How to pour a concrete pad

[jparadise]

Well for those of you that read my prevoius topic "How to sink a tub in a deck", plans have changed and now I am going to just repair the skirt on the tub and sit it on a slab instead of putting it in a  deck.  The deck may come in the future, but my wife wants us to use the tub for a year or so and if we end up getting a lot of use out of it we will buy a new one next year and scrap this older one.  Than we can build a nice deck.  So with that being said I need some help on pouring this pad.

I have already excavated and am going to form it up with 2x6's and build it 8x8' square which will allow room for a slightly bigger spa in the future.   Im going to rent a mixer and mix and pour it myself.  So I have a couple questions:
1.  What type of aggregate base should I use?  Sand, pea gravel, etc.
2.  How thick should the agg base be?  I was thinking 2" aggregate with 4" of concrete
3.  What size rebar?
4.  How spread out does the rebar need to be?  Every 2' feet?

Ive read that its good to cover the cocnrete with plastic to let it cure.  Is this nescessary?  If so, how long does it need to be covered

[jparadise]

I also read that the rebar needs to be bonded.  What is the best way to do this?

[jparadise]

Also, rebar or remesh?

[raysdad]

We used 1/2" rebar spaced 23" set on concrete rebar spacers in for a 10 x 10 6" thick slab of concrete with a 2" base of gravel for my neighbors spa.  That gave him a narrow concrete walk all around the spa when it was centered.  We also ran his electrical in 1 1/2" conduit under the slab.  Best to check your local building codes before you start.  In after thought he wished he poured a wider pad to give a wider path around the spa, 12" is pretty narrow (now is not the time to skimp on walkway width).  Good luck on your project.

[96SC]

Rebar:   
When the folks who poured our pad dug the area for the pad/patio I noticed they did not include rebar.  I questioned them about it and they said they were using a cement that has fibers mixed in with the cement that makes rebar unnecessary (at least for the size of pad/patio we wanted, 20 x20).  I was skeptical, so I looked after they poured it and you could see what appreared to be pieces of fiber glass in the cement.  After 6 years we haven't had any issues with the pad/patio. Maybe this is will work in the SE but not other parts of the country where there are extremes of weather.

[jparadise]

Thanks for the tips, but once again the plans have changed...I'll post another topic!