Here is a section devoted to these Decorative Concrete Products listed above and not designed to be a training course but to inform you as a customer, what is involved in each decision to implement these products and durability and ease to maintain.
Crack Repair Issues
Q- I hate the cracks in my concrete! How do I fix them? They are so unsightly, a real eye sore !
A.- Ok I hear you loud and clear! Concrete is strong but brittle and Concrete Cracks. Most of the cracks are contributed to improper installation. NO fiber added to mix, dried too fast, poor foundation base, and a number of other issues. Here is the number one reason for those eye soars. Expansion joints, relief cuts were installed too wide or not deep enough. Remember, your slab needs to flex and if the relief cuts are not there or too wide then Mother Nature will apply her magic and allow that slab to flex. Well Mother Nature does not care about how your concrete looks her relief cracks will not be straight like a saw cut . So now you have mother natures work and how do you fix her work to look good? There are lots of caulking repair kits out there. NONE of them work to fix your cracks at best they fill the crack and make a worse looking mess then what Mother Nature provided ! These products don't address the issue of decorative effect, as I call it, in fact they all make is look worse . The only real solution is to grind out the crack and fill with an epoxy and bridge it with mesh fabric. Once this has been installed some sort of resurface is necessary to cover these mends and more importantly expansion cut need to be made to insure proper flex is allowed so these mends do not reappear! As a general rule, expansions should be no wider than about 8 feet each way on a slab and the depth of the cut should be at least 25% the thickness of the concrete. The concept here is to be sufficiently deep enough to weaken the slab and allow for cracking inside your cut. Make Mother Nature put her cracks with in your lines keeping the Decorative Effect stabilized . Ok I then usually trowel on some modified cement (cap)over the repair and now the concrete is ready for resurface.
A.- Ok I hear you loud and clear! Concrete is strong but brittle and Concrete Cracks. Most of the cracks are contributed to improper installation. NO fiber added to mix, dried too fast, poor foundation base, and a number of other issues. Here is the number one reason for those eye soars. Expansion joints, relief cuts were installed too wide or not deep enough. Remember, your slab needs to flex and if the relief cuts are not there or too wide then Mother Nature will apply her magic and allow that slab to flex. Well Mother Nature does not care about how your concrete looks her relief cracks will not be straight like a saw cut . So now you have mother natures work and how do you fix her work to look good? There are lots of caulking repair kits out there. NONE of them work to fix your cracks at best they fill the crack and make a worse looking mess then what Mother Nature provided ! These products don't address the issue of decorative effect, as I call it, in fact they all make is look worse . The only real solution is to grind out the crack and fill with an epoxy and bridge it with mesh fabric. Once this has been installed some sort of resurface is necessary to cover these mends and more importantly expansion cut need to be made to insure proper flex is allowed so these mends do not reappear! As a general rule, expansions should be no wider than about 8 feet each way on a slab and the depth of the cut should be at least 25% the thickness of the concrete. The concept here is to be sufficiently deep enough to weaken the slab and allow for cracking inside your cut. Make Mother Nature put her cracks with in your lines keeping the Decorative Effect stabilized . Ok I then usually trowel on some modified cement (cap)over the repair and now the concrete is ready for resurface.
