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hien.nguyenquoc
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What is Difference Between Concrete Slab, Pad, and Floor?

05/02/2011 5:13 AM

Could you explain me the difference of those things? I am not doing the translation of bidding but I want to have the explanation of the insiders rather than referring to dictionary.

Thanks,

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kramarat
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#1

Re: What is difference of concrete slab, concrete pad and concrete floor

05/02/2011 8:10 AM

I think I may have stumbled upon the site you need.

http://www.builders-directory.com.au/understanding-house-structure.shtml

Another http://pages.areaguides.com/ubuild/0Terms.htm

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hien.nguyenquoc
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#2
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Re: What is difference of concrete slab, concrete pad and concrete floor

05/02/2011 11:24 AM

Thank you Kramarat, I am enjoying reading it. If you don't mind, please teach me what is the thin layer of concrete beneath the foundation. I mean before people do the foundation work.

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kramarat
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#3
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Re: What is difference of concrete slab, concrete pad and concrete floor

05/02/2011 1:04 PM

http://www.vsl.net/Portals/0/vsl_techreports/PT_Foundations.pdf

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Doorman
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#4
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Re: What is difference of concrete slab, concrete pad and concrete floor

05/02/2011 1:15 PM

The thin layer of concrete beneath the foundation... the footing? Like so:

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ba/ael
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#5

Re: What is Difference Between Concrete Slab, Pad, and Floor?

05/02/2011 7:09 PM

A concrete slab is a structural member, usually of constant thickness which could be used as a floor or a roof. A slab-on-grade (or grade slab) is supported on the subsoil and is usually reinforced with reinforcing bars or welded wire mesh. In heavy industrial buildings, grade slabs may be quite thick and reinforced with top and bottom layers of reinforcement. In residential or light commercial buildings, grade slabs are usually 4" thick with nominal reinforcement.

A suspended slab (or structural slab) spans between supports and must be reinforced to resist bending moments calculated from statics based on the magnitude of load and span. There are one way slabs, two way slabs, waffle slabs, flat plates, flat slabs and many other slab types.

A floor is the surface we walk on. It can be a concrete slab, a wood deck or a steel grating. In a tall building, we speak of Main Floor, Second Floor, Third Floor, etc. Each is a level within the building. A floor is not a structural member. A floor slab is.

A pad has many definitions, but is not really a structural term. Some folks use the term pad to mean their apartment or their dwelling place as in "Come up to my pad and we'll have a beer". A pad is a soft cushion which is used to ease pressure, i.e. a knee pad is a soft piece of material placed under the knee when working on hands and knees on a hard surface. Knee pads make the job more comfortable.

Sometimes the word 'pad' is used with mechanical items like pumps. In the mechanical room of a building, the floor may be a concrete grade slab, but the mechanical engineer wants his pumps raised 4" above the floor, so he asks for a concrete pad under the pump. This would be similar to a footing except that it is poured on top of an existing slab and sometimes connected to it using steel dowels.

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RCE
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#6
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Re: What is Difference Between Concrete Slab, Pad, and Floor?

05/05/2011 12:40 PM

Actually the term pad is frequently applied in earthworks terminology to mean the subgrade foundation materials out to some extent beyond the perimeter of the structure. It is a building pad, the soil materials you build on. In many instances the pad is extended to approximately 5 to 10 feet beyond the perimeter of the proposed building, compacted and moisture conditioned to some standard, materials may be excavated and replaced with engineered fills, and the surface graded to maintain fall at the surface away from the building, prior to cutting in the footings.
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ba/ael
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#7
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Re: What is Difference Between Concrete Slab, Pad, and Floor?

05/07/2011 12:37 AM

RCE is correct. When I worked on the DEW Line back in 1955, we placed building modules on gravel pads. I had forgotten that...thanks RCE for reminding me. Actually the word pad can be used in a variety of different ways. For example, I was helping my wife out tonight and I removed some stuff adhering to the frying pan with a scouring pad.

Hockey goalies and baseball catchers wear pads for protection against fast moving pucks or balls. Executives pad their accounts. I'm padding this post. Various charities have sent me writing pads with my name emblazoned on the top. Pads are all over the place. It is not a structural definition. Join me at my pad for a beer. If you can come up with some other definitions of pads, you could be the lucky winner of a complimentary flight to Padagonia.

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ky
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#8
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Re: What is Difference Between Concrete Slab, Pad, and Floor?

05/20/2011 2:57 AM

Do you have paddy wagons in Canada? The ones that come and pick people up?

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ba/ael
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#9
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Re: What is Difference Between Concrete Slab, Pad, and Floor?

05/20/2011 11:25 AM

We have police vans which some people call paddywagons but I don't think they get used for that purpose very often.

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ky
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#10
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Re: What is Difference Between Concrete Slab, Pad, and Floor?

05/20/2011 7:10 PM

You mean use them as a slab?

A slab is another name for a box, carton of beer here so confusion is setting in. Pour a slab on a pad doesn't make no sense no more.

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Ken Berry Jr
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#11
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Re: What is Difference Between Concrete Slab, Pad, and Floor?

10/22/2017 2:33 PM

My Concrete Slab is under my Heat Pump.

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ba/ael (3); Doorman (1); hien.nguyenquoc (1); Ken Berry Jr (1); kramarat (2); ky (2); RCE (1)

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