cracks in concrete (1 Viewer)

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Eagle, ID
Do I need to do anything to them? Try to seal it or what? Thanks!
 
Does it have wire mesh or rebar in it? Driveway, sidewalk? There are products for sealing cracks, how bad is it cracked?
 
There are two types of concrete, the kind that's cracked and the kind that's gonna cracked.

Bigndn, where the fxxx is this concrete? kinda vague broski.
 
There are two types of concrete, the kind that's cracked and the kind that's gonna cracked.

There are two types of concrete workers - the kind that tell you it is going to crack and the kind that do it right... :p
 
I had a 25' by 30' slab poured a few years ago, the guys came back the next day and cut their stress lines in it and it's never cracked other than hairlines in those cuts.
 
yep, did everythign according to advice given
poly
2" insulation
rebar
3500 lb/squ in concrete
power trowelled

told no stress cracks needed

that was a year ago Oct

cracking all over the fawking place, not happy at all. fawk all i can do about it.

subscribed to see suggestions to original posters questions.
 
The place was built in 1992. There's just a few cracks and they're all pretty small in width. Some are in the driveway/RV pad, there's one square in the sidewalk up to the front door and there's 1 or 2 in the patio.

I don't know if there's mesh or rebar, can't see down into the cracks. I'll take some pics tonight when I get home so y'all have a better idea of what I'm looking at.

We're located just out of Boise, ID, which is a high desert environment. Right now we've had a lot of rain, but even in the dead of winter, the ground/driveway doesn't freeze very deep. Any time we got snow this winter, it was melted off within 6 hours, except the time we got 7 inches or so.
 
again no expert but I think if they're less than 1/2" I wouldn't worry much about them.

I've never had a concrete parking slab, so that's why I ask. They're only 1/8" or less. One in the driveway is raised just enough to catch a snow shovel. I've found that one every time!!! :lol:
 
they make a concrete filler caulk that you can use, it won't match though. You could do it if you plan on doing epoxy or staining at some point, concrete is gonna crack as someone mentioned.
 
yep, did everythign according to advice given
poly
2" insulation
rebar
3500 lb/squ in concrete
power trowelled

told no stress cracks needed

that was a year ago Oct

cracking all over the fawking place, not happy at all. fawk all i can do about it.

subscribed to see suggestions to original posters questions.

what was the outside temp when the concrete was mixed and poured?
 
nah, we don't get low humidity here. it took about 2 weeks (probably much longer now that i think about it) for all the moisture to stop coming out of the cement but it never froze. i had the floor covered in heavy poly as well to keep the grease and s*** off the new cement while i decided what to put down as a finish, now 18 months later i still am trying to consider what to put down ... might be a good thing i did wait.
 
Prep for a slab is key. It has to be compacted with a good base. Water cannot be allowed to get underneath the slab. If you have a lot of clay in the ground, it will try to heave with the freeze-thaw going on.
 
I had a 25' by 30' slab poured a few years ago, the guys came back the next day and cut their stress lines in it and it's never cracked other than hairlines in those cuts.



You can do everything right and still end up with cracks to some degree. What Steve says is the best way to control possible cracking, and has worked well for me over the years.
 
There are two types of concrete workers - the kind that tell you it is going to crack and the kind that do it right... :p

If you control the cracking with joints then yes, but solid slab will always crack.

yep, did everythign according to advice given
poly
2" insulation
rebar
3500 lb/squ in concrete
power trowelled

told no stress cracks needed

that was a year ago Oct

cracking all over the fawking place, not happy at all. fawk all i can do about it.

subscribed to see suggestions to original posters questions.

Most put a min 2" of sand over the insulation/poly that way it has a way to dry down through the slab as well as up. Control joints in a slab that size are always neccesary, cut or poured into the slab itself.
 

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