Concrete is one of the most durable building materials you can have when it is cured perfectly. But poor handling of soft concrete can lead to various problems. One of those is- developing cracks on the concrete surface.
In this post, we’ll share with you the common reasons for which concrete surfaces develop cracks. By knowing the reason, you’ll be able to prevent concrete surfaces from cracking when you pour them in the future. Stay with us!
1. Excess Water in the Mixture
A concrete mixture is a combination of water, cement, sand, and gravel. If you use more water than necessary, then the concrete will become weak and develop cracks within months.
Although the exact amount of water needed for a specific mixture needs to be measured by extensive calculation. Generally, you’ll require 25 liters of water for a 50 kg bag of cement.
The concrete mix and water ratio depends on various factors like- where will you put the concrete and what are the reinforcement materials etc. So, it is recommended to consult a professional to get the exact measurement for a big project.
For preventing future problems in the concrete, make sure to double-check the water amount in the concrete mixture.
2. Fast Drying Concrete
You may have seen people pouring water on the newly built concrete surfaces. This is for the hydration process. The hydration process makes the concrete stronger and more durable.
If you skip the watering and allow the concrete to dry faster than usual, it will become weak and will eventually crack.
So, you must keep the concrete surface hydrated for around 7 to 15 days to prevent cracks due to fast drying.
3. The mixer is Not Good
Nowadays, people are going with the ready mix concrete that is delivered at the construction site. Although some of the ready mix concrete suppliers are truly good, you may experience poor concrete mixture sometimes. If you experience such things, the concrete surface will crack or may even break soon.
Therefore, you should see the review of the ready-mix supplier and test their ready mix before going with them for a big project.
4. Temperature Variation
Concrete is one of the most weather resistant building material, but this is only when you have a perfectly cured concrete surface. You must keep the surface as comfortable as possible when you pour the soft concrete on the surface.
Don’t pour the concrete mixture on a frozen or heated surface. The temperature will affect the curation process and may give you a cracked surface afterward.
5. Corrosion of the Reinforcements
Concrete gets hard rock strength when they are reinforced with steel. But corrosion in the steel reinforcement can do more harm than good.
That’s why you must carefully check the quality before selecting the reinforcement materials. A thorough test of the reinforcement steel is needed before using on a large building project.
6. Insufficient Vibration when Pouring
Vibrating the poured concrete makes them compact and bubble-free. This eventually makes the concrete stronger and durable. If you do not vibrate the soft concrete after pouring on the surface, the surface may not get strong enough to prevent cracks.
So, vibrate the poured concrete sufficiently so that you do not end up having a cracked concrete surface.
Apart from the 6 reasons we have discussed above, there are hundreds of other reasons that may cause your concrete surface to crack.
When most of the concrete cracks are not serious and can be ignored without any repair, you may need to patch concrete surfaces when the crack is a big and serious one.
If you encounter structural cracks, you may need to assess the overall strength of the concrete slab to get a better view of what to do next. If the strength is compromised significantly, you’ll need to break the concrete structure to rebuild it.
To prevent such an expensive and tiresome job, we recommend you follow every concrete construction rules in the first place when mixing and pouring the concrete.