CONCRETE FOUNDATION MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS FOR BENDPAK LIFTS Contents 1.0 Overview 2.0 Pre-existing concrete foundation minimum requirements 3.0 New concrete foundation minimum requirements 4.0 Drilling in New and Pre-Existing Concrete 1.0 Overview a. BendPak strongly recommends consulting a Concrete Specialist early in your planning process for Lift installations. The recommendations presented in this document are generic in nature and cannot cover all situations. A Concrete Specialist will adjust these recommendations to account for national, state, and local building codes as well as local weather conditions, soil composition, base preparation, load bearing, seismic requirements, and any other structural concerns that may arise. b. Never drill or cut into a Post-Tension Concrete Foundation! Cutting a Post-Tensioned Cable can result in severe injury or death. Post-Tensioned Foundations are compressed by high-strength steel tendons after the concrete has cured. Pressures on the steel tendons can be quite high. A qualified technician is required to identify cable locations prior to cutting or drilling. Post-Tension Slabs in many homes are indicated by a warning stamped into ⚠ WARNING POST-TENSION SLAB DO NOT CUT OR CORE the concrete, often found near the garage door. Older structures may have a plastic or paper sign fastened to the wall. If there are no signs indicating a Post-Tension Slab, undertake a careful examination of the exterior of the slab looking for small circular patching areas about 1.5 in. to 3 in. in diameter, typically 2 to 4-feet apart. These patches indicate the ends of the Post-Tension Cables. Another source of information is your local department of Building and Safety. Building and Safety may retrieve the structure plans to determine if the building has a Post- Tensioned Slab. c. Pre-Existing Concrete Foundations — refer to Section 2.0 and Table 1 . Information in this section is presented to aid in determining the suitability of pre- existing concrete for BendPak Lift installations. d. New Concrete Foundations — refer to Section 3.0 and Tables 2 and 3 . Information in this section is presented as design recommendations for new concrete foundations for BendPak Lift installations. e. Drilling in Concrete — refer to Section 4.0 . Drilling accurate holes for Expansion Anchors in concrete is both critical and challenging. If the holes for the anchors are too big, the anchor will not expand correctly and ultimately will not embed in the hole with enough force to make a strong anchor. If the holes are too small, the anchor will be damaged as it is driven in and will not expand to embed correctly. If the hole is drilled at an angle, the bolt or nut head will not engage the Lifts’ base Plate with maximum holding power. Page 1 of 11 Oct. 31, 2023 Ver. 2 Rev. B
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