{"id":24824,"date":"2021-05-14T13:14:04","date_gmt":"2021-05-14T13:14:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thehouseshop.com\/property-blog\/?p=24824"},"modified":"2021-05-14T13:15:10","modified_gmt":"2021-05-14T13:15:10","slug":"repairing-common-concrete-slab-problems","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thehouseshop.com\/property-blog\/repairing-common-concrete-slab-problems\/","title":{"rendered":"Repairing Common Concrete Slab Problems"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<!-- SEO Ultimate Plus (https:\/\/seoultimateplus.com) - Code Inserter module -->\n<script async>(function(s,u,m,o,j,v){j=u.createElement(m);v=u.getElementsByTagName(m)[0];j.async=1;j.src=o;j.dataset.sumoSiteId='b68b392479b5981b8acf46565e9fe32a0734fc21a1f7c1e60121eaa6ca1a1c64';v.parentNode.insertBefore(j,v)})(window,document,'script','\/\/load.sumo.com\/');<\/script>\n<!-- \/SEO Ultimate Plus -->\n\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Concrete is the commonly available building material. It is not only durable but also affordable. However, concrete slabs develop some blemishes in the long run. See those cracks or disfigured concrete slabs? A concrete slab with blemishes is not aesthetically pleasing.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The good news is that the correct choice of construction materials, the right tools, coupled with the right construction skills, can save your floor from blemishes.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Here is how to turn those cracks, spalls, blisters, curling, and scaling on your concrete slabs into beauty. Note that it\u2019s important to involve concrete <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/floorshields.com\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">repair professionals<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> in your work.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>Common Concrete Slab Problems And How to Repair Them<\/b><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Here are common slab problems and how to repair them.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>Blisters<\/b><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Blisters are bumps of varying sizes on your concrete floor. They are formed when air is trapped beneath the concrete during construction. You can usually identify them when laying the concrete slab.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>Solution<\/b><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The easiest method to solve the blister problem is mechanical impact. Protrusions such as blisters are ground using concrete grinders or, better still, rubbed down with a carborundum stone.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>Cracks<\/b><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\" wp-image-24825 aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/www.thehouseshop.com\/property-blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/Blog2-2.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"516\" height=\"343\" \/><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Cracking is one of the most prevalent problems with concrete slabs. Concrete slabs are rigid and, therefore, can be broken easily. Freeze-thaw weather circles, shifting soils, and hydrostatic pressure are just some of the reasons concrete slabs form cracks. Cracked concrete slabs let in radon, moisture, and soil, which encourages mildew and moss growth, which can ruin wooden furniture.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>Solution<\/b><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">More concrete can be used to fill cracks, which is not effective in the long run. Concrete contains bond strength as opposed to tensile strength; therefore, the patch will come out under traffic.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Use epoxy injection or polyurethane. Drill holes at various intervals along the crack and inject them with a non-corrosive high strength epoxy to effectively fill the crack.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>Curling<\/b><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Curling is when a concrete slab, which is normally square, loses its shape due to the corners folding upward. Temperature differences between the upper side and the downside are mainly to blame for curling. For example, the lower side may be hotter than the upper surface; therefore, it will expand more, causing the edges to rise upward. The concrete slab is destabilized as a result.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>Solution<\/b><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Prevention is the best solution to avoid curling. But when your concrete slabs curl, grinding the lifted corners is the next possible solution. You should fill the empty spaces created under the slab with grout to restore stability.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>Scaling<\/b><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Scaling is local flaking of the surface of the concrete slabs. The concrete pieces that come off are shaped like snowflakes. Small patches appear and extend to larger areas. The surface portion of the mortar is lost, and the rough aggregate in the worst-case scenario.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Substandard construction methods and doing finishing operations on the slab surface with bleed water are still the main causes of scaling. The application of deicing salts and freeze-thaw circles is also to blame for the concrete slab&#8217;s curling.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>Solution<\/b><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Resurfacing is the best solution for curling. First, get rid of the flaking surface using a jackhammer and concrete chisel. Next, prepare the surface to be repaired by cleaning it to eliminate dirt paint or oil stains, which prevent proper bonding. Now you can resurface using repair mortar and a trowel.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Please note that the new surface&#8217;s strength is dependent on the base concrete, so ensure that you only resurface on healthy concrete.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>Spalling<\/b><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The last problem in this category is spalling. Spalling is a situation where reasonable chunks of concrete come off the slab. Expansion within the concrete mass, pressure and rough weather are some of the reasons for spalling. Spalling causes more damage compared to blisters, and the holes can be up to an inch deep. Spalls can go all the way to the reinforcing steel in the worst-case scenario.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>Solution<\/b><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Start by measuring the depth of the pits left behind by spalling and assessing the surface&#8217;s condition to know which method to use.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Use straight cement mortar to get rid of small spalls. Preplace aggregate concrete, dry park mortar, or polymer concrete are best for larger spalls. Use the patching method in case of isolated spell areas.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h6>Ref number:\u00a0THSI-2309<\/h6>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Concrete is the commonly available building material. It is not only durable but also affordable. However, concrete slabs develop some blemishes in the long run. See those cracks or disfigured concrete slabs? A concrete slab with blemishes is not aesthetically<span class=\"ellipsis\">&hellip;<\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"read-more\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.thehouseshop.com\/property-blog\/repairing-common-concrete-slab-problems\/\">Read more &#8250;<\/a><\/div>\n<p><!-- end of .read-more --><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":81,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"wl_entities_gutenberg":"","_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","spay_email":""},"categories":[1,700,16],"tags":[],"wl_entity_type":[602],"modified_by":"THS","_wl_alt_label":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","wl:entity_url":"http:\/\/data.wordlift.io\/wl0502\/post\/repairing_common_concrete_slab_problems","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thehouseshop.com\/property-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24824"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thehouseshop.com\/property-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thehouseshop.com\/property-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thehouseshop.com\/property-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/81"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thehouseshop.com\/property-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=24824"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.thehouseshop.com\/property-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24824\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":24826,"href":"https:\/\/www.thehouseshop.com\/property-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24824\/revisions\/24826"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thehouseshop.com\/property-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=24824"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thehouseshop.com\/property-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=24824"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thehouseshop.com\/property-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=24824"},{"taxonomy":"wl_entity_type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thehouseshop.com\/property-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/wl_entity_type?post=24824"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}