Help & Advice

Polarwall is the only insulating formwork which can accept welded wire mesh reinforcement. The use of welded wire mesh can save significant amounts of site time in the tying of the steel. Typically a basement wall or retaining wall may have two layers of a 393 welded wire mesh reinforcement within the wall.  

The mesh reinforcement is usually fastened to an L bar which has been cast into the raft and fastened to the raft reinforcement. 

Structural engineers tend to like the use of welded wire mesh as it goes some way to removing builder error from the steel tying. 

When building above ground,  steel reinforcement is not usually required except above the openings where it is used to create in-situ concrete lintels. 

The reinforcement specification is set by the projects structural engineer who will base it upon opening spans and the loads being supported.  

Getting a good structural engineer on your project is important, as he can save you significant amounts of money and time compared with a bad structural engineer.  The bad engineer will over-specify the steel reinforcement either as a matter of habit or perhaps because they are unfamiliar with the builder. 

Polarwall are always happy to recommend a structural engineer for a particular project.