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Concrete Cracks – Tips for a Beautiful Concrete Driveway

It’s easy to see why homeowners choose concrete driveways. Concrete is durable, requires little maintenance, and has a quality appearance. A variety of colors, patterns, and textures give the homeowner a choice. All of these options are useless, however, if a short time after investing in a quality driveway, it cracks and stains.

Pouring concrete correctly is crucial for a smooth and attractive driveway. Here are some of the most important points to consider when installing concrete:

  • Squeeze or compress the concrete. Concrete will only have 1/10th of its strength if it is stretched or bent rather than squeezed or compressed.
  • For concrete on solid and compact ground. Pouring concrete over soft, loose soil will cause the concrete to bend and crack when your car drives over it.
  • Install control joints in slabs. These lines encourage the concrete to crack in these places and not spread to other parts of the driveway. Another benefit is that these joints will help prevent cracking by allowing the concrete to expand or contract as it does at different temperatures. Without these joints, repeated expansion or contraction usually results in cracks. Installers must ensure controls are deep enough. Control joints should be ¼ the thickness of the slab and should also be properly spaced. This means spacing them at intervals of 15 feet or less.

Homeowners have options when it comes to sizes and material options for their concrete driveway. If 4 inches thick is enough, what driveway steel does and should be used, as well as what to look for in concrete are frequently asked questions.

Sizes and Materials to Choose

  • The concrete must be at least 5 inches thick. Thicker concrete is better for driveways, and the cost of 4-5 inches isn’t much when you consider the total cost of the job.
  • Use reinforcing steel. Steel is inexpensive, helps strengthen concrete, and will hold cracked slabs together. It is often easy to tell when steel is not used because cracks can grow in size and two adjacent pieces of slab can be two different heights. To take advantage of the effectiveness of steel, it must be placed within two inches of the top of the slab.
  • Concrete contains cement, water and aggregates (sand or rock). The more cement and less aggregate the concrete contains, the stronger the concrete will be. The standard for concrete is a strength rating of 4,000 psi (pounds per square inch). Ordering 4,500 or 5,000 psi concrete will cost more, but more cement is added per cubic yard. If you expect the concrete to be subjected to harsh conditions, the higher psi could be a good investment, adding an additional 25-50 years to the life of the cement.

How to preserve your driveway

  • Most of the driveways are connected to a lawn. One way to keep grass from growing along your driveway is to remove the grass 2 to 3 inches from the cement. Water and rain will also run off the surface better.
  • Trees, shrubs, and other plants can cause problems if they grow too close to your driveway. Roots will grow through the cement, cracking it and causing it to crack and crumble. Moving these plants if they are not too big will solve this problem.
  • The simplest thing you can do to keep your driveway in good shape is to clean it from time to time. Use a leaf blower to remove leaves, grass, sticks, and other debris. Using a pressure washer to clean the area immediately after spilling oil, gasoline, grease, or other stains is the best option for removing these types of stains.
  • Try to keep heavy trucks and equipment out of your driveway because, while concrete is durable, it is not designed to hold heavy vehicles and large equipment.

What to do in case of bad weather

  • Prevent the water and rain that runs through the gutters from reaching the entrance of your house. This is important because if water gets under your driveway during the freezing winter months, it can rise up and crack your driveway.
  • Be careful when digging or shoveling your driveway. Raise the blade to avoid scraping or cracking the driveway.
  • Avoid putting salt on your driveway. Salt can cause flaking, crumbling and cracking of driveways. Using salt during the first winter your driveway is poured is especially harmful. Consider using an ice melter instead, which will turn snow and ice into water without damaging the cement.

When to Seal Concrete Concrete that meets certain criteria does not need to be sealed. Your driveway most likely won’t need to be sealed if the concrete:

  • You have enough cement (mixture of 6 bags or 564 pounds of cement) AND
  • And he has 4,000 pounds. design strength per square inch Y
  • Includes enough mixing water to give you a 4-inch slump consistency AND
  • It ends without water and
  • Cures wet with liquid curing compound or with plastic

However, if the concrete is poorly poured, it must be sealed. Do not seal with film-forming silicone. Instead, use high-quality siloxane or silane water repellants. Using a quality product will allow you to get away with just stamping your driveway every two to three years. Be sure to read and follow the instructions on the container to get the best results.

Follow the tips above and your concrete driveway will stand up to cold weather, ice and salt, vehicular traffic, basketball games and biking for years. Many driveways can last more than 30 years without major repairs.

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