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What causes honeycomb in concrete?

Tuesday, July 27, 2021

Honeycomb is the hollow space in what should be solid concrete, so-called because of its loose resemblance to the honeycomb in a bee hive. It can be caused by inadequate vibration of the concrete after placement, low slump (lack of liquidity to allow the concrete to flow easily), an excessive amount of large aggregate in the mix, or spacing of reinforcing steel bars too close to the surrounding forms or each other. 

    Although it is usually only a cosmetic problem when seen at the exposed sides of the concrete, honeycomb can lead to spalling when it reduces the necessary thickness of the concrete covering over the steel reinforcing bars, allowing moisture to reach the steel and cause it to rust. See our article What is concrete spalling? for more on this.

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Here’s links to more of our blog posts about CONCRETE AND CONCRETE BLOCK:

• What is concrete shrinkage? 

How does concrete spalling cause structural failure if not repaired?

Why is the concrete window sill cracking?

What does concrete spalling look like? 

There's cracks running along the home's concrete tie beam. What's wrong? 

What is fiber reinforced concrete? 

How can I tell if cracks in the garage floor are a problem or not? 

How do I recognize serious structural problems in a house?

Why did so many concrete block homes collapse in Mexico Beach during Hurricane Michael? 

How can I tell if the concrete block walls of my house have vertical steel and concrete reinforcement?

• What is a "slab on grade" house?   

Why is there a "WARNING! POST-TENSION SLAB" sticker in my house?

How can I identify a home as ICF (Insulated Concrete Form) construction?

• How can I tell if cracks in the wall or floor are getting worse or staying the same?

Is efflorescence a serious problem? 

    Visit our CONCRETE AND CONCRETE BLOCK page for other related blog posts on this subject, or go to the INDEX for a complete listing of all our articles.  

Photo of concrete vibrating courtesy of www.icfhomes.com.

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