What Causes Concrete Driveways to Crack?
If you’ve had a concrete driveway for more than a few years, it’s probably started developing cracks. First, you should contact a good driveway repair service in Raleigh, NC, to take care of those cracks. They’re only going to spread and get worse over time until your driveway is unsightly and hard to use.
Did something go wrong, to make your driveway crack? Probably not, concrete is prone to cracking, and even well-installed concrete driveways will start to crack over time.
So let’s talk about the reasons why concrete driveways will crack.
4 Major Reasons a Concrete Driveway Develops Cracks
1 – Installation issues
Just about any untreated concrete slab will crack over time, but poor installation can speed up its decay. In particular:
- Too much water in the mix will reduce the strength of the concrete.
- Drying out too quickly. A concrete slab needs hydration as it dries. And yes, that means both too much and too little water can lead to weakened concrete.
- A bad base. Concrete must be laid on a very stable bed, and if its foundations are weak, it will tend to shift and crack quickly.
This is why it’s important to hire qualified concrete pavers in Raleigh with a long track record. They’ll have the expertise to do the job right and extend the lifespan of the concrete.
2 – Overloading
Concrete is strong, but it isn’t impervious. Parking extremely heavy vehicles on concrete for long periods, or other heavy objects like large dumpers, will weaken the concrete over time. If you must store heavy things on your concrete driveway, move them around periodically so they don’t continually crush one single area.
3 – Weather
Concrete doesn’t like rapid temperature changes. It expands in heat and contracts in cold. If the temperature change is gradual, this isn’t an issue, but a sudden extreme shift can easily cause a crack.
In addition, freezing weather with precipitation can be especially bad for concrete. Basically, snow hits the concrete, melts in the day’s sun, and the water sinks into the concrete. Then it freezes hard overnight, causing all that trapped water to expand as it freezes, cracking the concrete in the process.
4 – Ground shifts
Even if a concrete slab is laid on a stable base, that doesn’t necessarily mean the ground beneath it is stable. Land tends to shift back and forth over the years, and since concrete is both rigid and brittle, these shifts will cause cracks over time. The more unstable the underlying ground, the more quickly and often the concrete will crack.
For Great Driveway Repair in Raleigh, Call Blalock Paving
Blalock Paving is your local expert in concrete, asphalt, and all other forms of paving. We’re equipped to handle jobs of all sizes, from minor repairs to large-scale municipal installations. If your concrete driveway is starting to crack, don’t wait! The damage – and the repair costs – will only grow over time.
