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Winter-damaged concrete

Tuesday, March 27 at 12:01 AM

This Speakout has not been edited

By Ron Tapler, Concrete Doctor Corp

This year has been exceptionally hard on concrete. From roadways, parking lots, shopping center walkways, to porches, patios, and driveways. One common problem for most is that the open cold joints and cracks have allowed water to travel beneath the slabs. When this happens with our extreme weather conditions, the water freezes beneath the slabs, and forces the concrete apart and often up. This causes uneven heaved concrete, classified as liability trip hazards, An inconvenience for homeowners when the snow shovel hits the edge of the concrete and the handle ends up in your gut.

Commercial properties that have these types of concrete issues could find themselves liable for injuries. When it gets warmer and the water melts and flows under the concrete slabs it can wash the soil away and can also react with the expansive soils which are prominent within our region. If you are allowing water into the cracks and joints of your concrete, you are undermining your slabs,

Old school says you should pull and re-pour damaged concrete. Which is much more expensive than some other alternatives, Look into repairing concrete before spending money on replacement. Reputable companies in the repair industry can tell you whether your concrete can be repaired or whether it is too far gone. Preventive maintenance is the best medicine, before it is too late. All concrete is originally poured, if done properly, so that water flows off and away. Open cold joints and cracks need to be filled, surface deterioration should be addressed and even concrete in good condition should be sealed and hardened to preserve it. Done right with the right equipment and commercial grade materials. The solutions are generally simple for people who do this kind of work, If a repair company can add 5 to 10 years longevity, they've done their job.

One more important thing, curb appeal. If you put your home on the market and there are open cracks, deteriorated surfaces, weeds growing through the driveway, then your curb appeal is less than satisfactory. A home needs to have an appearance that it has been well maintained. Don't let a potential buyer walk away because the first impression was bad before they even entered the house. By the same token, there are circumstances where a new pour is your best bet. But remember the one guarantee all contractors can give you is that concrete will crack, it's a matter of when and how bad.

Should you do it yourself or hire a professional? As homeowners, we ask this question often. Homeowners many times will try to do their own concrete repairs. You need to evaluate how much equipment costs, the labor involved and how long will it last. And then there's the question... "Am I using the right product?" If preparation is not done properly, materials will not adhere, or at least for very long. Then it will be time to dig it all out and try again. Most do-it-yourself-jobs I've seen using products available through home improvement stores, will usually last a year or so. A professional repair job, I've seen last ten or twelve years, extending the life of the concrete and delaying the inevitable cost of replacement. The small investment now of hiring a professional, will save you hundreds of dollars in the long run,

There are many types of repairs available these days. If you have cracked concrete or open joints, get them filled with an a expandable caulking to keep water out. if you have concrete that has surface deterioration it's not necessarily destroyed. A lot of these slabs can be repaired and resurfaced. If you have concrete that is in good overall condition, have it sealed and hardened. This will make the concrete much more impenetrable to everything, including oil stains. When you use salt, use it sparingly and when it has melted the ice and snow, broom it off the concrete surface. Salt will slowly deteriorate concrete surfaces, especially if it sits on the concrete undisturbed. Repair contractors can not guarantee your concrete will look like new when repairs are completed, but it will look maintained. Some pay closer attention to aesthetics than others. The overall objective is to create longevity and delay the cost of replacement.

READER COMMENTS

Now if only home builders would install slabs properly in the first place. The thief who built my place doesn't put WWF (Welded Wire Fabric) or rebar in his concrete because he is too cheap. When all of our flatwork essentially failed at the young age of 5-years, I contacted the builder and he told me, "I don't put reinforcing in the flatwork because it does no good and it makes it tougher to cut out and replace." He also told me it does no good to properly compact and prepare the soil beneath the slabs. What a liar.

I have close to 1,800 square feet of failed flatwork, and reputable concrete companies have given me ballpark figures of $5 a square foot to remove and replace. I have better things to spend $9,000 on than concrete.

I've contacted lawyers about suing this clown and they all have told me I'm out of luck.

Posted by QBT on March 27, 2007 10:34 AM