safe and grounded. I would have expected more rebar than what I see in the pictures. Make sure u r there for pouring day. Watching the pumper truck is really fun. It's really a lawn chair and lunch thing. The concrete people doing the work might not apprecitate it, but it's still oodles of fun to watch happen.
Posted by BlueNiner on September 23, 2004 10:34 PM.Just wait until you get new sod put in. You can back with a glass of wine and watch your lawn slowly lengthen. ;)
Posted by The Sister on September 24, 2004 5:43 AM.Speaking of rebar: there's a highly entertaining Far Side comic in which a caveman experimenting with fire for the first time manages to burn down his cave, and his buddy comes along and says something like "Whoa...nothing but rebar."
Speaking of Far Side comics: I now realise that describing one is akin to dancing about architecture. I will stop now.