I had a new 24' sidewalk poured last May that was "cut" into 8 3ft each blocks. I just noticed that in 2 of the cuts there are cracks the entire width of the block.
Did the contractor mess up when he poured this by putting too much stress on the blocks by not leveling it properly?
Also, what should I do about this? I'm concerned that water will get into the cracks and cause additional damage.
Thank you!
Concrete cracks, that's why the cuts are made...........to make sure the "natural" cracks occur at the cut lines
The cracks forming in the bottom of the cuts is exactly what you want.
Often the "crack control" cuts are not deep enough & the concrete cracks (jagged) elsewhere.
Is your sidewalk subject to freeze / thaw?
Cheers Bob
If I understand you correctly, the saw cuts that the contractor put in on purpose have cracked all the way through the slab.
This is exactly what was supposed to happen. A tooled joint or saw cut is used to tell the concrete where to crack and to please do so in a nice straight line rather than a random, jagged line. If you are wanting to seal the joints use a polyurethane pavement sealer: Vulkem (Tremco) and NP 1 (Sonneborn) come to mind. They both make a self leveling sealer if your circumstances allow.
______________________________ Keep the whole world singing . . . . DanG (remove the sevens) snipped-for-privacy@7cox.net
Yes - The pavement is subject to freezing in the winter months and thawing in the spring - which is what happen a couple of weeks ago.
The cracks are not all of the way through the slab - yet and I would like to seal it before the water causes that to happen.
Dan G recommended a few sealers (Vulkem (Tremco) and NP 1 (Sonneborn)) so I'll probably go that route.
Thank you.
in buffalo ny: the water will go into the cracks that properly formed and drain to the usual gravel and earth below. sidewalk is not a waterproof surface.
Exactly what's supposed to happen.
Possibly, but not from what you've indicated. They score those lines for exactly that reason: you provide a place for the concrete to crack.
Do nothing, you've got what sounds like a perfectly fine walk.
No problem.
John
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