Advantages
Advantages over wood or modular forms:
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Forms Easily: Stay-form easily
forms into multiple configurations to accommodate curves,
angles and unusual shapes. To make corner bends, ribs
are notched to a 90-degree angle by making two 45-degree
cuts, leaving the mesh between the ribs intact. By bending
the remaining mesh to the desired angle or radius, a
perfectly formed corner or shape is created. Tie wire
is utilized to hold the corner shape at the appropriate
angle. Curves form easily in a direction parallel to
the ribs. A full circle tube can be formed with Stay-form.
Such a wide variety of form shapes are possible that
it is impossible to describe all the flexibility this
product offers. Many more shapes are attainable using
Stay-form than by using other materials such as wood,
steel or plastic. Multiple sections of Stay-form can
be joined end to end with a 3-inch to 4-inch lap. End
laps should always be braced with a support. To accomplish
a side lap, overlap one or two ribs.
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Supporting Stay-form is Easy:
Utilizing the load
tables, the contractor can easily plan for support
spacing using readily available materials. This table
also provides information on pour rates and pressures
at various spacings.
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Excellent Support for Both Concrete
and Soil: In this application Stay-form’s greatest
attribute is its ability to support both the soil before
the pour and the concrete during the pour. This allows
the contractor to backfill the forms prior to the concrete
pour if desired, but this step is not required.
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Cuts to Size Easily: Stay-form
is packaged in five sheet bundles that are wire tied
together. Single or multiple lengths or pieces can be
cut utilizing a circular saw with an abrasive metal
cutting blade. Tin snips or metal shears are used to
notch small areas or ribs. Stay-form is manufactured
from high strength steel and can be formed into a variety
of shapes performing well in tight curves and bends.
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Easily Penetrated: Stay-form can
easily be snipped (sheared) or punched to accommodate
penetrations such as rebars, conduit, pipes, or dowels.
Often a sharpened length of rebar is employed for this
procedure.
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No Stripping Required: Stay-form
is a stay-in-place concrete form that requires no stripping.
This means that you can leave the pry bar in the truck.
Nothing is more labor intensive than prying plywood
out of tight corners after a concrete pour. Stay-form
provides not only a labor savings in stripping cost,
but also saves time and money that would be spent cleaning,
oiling, moving and storing the plywood forms. The cost
of form release agents is also saved.
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Concrete Placement and Consolidation
is Aided by Stay-form: Stay-form stays-in-place
and is never stripped, allowing the contractor to pour
concrete today and move on to other concrete operations
tomorrow. Since visual inspection of the pour is possible
with Stay-form the contractor can feel a greater degree
of confidence that no voids exist in the pour, avoiding
over vibration. With typical forms, voids are not visible
till the forms are stripped. At this point correction
is difficult and costly.
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Less Excavation is required: Stay-form
does not require stripping therefore the amount of excavation
and subsequent back filling required is greatly reduced.
This saves excavation cost. Stay-form allows air to
reach the back of the concrete sooner and promotes faster
set up and curing, allowing back filling to take place
sooner. This saves time and reduces equipment rental
costs.
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Saves Time and Money: All of the
above adds up to a savings of time and labor, which
translates into financial savings on every project.
The old adage rings true, "Time is money".
Customer Appreciation: We would appreciate
knowing how our contractors use Stay-form. If you have used
Stay-form in a unique or unusual concrete forming or shotcrete
application please send us your photos, drawings, written
descriptions or just phone us, so that we can share your
application ideas in a future publication.
Stay-form
will save you money on every project.
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Section: Installation Techniques >
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