Expansion joints in concrete - saw cut versus felt

I have received several estimates to install a concrete driveway roughly 90 feet long by 24 feet wide, and also replace a patio roughly

24 by 24 feet in size.

2 of the estimates indicate that control joints will be "saw cut".

The third estimate does not mention saw cuts, but refers to using felt in the expansion joints.

I live in a very harsh climate with temperatures well below freezing for several months in the winter, in the high 80's/low 90's in the summer, and a lot of temperature cycling.

If have seen some driveways and patios with many small cuts, dividing the concrete every few feet, and also many which are only cut every 10 feet or so.

My 2 questions are:

1.Is felt better than saw cutting?
  1. Should the driveway and / or patio have expansion joints every 8 feet, every 4 feet, or how often in order to avoid a lot of weather and other damage?

Thanks very much for any opinions.

Reply to
Smarty
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Expansion joints and control joints are two different things and concrete construction techniques are somewhat dependent on location.

R
Reply to
RicodJour

Indeed and the conditions given don't sound at all "harsh" to me...

But, the longevity will depend much more importantly on the quality of the base groundwork and such than the number/construction of expansion and/or control joints. 10-12 ft is plenty close enough for expansion joints; the barn slab here has lasted 80+ years so far w/ environment that's 10-15F higher in summer and well below 0F in winter w/ one expansion joint at about 20-ft and no additional control joints. Ot receives traffic of large tractors, loaded grain trucks, etc., far in excess of normal driveway usage.

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Reply to
dpb

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