Common Concrete Slab Issues and Their Defects

Most people don't realize that a concrete slab is a vital component of a structure that is responsible for the stability of a building, and any errors in the piece could result in catastrophic problems. Thus, it is essential to familiarize with the most common concrete slab issues and why it is vital to have them dealt with promptly. The role of a concrete slab A concrete slab is the stable foundation of a building made of strong concrete at ground level. Despite the fact that various materials are used to construct the foundation of a building, concrete is the most common due to its durability as well overall lack of the need for regular maintenance. Nonetheless, concrete slabs are prone to crack and other defects.

Common defects in concrete slabs:

•    Blisters. Like the name suggests, blisters occur when bubbles of air get trapped underneath the surface of the sealed concrete slab thus causing the formation of bumps. Blisters are typically detected when the concrete slab is getting laid. To fix the defect, an alteration of the concrete mixing process needs to get done to avoid the occurrence of other blisters.

•    Cracking. Cracking is one of the most severe problems in concrete slabs. Common causes of cracking include drying shrinkage; loads applied on the plate, thermal contraction and internal as well as an external restraint to shortening. In industrial sites, industrial construction service providers usually detect and handle the cracks that occur during hardening; however, it's the cracks that occur over time that get to be problematic because they develop along reinforced steel or adjacent to the building's foundation. Frost heaves are the most critical type of cracks on concrete slabs because they indicate a substantial structural defect on the plate which requires an immediate fix.

•    Curling. Curling is gets characterized by the distortion of concrete slabs edges and corners as a result of varying temperature or moisture content between the upper and lower slabs. Typically, the top plate tends to cool and shrink faster than the bottom slab which is warmer and wetter. Curling usually occurs during the drying process and thus it can get detected and dealt with promptly before it becomes a problem. If curling gets neglected, the slab is bound to start cracking after a few years.

•    Spalling or surface scaling. Spalling takes place when the degradation of the hardened concrete slabs reaches a depth of between 1.5mm and 5mm within the first year after it got placed. Industrial construction service providers usually accredit spalling to either the slab getting finished while there is still bleeding water present or overloading which leads to low air content on the surface.

For more information contact a company like Liquid Rock Constructions Pty Ltd.


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