What are Concrete Shrinkage Cracks in my New Home?

by David Campbell

Something that often comes up on new homes and old alike are cracks in the concrete slab. You can have a structural crack from shifting and movement but that’s not common. Those cracks are typically ‘off-set’ and can be large (wider than ¼ of an inch) What is common are shrinkage cracks. These range from a just barely noticeable hairline crack to an obvious crack like you see here. You’ll get these in most all large sections of concrete. Take a look at your driveway and sidewalk. Odds are you’ll find cracks.

When concrete is poured it has a very high water content. As it cures this water evaporates and the concrete slab becomes smaller as it dries out. One thing we know for sure is concrete is not flexible so it won’t stretch back out and you end up with a crack. The concrete finishers will form ‘control joints’ in the concrete before it sets up and the idea here is to ‘control’ where the concrete cracks. Since you can’t stop it from cracking you might as well try to control where it does crack so the joints provide a weak line in the concrete that hopefully the crack will follow.

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