Cutting of Structural Cement Floor Rebar

If you have rebar in the floor, it was over engineered in the first place. The cutting of a single rebar will have virtually no effect on a large area unless you are planning to drive a truck down there or have an extremely heavy weight put on your floor. You should have nothing to worry about structurally.

Your biggest worry should be that:

• there is proper drainage under the piping, and
• he seals it properly to prevent moisture and gases from coming up through the floor.

Thank you so much for replying however it was not a single piece of rebar it was like 2 one way and 3 the other way in 2 spots. (Probably 3 feet by 1 1/2 in both spots) One for the toliet and one for the shower. Supposedley our floor is a floating cement floor (I think this is what you would say) where you can frame directly to the cement instead of leaving the gap normally used when you don't have a floating substructure. The reason I am concerned is because the inspector mentioned it while looking at the plumbing and he only saw one of the rebars were cut and I noticed more. He called and mentioned the one to their engineer guy and he said it was fine but I was wondering if there was more than one cut would that be more of a concern, not to mention the weight of the house? I might just be paranoid now but I don't want any trouble in the future. Thanks so much for your help as well.

If he cut all the bars say half the way across the floor, there would still be no problem as long as there is at least two undisturbed rebars all around the cut.

The floor does not hold up the house.

The house sits on the walls which sit on footings. I would only worry if it was close to a supporting post or wall.

The floor only has to support anything you put on it, seal out, water, and hazardous gases.

That will work for me. Thanks for the help and easing my mind. I will make sure the floor is sealed so gasses can't leak in. Thanks again for all your help. I sure do appreciate it.

If the basement floor was designed as a structural slab (and there is a purpose in doing so), you may have problem (if not now, in the future) if you cut the rebars.

Better consult with the Engineer who did the design before cutting more rebars. He must know what's the best for your situation.

However, if the structural floor had already been cut, it would be best to install additional reinforcements for the cut area (break more on surrounding concrete to exposed the existing rebars for connecting new) after repositioning the pipes, then pour same class of concrete. Applying concrete epoxy to the new joint before pouring the new concrete will create good bonding.

Hope this helps.