When installed properly, concrete is one of the most durable and long-lasting products you can use around your place of business or your home. It’s important to note that we follow well-established guidelines with respect to concrete placement. Durable, high strength, and crack resistant concrete slabs or driveways don’t happen by accident.
Still, concrete is subject to cracking, and as a property owner, you may wonder why it happens. Here’s six reasons concrete cracks.
Excess water in the mix:
Concrete does not require much water to achieve maximum strength. However, a wide variety of concrete used in commercial or residential work has an excess of water in it. The soupier the concrete mix, the greater the shrinkage. Concrete can shrink as much as ½ inch per 100 feet. This type of shrinkage causes forcesin the concrete which literally pull the slab apart, and cracking is the end result.
Rapid drying of the concrete:
If your newly poured concrete dries too quickly, the risk of cracking increases significantly. The chemical reaction, which causes concrete to go from the liquid or plastic state to a solid state, requires water. This chemical reaction, or hydration, continues to occur for days and weeks after you pour the concrete.
Lack of control joints:
Control joints help the concrete crack where we want it to. We ensure the joints are of the depth of the slab and no more than 2-3 times (in feet) the thickness of the concrete (in inches). For example: 4” concrete should have joints 8-12’ apart.
Never pour on frozen ground:
We never pour concrete on frozen ground. Since the subgrade must be prepared according to the soil conditions, pouring on frozen ground is one way to ensure problems will happen. In Toledo, Ohio, frozen ground is inevitable. The season can be short, or it can be long.
Load limits:
Concrete is designed to take a certain load. Most sidewalks and residential driveways are designed to take the weight of a car or small truck. However, if the job we are doing is in an industrial setting, then the load limit is much higher, and the slab we pour will be engineered to take your heaviest load.
Settlement cracks:
A settlement crack occurs when the ground under the concrete shifts. This could be the result of poorly compacted soil, the wrong kind of soil, water erosion, or tree roots. While we cannot predict what tree roots will do, we will ensure that the soil is compacted properly, that we’ve investigated and know the composition of your soil and pour accordingly.
Ensuring your concrete is resistant to cracking is fundamentally important for many reasons. In a previous article, ‘Five Hazards of Cracked Concrete’, we pointed out what can go wrong and why you want to ensure cracking is kept to a minimum.
Our commitment to quality takes all conditions into consideration prior to pouring your concrete. Load limits, proper water ratio, andcontrol joints – all of these problems can be avoided when you choose to work with E & K Contractors on your next project. Give us a call, and we will send our professionals out to assess your job and provide you with an accurate estimate.
It’s good to know that if you put too much water in the mix it can actually make the concrete break and crack. My dad and I are trying to redo our driveway with concrete because the asphalt is getting old. I’ll let him know about your article so that we can make a decision on how to move forward with this project.
I appreciate what you said about concrete cracking if there’s excess water in the mix. My sister wants to get some concrete work done, and she wants to make sure that it stays in good shape. I’ll share this information with her so that she can look further into her options for professionals that can mix and pump it properly.
I want to make sure that I get some concrete installed properly. I can see how installing it on the wrong kind of surface could cause cracks. It might be a good idea for me to get a professional to help me out with this! They would be able to ensure that I put it on the right kind of surface.
It makes a lot of sense to never pour the concrete on the frozen ground because that would ruin it. My brother is trying to get in touch with a local contractor this month. He wants to get all the concrete around his property fixed up properly so it looks nice again.
I’m glad that you mentioned that things like water erosion could cause the concrete to form cracks. It’s been pretty rainy and snowy in my area lately, so it’s definitely possible for some erosion to take place. I should keep an eye out for some cracks that may form in my driveway this winter and see if I can get someone to repair or replace them if I find some.
It makes sense to never pour the concrete on the frozen ground because it won’t adhere properly. My brother is trying to get a new parking lot in the next few months. He wants to make sure it looks great for customers and employees that are coming in.
There are several reasons why concrete cracks, The facts that have been discussed here are really important. Thank you so much for sharing a great post.
Plastic Shrinkage Cracks Probably the single most common reason for early cracks in concrete is plastic shrinkage. Good article with an excellent way of presentation. Keep it up. Thanks for sharing.
It really helped when you mentioned how if the concrete mix has too much water on it, it could cause cracks in it in the end. Last week, I noticed a crack in my driveway. I spoke to my wife about it, and she was definitely not happy to hear that. We want to repair it as soon as possible because we want to put our house on the market, and we think this might decrease its value. We’ll be looking for a concrete contractor soon, and we’ll be sure to ask him how to avoid the concrete to crack. Thanks for your information about what to avoid when placing concrete to increase its lifespan.
It really helped when you mentioned how if the concrete mix has too much water on it, it could cause cracks in it in the end. Last week, I noticed a crack in my driveway. I spoke to my wife about it, and she was definitely not happy to hear that. We want to repair it as soon as possible because we want to put our house on the market, and we think this might decrease its value. We’ll be looking for a concrete contractor soon, and we’ll be sure to ask him how to avoid the concrete to crack. Thanks for your information about what to avoid when placing concrete to increase its lifespan.
It really helped when you mentioned how if the concrete mix has too much water on it, it could cause cracks in it in the end. Last week, I noticed a crack in my driveway. I spoke to my wife about it, and she was definitely not happy to hear that. We want to repair it as soon as possible because we want to put our house on the market, and we think this might decrease its value. We’ll be looking for a concrete contractor soon, and we’ll be sure to ask him how to avoid the concrete to crack. Thanks for your information about what to avoid when placing concrete to increase its lifespan.
It really helped when you mentioned how if the concrete mix has too much water on it, it could cause cracks in it in the end. Last week, I noticed a crack in my driveway. I spoke to my wife about it, and she was definitely not happy to hear that. We want to repair it as soon as possible because we want to put our house on the market, and we think this might decrease its value. We’ll be looking for a concrete contractor soon, and we’ll be sure to ask him how to avoid the concrete to crack. Thanks for your information about what to avoid when placing concrete to increase its lifespan.
It really helped when you mentioned how if the concrete mix has too much water on it, it could cause cracks in it in the end. Last week, I noticed a crack in my driveway. I spoke to my wife about it, and she was definitely not happy to hear that. We want to repair it as soon as possible because we want to put our house on the market, and we think this might decrease its value. We’ll be looking for a concrete contractor soon, and we’ll be sure to ask him how to avoid the concrete to crack. Thanks for your information about what to avoid when placing concrete to increase its lifespan.
It really helped when you mentioned how if the concrete mix has too much water on it, it could cause cracks in it in the end. Last week, I noticed a crack in my driveway. I spoke to my wife about it, and she was definitely not happy to hear that. We want to repair it as soon as possible because we want to put our house on the market, and we think this might decrease its value. We’ll be looking for a concrete contractor soon, and we’ll be sure to ask him how to avoid the concrete to crack. Thanks for your information about what to avoid when placing concrete to increase its lifespan.
It really helped when you mentioned how if the concrete mix has too much water on it, it could cause cracks in it in the end. Last week, I noticed a crack in my driveway. I spoke to my wife about it, and she was definitely not happy to hear that. We want to repair it as soon as possible because we want to put our house on the market, and we think this might decrease its value. We’ll be looking for a concrete contractor soon, and we’ll be sure to ask him how to avoid the concrete to crack. Thanks for your information about what to avoid when placing concrete to increase its lifespan.
It really helped when you mentioned how if the concrete mix has too much water on it, it could cause cracks in it in the end. Last week, I noticed a crack in my driveway. I spoke to my wife about it, and she was definitely not happy to hear that. We want to repair it as soon as possible because we want to put our house on the market, and we think this might decrease its value. We’ll be looking for a concrete contractor soon, and we’ll be sure to ask him how to avoid the concrete to crack. Thanks for your information about what to avoid when placing concrete to increase its lifespan.
Thanks for the concrete pouring tips. I didn’t realize that you shouldn’t pour on frozen ground. I’ll make sure to wait until summer before I hire a residential concrete pumping service.