Fix Cracked Concrete – First, Identify the Cause of a Crack

A knowledgeable contractors will use all of his knowledge, intuition and information available to identify the cause of a crack. This should always include gathering all of the information that you can about the concrete that you are about to try and repair. This information is what you will use to plan your attack on the problem.

Source of Information:

A. Personal observation and evaluation:

  1. How thick is the concrete and what type?
  2. What surrounds the slab and could it effect the concrete?
  3. What is the concrete being used for? What are the weight loads that could be effecting the concrete?
  4.  Does the current resident or occupant have any information that could be useful to know?

 B.  Is the crack growing or has the crack been static for many years?

C. Is the crack recent? Has anything changed recently?

  1. Is the area extra wet, dry, hot, or cold?
  2. Has there been any heavy construction or traffic in the area that could affect the soils solidity?

D.  Is it:

  1. On Grade – ( At ground level)
  2.  Above Grade – ( Built up above ground level)
  3.  Below Grade – (Below Ground Level)

Using these guides we will now go into what type of cracks we are looking at and how we will go about mitigating the changes that the crack will reappear.