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My neighbor in Tucson told me to pour a 6 inch slab for my 10x12 studio, and he was wrong
When I started planning my backyard studio in Tucson, my neighbor Ray (who poured his own shop slab years back) swore I needed 6 inches of concrete in case I ever put a car lift in there. I went with 4 inches and rebar on 16 inch centers instead, which cost me about $700 less on the pour. Two summers later the slab has zero cracks and my 800 pound table saw sits on it fine. Ray keeps saying I got lucky with the soil, but his own 6 inch slab has a hairline crack running through it. Did anyone here go thicker than they needed and regret the extra money?
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aaronfox2d ago
Man, the thing nobody ever brings up in these slab debates is drainage and how much water sits under there after monsoon season. A 6 inch slab holds a lot more heat mass than a 4 inch one, so in Tucson you're basically pouring a giant thermal battery that keeps baking your studio floor well into the night. Ray probably spent extra money to make his shop hotter, not stronger. My old man poured extra thick in Phoenix and the only thing it ever did was make the whole garage feel like an oven by July. Did you do anything for vapor barrier or gravel under yours, or just pour right on the dirt?
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