With the unique challenges of three, four or 25 storeys, what steps can you take to pour a flat and level floor
It is one thing to complete a flat floor on the ground, and you can use the equipment and tool warehouses you can choose from. However, when working on a multi-storey building, obtaining the same floor with the same flatness specifications has its own challenges.
I contacted some experts at Somero Enterprises Inc. to discuss the details of this situation and learn about their SkyScreed®. Somero Enterprises, Inc. is a manufacturer of advanced concrete placing equipment and related machinery. The company was founded in 1986 and has continued to grow and develop by providing quality products to the international market.
A. In today’s market, almost all large slab floors (warehouses, parking lots, etc.) use laser screeds. In fact, because FL and FF numbers require higher tolerances, some customers such as Amazon actually specify that laser screeds must be used to place the floor. For the same reason, most contractors also use our slab laser screed to pour concrete on the metal deck.
Larger machines have advantages that contractors cannot obtain manually. These include automatic laser-guided flatness, efficient movement and screed concrete engine driving power, as well as a significant reduction in labor. Not to mention the tireless consistency.
A. Flat work has always been common in high-rise buildings. The difference now is that engineers are specifying flatter, level floors to accommodate higher-end finishes and systems. The biggest challenge for high-rise concrete decks is to try to place high-quality floors and get good FL and FF numbers. To achieve these on the structural deck, instead of pouring the floor slab on the ramp, many factors need to be considered, but this is usually solved by adding additional manpower. Even so, the number that can be achieved is limited.
Traditionally, designers specify lower tolerances because higher numbers cannot be achieved. We see more and more customers call us because their work requires higher standards than normal projects. For example, CG Schmidt in Milwaukee, Wisconsin needs to achieve a minimum of FL 25, which is high for structural concrete decks. They purchased our Sky Screed 36® and have been achieving their numbers, actually reaching FL 50 on one of their decks.
The two biggest challenges in using SkyScreed® are access to the crane to move the machine and penetrations that need to be lowered, and in some cases, ironing is allowed on them. So far, every contractor we have dealt with has met these challenges.
Somero Enterprises Inc.A. Concrete transportation is more challenging and requires pumping and buckets. In addition, removing unacceptable concrete is usually not an option compared to working on the ground. The wind can close the tower crane during work, thereby placing the finishing equipment on the board.
Using SkyScreed® on structural decks allows customers to utilize laser guidance technology instead of wet pads, thereby increasing productivity and quality. In addition, working more safely is a major theme in the mission statement of any quality contractor company. For example, the ability to only smooth out existing concrete beams instead of placing them manually may create dangerous situations (stepping on or tripping).
A: Once the general contractor realizes that they will have higher quality and zero-cost floors, they seem to be very proactive in letting us touch the crane and lower the penetrations. The biggest safety issue is that we are removing some people from the pouring, which in itself makes the whole pouring safer. By using machines such as SkyScreed®, contractors can reduce workplace injuries such as back strains, knee injuries, and concrete burns.
Post time: Sep-03-2021