How to Lay Rebar for a Garage

Place a 1/2-inch rebar stake 10 inches long into the ground 4 inches from the perimeter of the form at each corner of the garage slab. Drive the stake into the ground 2 inches into the soil with a hammer.

Measure 4 feet from the stake along the perimeter and place another stake into the ground. Set a 2-by-4-inch plank across the adjacent stakes and put a carpenter’s level onto the plank to make certain the stakes are level with each other. Adjust the depth of the stake to level it out, and then continue along the perimeter, placing a new stake every 4 feet and leveling it out with the previous one. Continue placing the stakes until the entire perimeter has one every 4 feet.

Attach two lines of 1/2-inch rebar to the stakes surrounding the perimeter. Use 90-degree bent rebar at the bolts in the corners. Place the first line of rebar about 2 inches from the base of the stakes. Tie the rebar to each stake, using tie wire and a tie wire tool to twist the metal wire around the rebar and the stakes. Tie straight rebar to the curved pieces to run the majority of the edge around the perimeter. Overlap the ends of the straight and curved rebar about 6 inches and tie the ends together around the overlapping pieces. This bottom line should sit within the footing section of the garage floor slab. Set the second line of rebar about 4 to 6 inches from the base of the stakes so that they’re situated at the halfway height of the garage slab, to sit in the center of the slab once poured.

Cut the rebar as needed to fit with a reciprocating saw containing a metal-cutting blade.

Lay straight rebar pieces running the length of the garage base between stakes on each side of the perimeter, making a straight line of rebar every 4 feet. Repeat the process along the width of the garage base with more straight rebar pieces. Tie the ends of the rebar to the rebar stakes with the metal ties, and then tie the overlapping junctions of the bars together to create a grid of rebar throughout the garage base.

Place 2- to 4-inch-square concrete blocks beneath the crossed points of rebar to raise the bars from the ground to make them easier to position when pouring the slab. Choose the size of the concrete blocks based on the proposed height of the grid within the slab, raising the grid to the needed height by choosing a block that’s tall enough to force the bars to reach that height.