Identifying Problems

  First thing to do is to identify and understand your concrete problems

    In order to help identify concrete problems, it is important to understand a few basics about concrete. Many of the terms and / or description used are oversimplified to accommodate someone with little or no concrete experience. Only an experienced concrete contractor can confirm what your concrete needs are, but hopefully this section will provide you with the basic information needed to help you find the right direction.

    Although some concrete problems can be contributed to nature, most concrete failures can be traced back to errors made during or prior to the concrete being installed. We have included a list of items, common concrete terms and problems to help you in identifying your needs.

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    Before we start attempting to identify your concrete problems… I would like to give you a quick rundown on Concrete itself… if you have no previous knowledge about concrete this may help you further understand what is happening to yours…

    Oversimplified, concrete is a mixture of rock, sand and cement. When mixed with water the mixture can be placed into forms and when properly finished and maintained will give years of service. During the time period between when concrete is mixed and when the concrete is cured, the materials go thru a series of changes. The most noticeable change is that the concrete hydrates (dries). During the hydration process, the concrete actually becomes denser as the water from the mix is forced out. As the material becomes denser, it also shrinks. Too much water in the mix causes the concrete to shrink excessively. It will also cause the concrete to lose its strength and elasticity, causing it to become brittle.

Joints…

    A joint is basically a controlled crack in the concrete. There are mainly two kinds of joints that are placed in concrete. One would be an expansion joint and the other would be a control joint. It is always a good idea to caulk or seal all joints regardless of the type. Water that gets into the joint can cause concrete settling and if the water freezes, it could heave or damage the concrete.

Expansion Joint…

    An expansion joint is designed to allow the concrete to properly expand and contract during the seasonal cycles without creating a bind. An expansion joint can be identified because it usually contains a piece of expansion material such as asphalt board, plastic or wood. Without properly placed expansion joints the concrete has no room to expand and typically will crack to relieve the created stress.

Control Joint… 

    A control joint is a joint that is placed in the concrete to create a flaw and relieve stress points. A control joint can be tooled in while finishing the concrete, or can be saw-cut in later.  Control joints additionally allow the concrete to shrink during the hydrating process. The only problem with saw cutting the control joints is that the sawed joint cannot be placed until the concrete has already substantially dried leaving no place to direct shrinkage. This may be too late to prevent unsightly shrinkage cracks. A tooled joint being already in place gives the shrinking concrete a given path to crack in and if properly placed prevents noticeable shrinkage cracks. Without proper control joints concrete will have shrinkage cracks.

Settling…

    Although settling may occur for many reasons, most settling is a direct result from ground movement and /or improper compaction prior to pouring the concrete. Concrete settling may result in dangerous trip hazards and spoil an otherwise sound concrete structure. Most settling can be easily repaired by mudjacking. link to Mudjack page

Heaving… 

Heaving can occur when the soil expands and lifts the concrete from its desired position. This could be do to unexpanded clays getting wet and expanding, or wet soil freezing. Another common cause of heaving is a tree that is located too close to concrete paving. The roots grow under the concrete and as they grow larger, the concrete is lifted out of its original position. Heaved concrete can often be repaired by mudjacking the concrete around the area that has heaved. link to Mudjack page  In some cases where the surrounding concrete cannot be lifted, the heaved concrete can be ground down to match the adjacent concrete.

    There are many reasons why concrete cracks. Problems ranging from unstable soils to improper finishing are just a few. So many factors come into play that sometimes it is not obvious what the actual cause is, but sometimes the first step is to try and identify the cause. Below is a brief description of the most common types of cracks. Hopefully this will assist you in identifying yours.

Structural cracks…

    Structural cracks can be described a failure in the intended design of a concrete structure. A structural crack will typically cause other problems. Although there could be many reasons why concrete could have a structural crack, most can be contributed to something happening that was not originally anticipated, such as settling or soil expansion. Structural cracks can often be filled or epoxy repaired, but without relieving the stress or solving the structural problem, it is likely that the concrete will fail again. Link to Repairs

Shrinkage cracks…

    Shrinkage cracks are a natural occurrence in concrete. As the concrete dries and the water hydrates out the concrete becomes denser and smaller. As the concrete shrinks, it will be forced to gap. If control joints have been placed properly the concrete will use these joints as its crack points, eliminating unsightly random shrink cracks. Shrinkage cracks can typically be filled or epoxied.  As long as there are proper control and expansion joints, this type of repair is typically permanent. Link to Repairs

Craze cracking…                                

    Craze cracking is a phenomena caused by the concrete installer trowelling the bleed water back into the surface of the concrete. This results in the concrete surface containing much more water than normal. When the concrete hydrates the surface will shrink much more than normal creating a spider web effect of tiny cracks on the surface of the concrete. These small cracks often later result in delamination of the concrete surface. An acrylic overlay will fill already delaminated places and prevent further delamination as the acrylic surface is not porous like the concrete and not only fills and bonds the craze cracking, but additionally blocks out any water that could do further damage. Link to Overlays

Delaminating…