first hairline crack.. booo hooo

[rieferman]

floor was poured a few months ago. 3500 mix with the fibers poured on top of gravel - no rebar. relief cuts. poured during the rainy season, kept wet for about 2 weeks. saw my first spiderweb crack last night. almost made me cry.

tell me what i already know... that it'll be ok. that there's only two kinds of concrete (cracked and yet-to-crack)

 

[427HISS]

Sorry to hear that !
If a company pourd the floor, will they help you out any ?

 

[lazyazz]

Yep, I think ya summed it up with
"Cracked or....yet to crack"

 

[checkthisout]

floor was poured a few months ago. 3500 mix with the fibers poured on top of gravel - no rebar. relief cuts. poured during the rainy season, kept wet for about 2 weeks. saw my first spiderweb crack last night. almost made me cry.

tell me what i already know... that it'll be ok. that there's only two kinds of concrete (cracked and yet-to-crack)

Well, who talked you out of putting control cuts in it?

 

[rieferman]

Well, who talked you out of putting control cuts in it?

No, I meant to explain that we DO have relief cuts. Sorry for any confusion on that.


It's the thinnest little crack ever, it looks like someone took a fine tipped pencil and drew a line on there. No space/thickness to the crack at all (really, zero). I know, because I was out there last night with a beer (cough.. or 5 or 6) staring at it for way too long. ha ha.

I really do think (based on every garage, basement, pole barn, parking garage, anywhere I've been where there's concrete) it's just one of those things that happens eventually no matter what.

 

[checkthisout]

Don't attack me for parroting back what I was told but the guy who did my concrete told me that he feels fibermesh concrete cracks easier than regular stuff. He also stated that he feels it does not bridge gaps that may form under the slab as well as normal concrete with EITHER rebar or steel mesh.

He was also very adamant about having little slump because he said the more water that is added, the more likely it is to crack while curing and a lot of guys get the stuff fairly wet because it's easier to work and thus they get more cracks.

Time will tell if he knows his stuff. Mine is 2 months old and no cracks yet.

 

[RobSmith]

I have been continuously suprised at the small size of the steel mesh in the concrete floors. The size of the "squares" in the mesh. I see 12" squares and the wire looks like 1/8 - 3/16" dia. Most of our stuff is at least 1/4" to 3/8" wire and it's in a 4"- 6" square mesh. It makes me wonder about international wire standards and concrete tension standards.
Just a thought......not an expert.

 

[D KRAGER]

I feel the pain, I looked at my crack every day for like the first month, and stewed over it. (Got busy and didn't put cuts in it) Now it's just part of the garage. I don't obcess with my floor, so now it's not a big deal.

 

[riskyvt]

Don't feel too bad....my floor "hairline cracked" only two days after it was poured. As expected, it started at a corner. Since it's in a non-critical area I just look the other way and get busy working. Now if I can just get this damned Chevelle finished......

 

[ironroad 9c1]

The Inside of mine has been poured for 5 years now and No cracks. just at the control joint and its just 1 down the middle of the floor. I used fibermesh and kept it wet for 3 days.

 

[da34guy]

Like a buddy of mine, who used to pour concrete for water reclimation stations, 2 - 3000 yards a day.
"Two thing ya can guarntee about concrete, it's gonna be hard and it's gonna crack sooner or later"

 

[Dragster Racer]

I have used different contractors, and even done some myself. It will crack. The control joints will help a bunch. But you may still have cracks. Some seem bigger than others. Most are never a problem.

 

[NUTTSGT]

it'll be ok. that there's only two kinds of concrete (cracked and yet-to-crack)



Just what you wanted to hear.

 

[schv]

Mine's about 7 years old, and there are no visible cracks when it's dry. I spilled some water once and found a hair-line crack so thin you can't see it after it dries even once you know it's there.

 

[Dave88LX]

Cover it with epoxy.

 

[tcianci]

I was just looking at mine, it is 30 YO and it does have one crack that is almost invisible by the epoxy over it. I was in a garage the other day that is over 40 yo and not a single crack! And this was in a cheap tract house raised ranch with the lowest level of featrures and materials...go figure!

 

[dipper]

Yep, I think ya summed it up with
"Cracked or....yet to crack"

and don't forget, "covered up with VCT tile".

I can honestly say that almost 2 years to the date of my pour 6" 4000psi
there is not one crack. I think it's mostly due to having the base
fully compacted since I borrowed a plate compactor and ran it every day or so for a couple of weeks prior to the pour.

It's now covered with VCT so hairline cracks, if I ever get one; will go unnoticed.

 

[Gary S]

Mine cracked the first week it was poured, but the cracks followed the relief cuts like they were supposed to do. Now each winter, the cuts widen as the concrete contracts and they narrow again in the summer when the concrete expands. Relief cuts work.

 

[rieferman]

I've solved the problem!






I just never look down anymore...

 

[rwhite692]

I feel the pain, I looked at my crack every day for like the first month.....

Tha's funny, right there....I don' care who ya are

 

[porschedude996TT]

Just say no to Crack!

Does the amount of slab depth and the amount of steel and the spacing of the steel make a difference. My slab is setting on 2" of sand in a pretty sandy area, 6" thick with 3/8" rebar on 18" centers and it has not cracked...

 

[Daniel Dudley]

I poured a 26 by 30 with no relief cuts about 11 years ago. I noticed a hairline crack last year, which is not too bad, all in all.

To the OP, I would say concrete cracks are very much a case of mind over matter.

I don't mind, so it doesn't matter. I expect that the building will out last me, and it is nothing fancy. I would like to get it finished before I die though, so I have started to use Oh, well for my mantra, as I move on to the next step. You would be surprised how nice it all looks when you step back far enough to look at the total picture.

Concrete is like that too. Take a step back and enjoy that Solid Floor. Park a Jeep over the crack or something. That should conceal it.

 

[checkthisout]

Just say no to Crack!

Does the amount of slab depth and the amount of steel and the spacing of the steel make a difference. My slab is setting on 2" of sand in a pretty sandy area, 6" thick with 3/8" rebar on 18" centers and it has not cracked...

Thickess helps because volume and surface area are not linear.

*MY* concrete guy was fairly insistent that the main thing that leads to cracking other than settling and other things that are beyond his control is having too wet of a pour.

Every gallon of water that goes in is a gallon of shrinkage while drying.

 

[ddawg16]

It's been about a year now on mine....4000lb....#4 rebar....

When I washed down the floor to put down concrete sealer I had a hairline crack in one corner.....I can't see it now.....

Didn't you say now rebar?

 

[FoMoCoPower]

My garage floor is a lil over 30-years old and it has had the same single hairline crack in it for as long as I can remember and I am 27 now. I dunno who poured the concrete,but my father knew what he was doing when he hired that guy!

I have friend`s garages that are under 20 years old with floors that have multiple cracks in them, a few big enough to stick your hand in.

 

[c39er]

My shop floor has fiber mesh/5 sack mix and wire mesh 6" thick on good sub base W/ stress strips. Never cracked anywhere....................... for 10 years till the earthquake came about 7-8 years ago! Now have a crack 4' long-Boo Hoo Hoo...