I've just cut several trenches (2-3 ft wide x 25 ft long) in my existing concrete slab to run plumbing. The slab was about 4in thick with wire mesh and a plastic barrier between the concrete and the wet clay like soil (home located in New Orleans). I also had to break up footings in a few locations as well. I used a concrete saw to score the trenches and then a jack hammer to break the concrete. Most of the trench edges have 1-2 inches of smooth saw cut with the rest of the edge jagged. The plumbing is done, and now I'm ready to repair the slab. I was planning to use a company that mixes short loads of concrete on site and then I would wheel barrow and poor the concrete. A few questions. Do I need to put wire mesh? Do I need to dowel into the existing slab or would adhesive painted on the edges be adequate? Do I add a plastic barrier over the PVC pipe/below the concrete. The plumber dug the trench out after I removed the concrete, placed the pipe, then back filled with the hard clay like soil (very clumpy). It appears like he mashed the clay like soil manually, but nothing else was done to compact it. It is pretty hard and doesn't move much when I stand on it. Is that ok or is it critical that this is compacted better? If so, any recommendation how without messing up all the plumbing slopes already installed. Thanks, Dan

I may be worrying about nothing, but I am finishing my basement and doing all the framing now. When I built my stud wall that runs parallel to my stairs, I guess I didn't give a whole lot of play with the stud height. I built my wall on the floor and then lifted into place. Needless to say it was very snug before I got the bottom plate into place. So I lined up the top plate and used a sledgehammer to move the bottom plate into place. It went in fine, but I had to give a few strong hits of the sledgehammer to get it into place. The studs aren't bowed, but it's very tight. It's only about a 5 1/2 ft. long wall. Will this cause any structural issues with the above floor? Maybe it is pushing up on the joist? It may be a dumb question, and like I said, I may be worrying about nothing, but I always worry about these little things after they are done!