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Watched a crew at a Denver job site pour a 6 inch slab and skip the fiber mesh entirely
Foreman told me they never use fiber because it messes with their power trowel finish, but I always thought it was standard for any slab over 4 inches, so has anyone else seen guys just skip it without issues?
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the_sage1mo ago
Rebar would probably do more to stop the cracking anyway if someone wants to argue about reinforcement.
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mason_jackson1mo ago
Man, that foreman saying fiber messes with the power trowel finish is the exact excuse I'd give if I forgot to order the mesh. In my experience, skipping fiber on a 6 inch slab is like hoping your truck makes it to the shop with a check engine light on - it'll probably be fine, but you're just rolling the dice on random cracks showing up later. I've seen guys skip it plenty on smaller pours and get away with it, especially if the subgrade is prepped good and the concrete mix has decent shrinkage control. But your mileage may vary, I've also been on jobs where they left it out and watched hairline cracks spiderweb across the surface within a couple months, so take my story with a grain of salt.
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