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My house is currently being constructed. It is a 20x60 foot plot. The boundary walls on the left and right sides are 4 inches thick. The beam on the right side 4-inch wall has been constructed. Now all the cross beams from left to right wall will have a joint with the already constructed beam on the right side wall. There are seven beams across the plot that are going to be constructed from left wall to right wall.

Will it diminish the strength of the house?

Is there any technique to fix the cross beams with the right wall beam so that there is no joint between the right wall beam and cross beams?

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    Can you post some pictures? Apr 3, 2013 at 17:13
  • It sounds like they poured the right beam, let it dry, then poured the cross-beams: is that correct? Did they add any reinforcement to the concrete, like rebar?
    – Niall C.
    Apr 3, 2013 at 17:44
  • no they have not poured the cross beams till now and yes reinforcement is added. Apr 3, 2013 at 17:54
  • How long did they leave between pouring the different beams?
    – John
    Apr 4, 2013 at 22:51

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Yes, it is weakened. The allowable shear stress at a cold joint is greatly reduced from monolithically poured concrete. However, concrete is not that great in shear strength anyway, the reinforcing helps greatly in supporting the beam end. Is the rebar and reduced bond strength enough? Only the beam designer can say for sure. I don't like it, the beam end is the very worst place for a cold joint, but I'm not the designer. It may be OK though not ideal, or it may be a huge problem.

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