Pond Boss Forums GENERAL QUESTIONS Property Projects & Construction Pole Barn

R&R

I'd use the fibers along with the rebar. I did a LOT of concrete restoration/epoxy injection work in So. Cal, and here's what the engineers said:

"The rebar in the concrete is for structural strength. The fibers are in the concrete to minimize the cracks that want to develope. Yes, the fibers are pushed as a replacement for the rebar. Don't believe it. If you want the concrete work to be crack free, use both."

Without rebar, if the concrete cracks, you loose strength in that area. The concrete that we poured, with both steel and fiber in it, didn't crack to my knowledge. We also used a plate compactor on the decomposed granite that we used for a base.

Friends here used both in their pole barn pours. 8+ years later, still no cracks.

The fibers DO make the concrete harder to finish smooth, as some of the fibers seem to poke through the concrete surface.