Concrete Patio
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Concrete Patio
I park my CTD near my concrete patio in the back of my house.
A year ago June, I had some guys pour a patio at the back of my house. It isbetween 6-10 inches thick, above grade and on2-5 inches of base with field wire in the concrete.It is starting to show hair line cracks.
How bad do the cracks have to be before it's a problem. Should I be worried, should I paint or seal the patio or something?
Thanks
A year ago June, I had some guys pour a patio at the back of my house. It isbetween 6-10 inches thick, above grade and on2-5 inches of base with field wire in the concrete.It is starting to show hair line cracks.
How bad do the cracks have to be before it's a problem. Should I be worried, should I paint or seal the patio or something?
Thanks
Record Breaker
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RE: Concrete Patio
thats what i do for a living.... www.coletticonstruction.com
first off your patio is just raised, its still 4 inchs unless you paid for the extra depth. what you are seeing is the small trench dug around the form to keep the gravel hidden, and stop it from falling out. now if the "field wire" you talk about is like a wire mesh, 4"x4" squares thay come in a big roll will help hold the hair line cracks together but not as good as re-rod would. if the guys you hired were any good they would come back and replace it or make a labor/material deal with you. im the mean time you should put come kind of silicone in the crack to prevent water getting under the slab and freezing in the winter (if your winters are cold?!?!).... but if you have cracks this leads me to believe your patio has no releif cuts in it and if it did they were not put in at the right places/ depths... now there is always the mother nature element that no one can prevent so take that into consideration to!
first off your patio is just raised, its still 4 inchs unless you paid for the extra depth. what you are seeing is the small trench dug around the form to keep the gravel hidden, and stop it from falling out. now if the "field wire" you talk about is like a wire mesh, 4"x4" squares thay come in a big roll will help hold the hair line cracks together but not as good as re-rod would. if the guys you hired were any good they would come back and replace it or make a labor/material deal with you. im the mean time you should put come kind of silicone in the crack to prevent water getting under the slab and freezing in the winter (if your winters are cold?!?!).... but if you have cracks this leads me to believe your patio has no releif cuts in it and if it did they were not put in at the right places/ depths... now there is always the mother nature element that no one can prevent so take that into consideration to!
Grand Champion
Joined: Feb 2007
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From: Warminster, PA
RE: Concrete Patio
ORIGINAL: nickcoletti
thats what i do for a living.... www.coletticonstruction.com
first off your patio is just raised, its still 4 inchs unless you paid for the extra depth. what you are seeing is the small trench dug around the form to keep the gravel hidden, and stop it from falling out. now if the "field wire" you talk about is like a wire mesh, 4"x4" squares thay come in a big roll will help hold the hair line cracks together but not as good as re-rod would. if the guys you hired were any good they would come back and replace it or make a labor/material deal with you. im the mean time you should put come kind of silicone in the crack to prevent water getting under the slab and freezing in the winter (if your winters are cold?!?!).... but if you have cracks this leads me to believe your patio has no releif cuts in it and if it did they were not put in at the right places/ depths... now there is always the mother nature element that no one can prevent so take that into consideration to!
thats what i do for a living.... www.coletticonstruction.com
first off your patio is just raised, its still 4 inchs unless you paid for the extra depth. what you are seeing is the small trench dug around the form to keep the gravel hidden, and stop it from falling out. now if the "field wire" you talk about is like a wire mesh, 4"x4" squares thay come in a big roll will help hold the hair line cracks together but not as good as re-rod would. if the guys you hired were any good they would come back and replace it or make a labor/material deal with you. im the mean time you should put come kind of silicone in the crack to prevent water getting under the slab and freezing in the winter (if your winters are cold?!?!).... but if you have cracks this leads me to believe your patio has no releif cuts in it and if it did they were not put in at the right places/ depths... now there is always the mother nature element that no one can prevent so take that into consideration to!
Rookie
Joined: Aug 2007
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From: Garner, NC
RE: Concrete Patio
From what I remember...my father used to bea plant manager for a concrete company before he died...concrete is one of those things that is going to crack...it's not a matter of if it will, but rather when will it happen...
Nickcoletti feel free to correct me if I am wrong...but I would have to agree expansion joints not being there would tend to lead to cracks....
In my case I got lucky...laid down a 12x24 slab 3 1/2inches thick for a dog kennel with no expansion joints, no rebar/rerod or steel mesh....and now 3 years laterand still no cracks...don't ask me how I done it...but hey...I'll take luck any day...
Nickcoletti feel free to correct me if I am wrong...but I would have to agree expansion joints not being there would tend to lead to cracks....
In my case I got lucky...laid down a 12x24 slab 3 1/2inches thick for a dog kennel with no expansion joints, no rebar/rerod or steel mesh....and now 3 years laterand still no cracks...don't ask me how I done it...but hey...I'll take luck any day...
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RE: Concrete Patio
I think it is 14' x 26'. It's flat, no reliefs cut into it.The cracks are just hairline, less than a dime in width. I think I remember them putting some rebar around the perimeter, but not in the middle. The middle is just wire. Last year we had a drought, this year we had too much rain ... except the past month and a half we haven't had any rain.The soil is clay and starting to dry out and cracking all throughout the yard and shrinking away from the patio.
Yeah, it's been getting real cold here at night... I think last night it got down to 57 degrees.We'll have a few days of freezing maybe to mid 20's at night but not much worse.
Yeah, it's been getting real cold here at night... I think last night it got down to 57 degrees.We'll have a few days of freezing maybe to mid 20's at night but not much worse.
Record Breaker
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RE: Concrete Patio
well it depends on how desturbed the ground is that you placed the slab on. if there is 6 inchs on good base compacted well you should be fine with a big slab but if you have clay under your slab and you go thru a cold winter of freezeing and thawing then most likely you will have bad news with the cracks. the releif cuts or expansion paper or put in there not for looks but to kinda controll where it is going to crack when it does because like you said stang luver.... its not a question of "if" but rather "when". now if the cuts are to deep they serve no purpose to stop the slab from creating a trip hazzard because there is no locking aggergate to stop the rise and fall. with our company we try to keep all squares on 4" concrete no bigger than 10'x10' and when its 6' think we try to keep under 15'x15'.
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Record Breaker
Joined: Apr 2007
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RE: Concrete Patio
what we do when something like this happens (which is rare for us
) is we come out and look at the situation, some times its out fault with the wrong placement of cuts, sometimes its the concrete companys fault with a bad mix leading to weak concrete, and sometimes there could of been nothing to avoid it so we try to be as honest as we can and go from there...... goodluck wit that!
its to bad you wernt in michigan, we could of gave you a COLETTI CUSTOM[sm=roll.gif]
) is we come out and look at the situation, some times its out fault with the wrong placement of cuts, sometimes its the concrete companys fault with a bad mix leading to weak concrete, and sometimes there could of been nothing to avoid it so we try to be as honest as we can and go from there...... goodluck wit that!its to bad you wernt in michigan, we could of gave you a COLETTI CUSTOM[sm=roll.gif]
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RE: Concrete Patio
The guys that did the patio are the same ones that leveled my foundation. They put 42 piers under my slab. I'll see what they have to say.
The latest thing around here in concrete is outdoor kitchens. A friends family that I went to school with has expanded from doing just flatwork (slabs, driveways, patio, sidewalks) to building these hugely expensive outdoor/patio kitchens. (Business must be good, they are driving nicer cars than they ever had before.)
Sorry, not in Michigan, but appreciate the offer for a Colletti Custom. I'll let you know how it turns out.
The latest thing around here in concrete is outdoor kitchens. A friends family that I went to school with has expanded from doing just flatwork (slabs, driveways, patio, sidewalks) to building these hugely expensive outdoor/patio kitchens. (Business must be good, they are driving nicer cars than they ever had before.)
Sorry, not in Michigan, but appreciate the offer for a Colletti Custom. I'll let you know how it turns out.