Why concrete fails

Almost every ugly slab you have ever seen failed for one of a handful of reasons — and almost all of them were decided before the truck ever showed up. Here is what we see, and how our standard prevents it.

• No base, or a base that was never compacted. The slab settles with the dirt under it, then cracks and heaves. It is why our standard is a compacted 4-inch minimum gravel base, with every layer compacted before the next.
• No control joints — or joints in the wrong places. Concrete will crack; that is physics. Joints decide where. Without them, the crack picks its own path across the middle of the slab.
• Poured too thin. A slab that skimped on concrete cannot carry the load it was sold for. Our minimum is 3.5 inches, reinforced as required.
• Water with nowhere to go. Downspouts dumping beside the slab wash out the base and feed the freeze-thaw cycle that flakes the surface apart. Buried drainage ends that.
• Salt on young concrete. Deicers on a first-winter slab spall the finish right off the top. See caring for your concrete.