Bon Tool Anti-Crack Concrete Fibers

I used 3 pounds of fiber in this concrete table and no cracks. It's been 5 years and I can't even see any small cracks.

Putting in a new concrete floor in my garage...price difference at the store for bag of concrete with and without fiberglass reinforcement is about $2 each. A bag of these concrete fibers costs $15 or so and contains enough for sixty 60 pound bags of concrete. That's a huge savings and the fibers are way easier to deal with than mesh or rebar (neither is "required" for unheated garage floors).I used a scale to measure out 1/3 oz of fibers for each bag of concrete...that means each 1lb bag of fibers reinforced 48 bags of concrete. Did 12 at a time, put them in small plastic cups and just grabbed one cup at a time as each bag got mixed. Added water to my running cement mixer, added the fibers, then added the concrete. The fibers mixed evenly and don't show in the finished product.

Great product even though I screwed up my self-leveling cement with it.I thought I’d be able to strengthen the self leveling cement I was using with this. However, as soon as I added it, and it dispersed in the cement mixture, it sucked up a significant portion of the water from the previously free-flowing cement mixture and caused the whole thing to clump up—which prevented the self leveling cement from flowing freely and leveling itself. I had to remove everything before it could set. That said, I could tell it did what it was supposed to do: it dispersed very, very well in the cement mixture; the fiber strands interlocked and even with the wet self leveling cement, the strands held to each other and to the cement; it clearly would have created a much stronger structure to the cement than without it. I just wished I had known to add a bit more water to the mixture to compensate for the water absorbed by the fibers.The fiber came in a small, very light bag, but just half the bag was enough to disperse very well in the 50 pound bag of self leveling cement I was using.The bag was labeled with the Owens Corning brand.

This product significantly reduced plastic cracking on stucco base coat. It is difficult to get it mixed properly. I had the best luck pre-mixing it in a jug of water. It expands significantly when added to water. I measured it using a gram scale for individual bags of cement - 8.4gm per 80lb bag.

This Bon product is actually a bag of Owens Corning Anti-Crak HD (High Dispersion).According to the Owens Corning product sheet, "These fibres are designed to be used with normal concrete mixes at very low addition levels – typically 0.6kg/m3 (1lb/yd3) of concrete. Added directly to the mixer or ready mix truck, they disperse instantly within the concrete. This complete uniform dispersion ensures a three dimensional reinforcement throughout the matrix and thus an effective suppression of cracking during the plastic shrinkage period. The large number of filaments gives a very small distance between fibres whilst the high aspect ratio gives maximum effect in the setting period."Technical details:Product form: Monofilament as a result of dispersal of fibres bundles on contact with moistureNumbers of fibres: >100 million/lbAspect Ratio: 857:1Specific surface area: 518 ft2/lbTypical addition rate: 1 lb/yd3 of concrete

It’s best to mix the cement to your liked consistency then mix the fibers in, it added to dry cement mix it’s difficult to mix by hand. I tried wetting the fibers first then mix and this caused the fibers to clump up together. Best results for HAND mixed is to mix the cement and mortar first with needed water then add fibers, mix, add more fibers and mix more. Best consistency achieved this way for mixing manually.

I make small cement items such as alligators and stones. The stone molds that I use simulate natural stone and parts of the mold are thin. I am concerned with the possibility of the stone edges breaking off. I don't worry anymore when using these fibers. I have had great results and stress tests on the stones have proven the usefulness of this additive. Keep in mind...a little goes a long way. Use sparingly for best results.

I've heard a lb. of fiber per yard but doesn't seem like much if these bags truly have 1 lb. of fiber in them. Mixed a yard by hand for small pour and only put a small pinch in each batch. Going back to rebar on the next pour. Not sold on this idea.