how do i determine if a footing is reinforced

huangyhg

how do i determine if a footing is reinforced?
hi - i'm doing an inspection on an existing house for which there are no building plans.  the foundation consists of cmu piers resting on a concrete footing that is 2' wide by 6" to possibly 8" deep (approx.). is there any way to tell if the footing has rebar in it?
thanks for your help!
i use a small electronic hand-held rebar detector for tilt-up panels a lot.  probably will not work too well though as it only detects rebar 2 to 3" from the meter face.  depending on the depth of the rebar in the footing, it may or may not work.  it only tells the location of the bar, not the size or depth from the meter.  mine is 15 years old though.  maybe they ghave more sophisticated ones now.
   
mike mccann
mmc engineering
hilti ferroscan.  you can hire them.
before you spend the money to find out if there is rebar and where it is, is it really going to make any difference in your analysis?
i have dealt in the past with a few situations like yours, i.e. adding floor area, or even entire floors to existing buildings, both wood frame and brick. once the contractors have started work and foundation work, we have realized that there were no reinforcing bars neither on the footings, nor on foundation walls. i am talking about houses in the usa's midwest.
i have never relied on existing footings for additions or changes of occupancy.
my 2 cents
best regards,
chicago, rarebug
thanks everyone for your replies, you've been very helpful!
also a pachometer, ground penetrating radar or x-ray...if you are still thinking about it.
pachometer is the cheapest