What does a concrete repair contractor do?
Do you own a business and are noticing the concrete is having an issue or is starting to crack? Perhaps you are looking at the driveway of your home and are seeing issues with it. It may be time to hire a Montreal concrete repair contractor. If this sounds like something you are interested in, you may also be asking yourself what a concrete repair contractor does? Don’t worry, our experts are here to answer that exact question. Keep reading to learn more.
In short, a concrete repair contractor will help to fix your concrete. But what exactly does that entail? It first means that they will investigate the cracks. This may be harder than you think. See, the crack may be going longer where you are not able to see it. The crack may be going under the service of the concrete. Regardless if you can see a crack or not, the concrete repair contractors job is to see exactly where the create starts and ends so that they can figure out exactly how to fix it.
The concrete repair contractor also will want to look at what the cause of the crack was. There are many different reasons for this. The reason why they want to identify the cause is two different reasons. First, so they can ensure it does not continue having this issue. If something is happening regularly causing it to crack, you either want to stop that thing from happening, or you want to do something so that every time it happens the concrete does not crack. The second reason why you want to investigate what caused the crack is that there may be more that is going on and wrong than just the crack. If you are not sure, you will not know what all is wrong with the concrete.
Here are some of the reasons why your concrete is cracking:
Overloading
This means you did not calculate correctly how much weight the concrete can take and how dense the concrete had to be in order to carry the load. An example of this is when you see a parking area say the truck cannot carry a load over a certain amount. This is typical because the concrete will not be able to carry that much weight and will start to crack and they are trying to prevent this. The pattern of the crack will tell a story in itself when the cracking is overloaded, it is typically flexure, has tension, and maybe shear.
Corrosion
Corrosion is another reason why concrete can end up cracking. This means the pH levels are not sitting well with the concrete and that causes it to crack. If the pH level is higher than 12.5, the layer of ferric oxide can end up causing issues.
Weather
The weather can cause the concrete to crack. This is when it is constantly changing. This is most common if you have consistent freezing weather and then it suddenly gets warm and the concrete thaws out. It can actually end up cracking.
Shrinking
The final reason we are going to talk about why concrete cracks is because it is shrinking. Although these are not all of the reasons, these are the most common and the ones you will primarily want to look into. The concrete repair contractor will look into every reason so they get to the bottom of it. Concrete can shrink through its life for many different reasons. It can shrink during the first couple of months after it is laid or it can shrink after a couple of years from casting. This is one of the main reasons why it needs to be placed down and reinforced properly in order for it to have the longest life possible.
The final step in what the concrete repair contractor will do is to make a game plan. You can first state what you want the concrete to end up looking back like. Do you want it as good as new? Do you simply want more of a quick fix? (We wouldn’t recommend just a quick fix as it may end up happening again soon.) From there, the concrete repair contractor can come up with a plan and let you know some options in order to fix the concrete crack.
As you can see, a concrete repair contractor can really assist you with a lot. It’s important if you notice any kind of issue with your concrete that you call a repair contractor immediately. If they can fix it when it is just starting to become an issue, you may be saving yourself a huge headache and a larger bill down the road. It’s much better to take care of a small problem than taking care of a big issue. For more information on concrete repair contractors or to speak with one about an issue you are experiencing, contact us today.