Why use honeycomb slab in your work? Complete guide to your work

Do you know that the slab it's one of the main elements of a construction, isn't it? But do you know everything about the alveolar slab? If you already know this option that is growing in the construction market and you want to understand more about it or if you've never heard of it, this article is for you!

Here, we have collected several important information about honeycomb slabs, which are an important alternative to traditional slab execution methods. It provides several benefits that are not found in traditional slabs and that is what we are going to show in this article.

When we talk about civil construction, we have to consider that there are always new technologies coming to facilitate work processes and improve the quality of the final results of the works. The honeycomb slab is one of them, and is suitable for expediting the execution of a work since this stage can take a long time and, by using it, it is possible to reduce its delivery time, which is very attractive.

Thinking about the advantages and characteristics of the honeycomb slab, we produced this content with relevant information on the subject. Here, you will understand what a honeycomb slab is, why to use it, what are its advantages and disadvantages, what is its price, its size and, finally, you will learn about the best release agent for honeycomb slab. Do you want to know all this? Just come with me!

What is an alveolar slab?

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Before we begin to understand the characteristics of honeycomb slabs, you need to be clear in your mind what it consists of Alveolar slab, that is, what is its definition. This topic is for that.

Alveolar slabs are prefabricated prestressed concrete panels, produced with high-performance concrete, ensuring good resistance. They receive this name because they have several sockets along their entire length, which are longitudinal openings responsible for reducing the weight of the part.

The height of these panels ranges from 9 to 30 centimeters depending on the manufacturer, and their width is fixed at 124.5 centimeters. Thus, they are ideal for places with high usage loads, such as parking lots, warehouses, malls, hypermarkets and schools.

Because it is a prefabricated structure, the honeycomb slab has several benefits, such as speed of execution, greater quality control, greater resistance and the elimination of some characteristic steps in the construction process. But rest assured, as I will talk about this later in detail.

Why use honeycomb slab?

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Now it's time for you to understand why you use honeycomb slab in your work. In fact, using honeycomb slabs has several benefits and advantages, such as speed in the execution of the work, standardization of the panels since they are industrially manufactured, sustainability, simplified transport and storage, elimination of framing, and the possibility of reaching large spans.

But, like any material, honeycomb slabs also have their negative points. Therefore, although they present interesting advantages for a work, their disadvantages must be considered and weighed to assess whether it really is a good option to meet your needs.

Em specific cases, such as parking lots, for example, honeycomb slabs are highly recommended because of their specific characteristics. Therefore, it is worth analyzing the project to understand whether the honeycomb slab will work in your case.

In the next topics, we will talk more specifically about the advantages and disadvantages of the honeycomb slab, but remember that, more important than knowing them, you need to understand the demand of your project, okay?

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What are its advantages?

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In this topic, we will understand what are the pluses that honeycomb slabs can provide for your work. I've already mentioned some of them, but keep reading to understand details about them. We can mention the following benefits:

Standardization: because it is an industrialized product, quality control is much greater during its production process, which is reflected in the final result of the work, offering more safety.
Transportation and Storage: they are simpler and their arrival at the construction site can be planned, which reduces space occupancy at the construction site.
Agility: because they are a prefabricated element, honeycomb slabs reduce the delivery time of the work, as it is possible to optimize the entire process.
Eliminates framing: the honeycomb slab eliminates this stage of the work, reducing costs and generating more savings.
Possibility to reach large openings: the honeycomb slab allows this type of construction and can reach spans of up to 20 meters.
Sustainability: honeycomb slabs require less concrete volume than solid slabs of the same thickness, generating less waste.

Did you just see how honeycomb slabs can be a very interesting option for your work? Once you understand the advantages, you now need to know your disadvantages.

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And drawbacks?

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Regarding the disadvantages that honeycomb slabs can offer, we can mention:

Storage of slabs: honeycomb slabs need to be stored properly and should not be stored for more than 15 days.
Concreting: despite being prefabricated parts, on-site concreting is not dispensed with, and even a reinforcement center or welded screens ready for reinforcement are dispensed with.
Equipment: because they are large pieces, equipment is needed to hoist them and place them in the desired place.
Deadlines: it is important to plan the work well so that the day the pieces arrive at the construction site, they are already used.
Supplier: make sure that there is a supplier of hollow core slabs near your construction site, because if there isn't one, it can become a very expensive business to transport the parts.

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How much does a honeycomb slab cost?

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That's not a very easy question to answer, because it depends. The price of a honeycomb slab depends on the region, how much you will use, the manufacturer, and other factors. Therefore, it is difficult to give a specific value to honeycomb slabs.

What is important to emphasize about this is in relation to the budget that must be made with several suppliers in order for you to get a fair price for the parts. Also, you can't forget to include the value of labor in the final cost, okay?

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What is the size of the alveolar slab?

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As we said at the beginning of this article, the height of the panels can vary from 9 to 30 centimeters, depending on the manufacturer. Therefore, there are pieces of various heights, which you need to consider when choosing your supplier to certify that they have the part with the height you need.

The width of the panels, on the other hand, is fixed, being 124.5 centimeters.

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What is the best mold release agent for honeycomb slab?

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If you are manufacturer of honeycomb slabs, you need a good release agent to ensure a better finish for the pieces and to preserve the shapes so that they can be reused several times.

With that in mind, Blok developed the best concrete release agents of the market for forms of metal, wood, plastic, concrete on concrete and precast tracks. They are: BlokForma Woods, BlokForma Metals, BlokForma Plastics and BlokForma Pasta.

All of them are very high performance release agents that facilitate the demoulding and reuse of shapes, ideal for use in honeycomb slabs.

If you want to know more about these products or other solutions for your work, talk to the Blok team. I am sure that, in this way, you will leave your works with much more quality and safety, adding more value to them.

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Conclusion

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Alveolar slabs are very interesting and offer enormous advantages for a project, don't they? Now that you have understood everything about them, it is possible to assess whether they are worth using in your endeavors.

And remember: if you need mold release agents, be sure to talk to the team at Blok to learn about this and so many other solutions we have for civil construction. Stay tuned in our next articles to learn more about this growing market! See you later.