Anchoring into slabs

[James nonstuff]

I'm using a pile of concrete slabs as the foundation pads for a garden-office. I'm wanTing to tie the timber structure into them probably using threaded bar. What's the best way of gluing the metal into the slabs? There seems to be a whole world if resin/epoxy things on the market. I'm open to other methods if you have a better idea.

Thanks

James

 

[theprinceofdarkness]

Are you using a quantity of concrete slabs with mortar in between them to give you a block say 12" thick? Or are you just using a single concrete slab (in many places) as your foundation pads? Also the "quality" of the concrete can be anything from as crisp as a bit of Ryvita to as hard as granite.
Are your fixed-in studs taking the weight or just to stop the office from blowing about? if it the latter, just use brackets and screws into plastic plugs.
Frank

 

[James nonstuff]

I've got varying sized piles from 3 deep to 7 deep depending on the ground level. They're just placed one on top of the other, sometimes with a bit of sand in between. I was imagining drilling through the pile and glueing a bar through the the stack with a few inches sticking out the top.

 

[freddiemercurystwin]

Are you afraid of somebody stealing your garden office?

 

[noseall]

I was imagining drilling through the pile and glueing a bar through the the stack with a few inches sticking out the top.

I'm imagining the first slab splitting and breaking. I'm also seeing the slabs shift about (if you do somehow manage to get a successful hole drilled) with the proposed neat hole becoming a staggered mess.
A better/sensible idea would be to use mixed concrete and fix the threaded bar whilst the concrete is still wet.
My take on it would be to fit a galv' angle plate to the concrete pad once the base timbers are in place and fix to that.
Starting the whole thing off on pads of crappy old slabs bedded on sand, is a pants idea.

 

[theprinceofdarkness]

Just using loose slabs without mortar will be a disaster. If you apply a load to the top one it will transmit this force to the one underneath. The problem is that the actual mating surfaces could be the size of a pin head. So the pressure will be enough to crack the slab. This is why mortar is used between bricks, it makes sure that the force is spread from right across the bottom face of one to right across the upper face of the underneath one.
Frank

 

[noseall]

it makes sure that the force is spread Frank

Spoken like a true Jedi.

 

[bernardgreen]

Is it really necessary to bolt the office to the foundations ? Almost certainly the weight will hold it in place ( unless the location is exposed to severe gale force winds ).

Fixing the building to the piles means that any ground movement

I've got varying sized piles from 3 deep to 7 deep depending on the ground level.

will exert a strain on the building's structure.