re-bar and CMU questions

[tesa]

question 1, does it matter if my re-bar in my footer is the shape of a # or an X?

question 2, if i choose to use CMU's for piers, are they dry stacked?

as you can see, i'm working late tonight, but this is my last ? before sign off

with the kid asleep, i get more done during these few hours than i do all day

tesa

[n74tg]

In your pier footer I don't think it matters a whole lot whether you go with an X or a #.  I think I used a #

In my piers I used dry stack, with vertical rebar inside the cells.  The vert rebar extended down into the footers.
Piers were filled with concrete when done.

Good luck

[tesa]

well, using an X would be less materials than the #, but what about those "chairs" that suspend the rebar in the concrete?

i was layin' in bed lastnight, thinking too much, and i'm wondering what effect those have on the structure of the
concrete, with a plastic cone in it, i guess they would never shift in all that concrete

thats what i get for thinking in bed instead of sleeping

tesa

[n74tg]

I made rebar chairs our of scrap steel rod (1/8" diameter), easy to bend.  As I put 6mil visqueen under all my footers I didn't worry about whether they would react with the soil.

And 1 Excedrine PM or a before bed toddy can help with that calming the mind stuff.  My problem is I wake everyday anywhere from 4 to 6 am often times already thinking about this stuff.  I must have been dreaming about it.

[glenn kangiser]

You can also use pre-made concrete dobies (square blocks of concrete of various thickness) or make your own out of concrete -

[tesa]

And 1 Excedrine PM or a before bed toddy can help with that calming the mind stuff.  My problem is I wake everyday anywhere from 4 to 6 am often times already thinking about this stuff.  I must have been dreaming about it.
[/quote]

LOL, i tell you what, a few mornings ago, i woke up and told my husband, "hey, i was dreaming of 2X's, and they were blue!!"

we had just watched "avatar" for the 10th time and i guess i was thinking about that

tesa

[John Raabe]

The mind in a terrible thing to lose

In a pier foundation the block work is basically a stacked form for a concrete column. If the pier were tall and could possibly shift while being filled, then a mortared joint would hold it together better. For short piers dry stacking should be fine.

[MountainDon]

Some 'L-shaped' pieces can be made from 1x or 2x pieces and secured to two opposite corners of the column with ratchet straps. You can find what are known as endless loop ratchet straps to use around something like a column. Depending on the column height one or two straps can be used to clamp the blocks in place while being filled and the concrete settled.

Sorry no pictures to illustrate, but the straps are like these...
http://www.shipperssupplies.com/1RatchetStraps/