Denver Decorative Concrete & Custom MasonryJust got my driveway concreted with the imprinted concrete.?
The guy doing it said that we should get a line cut into it from top to bottom, to stop the concrete from cracking if it expands. Has anyone had problems with concrete cracking, or should i just take a chance and no bother with the line…it might take the look from the job!
Concrete cracks after some years, not in a short space of time, but even with a line it will eventually crack, concrete just does that when it gets old.
Listen to the concrete guy. He is the expert. Concrete can crack in a matter of weeks after the pour if stress relief cuts are not made in it. If you do not do what he says, I’m pretty sure he will not warranty the work if it does crack.
Concrete should always have expansion joints put in,the normal rule is to place the joints Two 3 times in feet the width of the slab itself ie., 4 slabs should have joints Eight 12 feet apart.The joints themselves should be at least 1/4 the depth of the slab so a 4 slab should have 1 joints.In your case I’d split the drive in four seperate squares and joint it that way you’ll be happy you did.
Rebel one has the right idea, professionals do not do extra work if it’s not needed, so go with the lines, you will not notice them amongst the imprint. If you do not do it, you will get cracks all over, and that will really look bad!
Some years ago we had our driveway laid in coloured imprinted concrete. The contractor cut horizontal expansion joints in, to fit in with the pattern, and then filled them with clear plastic sealant to allow for expansion. We have experienced no problems.
What surprises me is, if your contractor says it needs doing why isn’t he doing it as part of the job as our contractor did?
you silly boy ..bet you never got permission from council …..you got gipsies doing it ..a proper tradesman put in an expansion joint beforehand …im a builder …they all crack ..and are inpossible to repair without it showing ….it will come back to haunt you
He should have done it as standard, not ask you!!
Then why wasn’t it done as part of the original job ? Whats the warranty on the work like…..