Slab steel before the pour on Kalkallo lots
Top bars, cover, chairs and laps: what we check on a Kalkallo slab the day before concrete.
In short: Beam steel decides how a slab copes with reactive clay. The day before the pour is the only time you can check it matches the engineering.
Top bars and beam steel
Extra top bars shown on the engineering are the item we most often find missing on Kalkallo slabs.
Cover and chairs
Steel touching the formwork or sagging between chairs ends up with too little concrete around it, inviting corrosion.
Laps
Bars and mesh need to overlap by set lengths for each size. Short laps weaken the joint.
Everything else on the deck
Loose pods, uncapped pipes, set-downs not formed and debris left in the beams all get listed.
Written by our local inspection team from work carried out in Kalkallo. Licensed building practitioners, Building & Plumbing Commission registration CDB-U 53425.
