Why does nobody talk about rusty rebar ruining a bunker floor?

I poured a concrete floor in my shelter last spring and used regular rebar I had sitting in the shed. Cost me about $80 for the bar stock. Fast forward 6 months and the rust is bleeding through the concrete in spots. A buddy told me to use epoxy coated rebar next time. Has anyone else had moisture issues eating up mild steel underground?

3 comments

3 Comments

evan_cooper7310d ago

Honestly feels like you're overthinking this, concrete cracks all the time anyway.

jessej2310d ago

You're right lol, concrete is basically designed to be temporary in the grand scheme of things @evan_cooper73. People act like a tiny crack means the end of the world when most of the time it's just doing its thing for a few years.

wade25010d ago

And that's exactly the thing people miss about concrete - it's not waterproof and it's not permanent, it's just porous rock that happens to hold together ok for a while. The rust bleed from regular rebar is basically your concrete telling you that moisture is moving through it no matter how careful you were with the mix. Epoxy coated bar is the way to go if you want peace of mind, but even then you gotta make sure the coating isn't nicked during install. I'd bet that rust is coming from moisture wicking up through the ground under your slab, not just from the rebar itself. You might need a vapor barrier under the concrete if you didn't put one in, otherwise that floor is gonna keep spitting rust stains no matter what rebar you use.

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