Bolt-Down Tables On-Structure

[Sara Donohoe]

We have a courtyard design where a portion of the gathering space is on-structure (over top of a parking garage). The structural slab is 6″ below our paver surface and is supported by small pedestals.

We’d like to put out some cafe/bistro tables on this portion of the courtyard. The client has requested they be bolted in place. Any ideas of how to bolt in the tables into the concrete structural slab?

Thanks!

[toby]

You better find out if those slabs are pre/post stressed and if the cable cells are grout filled, or if the whole thing is just rebar’d.  Something might go bang in a really bad way if someone drills into the structural slab where they aren’t supposed to.

It might be better to pour a floating slab (think anchor weight) and attach to that.

 

 

 

[Jason T. Radice]

Agreed, messing with the slab when you don’t have to is the better way. You will need some sort of spacer which could be a could be a solid concrete block in the same dimension of the paver, and you simply glue a paver on top using masonry adhesive so it matches. Then glue the spacer block onto the slab using the same masonry adhesive (go for one of the really heavy duty ones), then you drill into that to surface mount the table. You could to the same thing by having a metal fabricator make a pedestal out of sheet steel and all-thread. Glue that down and bolt the table directly to that. Dril holes in the paver and drop it into place using the pedestal system slipping it over the all-thread for the table.

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