Concrete is a material that tends to last, but it can crack for several reasons
Sometimes a crack will occur and it is inevitable; a contractor could do everything perfectly and a crack may still occur.
One of the most common reasons that concrete will crack is due to plastic shrinkage. When the concrete is in the plastic, it is full of water. The water will take up the space so it makes the concrete slab a certain size, but when the slab starts to lose moisture while it is curing, it will become smaller. When the concrete becomes smaller, it can create stress. This stress can pull the concrete slab apart. As the concrete is gets smaller and shrinks, it starts to pull the concrete slab apart and the concrete will crack just to relieve some of the tension that is occurring.
Settling is another reason that concrete will crack. When a home settles, it can cause the concrete to crack. Settling can effect a concrete basement, driveway, or walkway. Roots in trees can cause the concrete to crack too.
The weather can cause a concrete to crack. Freeze and thaw cycles will have the frozen ground lift up, then once the ground thaws out it will settle again, causing the concrete to crack. Walkways and sidewalks are known to crack due to the weather. Hot weather causes concrete to crack because of expansion.
Sometimes it doesn’t matter what a contractor does, concrete can and will crack. A contractor does everything to prevent any cracks, but cracks can just happen. It does not mean the contractor is faulty or has done a poor job, it just means that the environmental circumstances effected the concrete to make the concrete crack.
If you have had concrete installed at your home and a crack occurs, make sure you call your contractor. Your contractor will come out and look at the crack to determine what the cause of the crack may be. The contractor can determine what can be done to fix any cracks, but most cracks are not going to endanger the whole concrete. Most cracks are very small. Concrete cracks can be expected as concrete is just like anything else, it is not perfect.
For more information on our professional concrete services, click here!
