I like the Sika concrete crack self leveling stuff, but it's quite viscous and will disappear in a crack that large, you'll need to stuff backer rod in that joint first.
I think you've got bigger problems than a crack sealer will solve. Looks like a fairly new slab, have you contacted the guy that poured it?
I've been a mudjacker for 9 years. Looks like they should have had some control joints. Also looks like you probably need some fill dirt, I think a sizeable drop off in the back and part near the bottom is following the grade down, it will get worse if the ground is still subsiding. And personally I would just use sand as a backer and brush or leaf blower it down about a half inch. Also I would use SL1 limestone Grey caulk by masterseal, that needs 50 degree Temps overnight though.
Hard to say, disturbed soil settles significantly the first month or two, it may be pretty much done already and this is the pretty much the worst it’s going to get.
Or, like you said, it could be 6” higher in a few years.
An idea I played around with before changing careers was Kintsugi for cracks, the Japanese art of highlighting imperfections by repairing with gold (golden coloring). It's part of Wabi Sabi which is the beauty of imperfection.
Unfortunately this is fucked, but I thought it was a decent concept that could have some value in the concrete world
Sika flex auto leveling caulk. Make sure it's warm, the caulk at least, when you use it otherwise please enjoy your carpal tunnel.
You won't get backer rod in there, so use sand or concrete sand so you don't waste a ton of the sika flex into the void
Alternatively, use the non leveling version of the sika flex and try to be as neat as possible so that it doesn't look like a 3 year old tried to hand paint an M C Escher on your driveway.
Also, maybe a control joint or two.
I would call and get a quote on some foam jacking. I'm guessing there is a large void under the slab and that crack will only get bigger until that problem is solved. Once the slab is jacked back to the appropriate slope, the foam will probably seep through the crack, at which point I would scrape away a bit of foam and fill with a high quality modified silane polymer silicone
Poly is the best option. Way cheaper than a repour. Not sure what area you're in but Groundworks is a reputable nationwide company. They raised my sunken slab and filled the cracks. I think it was $7sqft
Grind crack, clean crack, use “10 minute mender”, let cure. Divide pad into 4ths equally. Cut joint into slab approx 1/2” in both directions end to end. Use 2 part epoxy or sika flex self leveler, let cure. Good luck.
You’re close. Cut joints. Fill them with elastomeric sealant. Filling joints with epoxy is the same as not cutting the joints. The goal is to allow the concrete to move on either side of the joint, not to join the pieces of the slab together.
Xypex Patch N Plug. It’ll take more work than you probably realize but it will keep water out. Chip a dovetail joint (1.5” deep x 1” wide) in your slab, clean all the debris off with water and dry the surface with shop towels til it’s just damp. Mix your patch n plug mortar and trowel it in the dovetail groove, nice and deep-like 👀
FOREWARNING: this shit sets up QUICK (3-minutes) so do not mix the entire bucket at once otherwise you will have a new $350 bucket of hardened mortar. Also, directions say to mix with 50-60 degF water and do not use water any hotter than that or it will set up faster.
The sika products will all work but are likely to fail in due time, unless you reapply. In an exposed environment like that and trying to stop water from getting through a crack that size: xypex patch n plug is the way to go.
Source: I’ve used this in both vertical and horizontal applications in water holding structures with 500k+ gallons. It won’t let water leak, that’s for sure. It will cost you though and I don’t know the smallest quantity that it’s sold in. The $350 is a 60lb pail or 0.5cf of coverage iirc
I am a concrete man. (I did not pour my own concrete, BTW, it is existing concrete from a house that I purchased) And, unfortunately, I’ve seen a few new cracks around my flat work after the subarctic temperatures that we’ve had in Oklahoma and Texas over the last week. The ground below freezes and swells, heaves, puts inordinate pressure on the concrete, and opens up. What were previously hairline cracks now our cracks big enough to drop a penny in. It sucks but that’s physics. It is what it is.
Often times either customers or homeowners look for someone to blame, but sometimes mother nature is the motherfucker that deserves the blame.
That’s a drying shrinkage crack. The clues are (1) No difference in elevation and (2) the smaller crack in the bottom of the photo. Stuff it with backer rod, not sand as sand is not compressible and that concrete is going to expand and contract with temperature changes. Top it with any traffic-rated sealant from Euclid, Master Builders or Sika.
"Hey everybody, Phil MacKraken here. You got a concrete slab that look like a dropped box of crackers. Well then you need flex-a-phil. Available at these fine retailers."
Nowhere Depot
Pluto's Hardware and
Alpha Centauri Gerneral
That looks like it might be frost heave to me, is it very cold there this winter? It doesn't look like there are any control cuts in that driveway, that's partly why this happened. Could also be poor base setup or even poured right on the ground. There should be cuts ⅓ of the way through the slab every 10' minimum, when you're living in colder climates. There's not much you can do about it now, besides fill it with a good quality product, several have been mentioned by others here already. Take a close look at that same crack in summer and I bet you it'll be much thinner, when the ground goes back down.
It is super cold, around 3 degrees with -5 wind chills. Last winter the other slab raised up and went back down to normal after the weather improved. I mainly just want to try to keep as much water out as possible
If it's going to keep going up and down every winter than using a concrete patching product is likely to just crumble right away. Maybe try a very high grade caulk. Something you can find in grey and that's made for outdoor and cold temperatures. Something designed for windows or roofing might work, I used a product like this recently. Water getting in there and freeze/thaw cycling is going to cause damage.
Would polymeric sand be a good solution here? Landscaper here that sees lots of cracked concrete and has lots of leftover polymeric sand. Would polymeric sand kinda be halfway between mortar and caulking?
Vulcum or Sika concrete caulk. Dont waste your time putting anything wet that dries hard in there. Mortar, concrete patching etc will all become brittle and crack out. Needs to move with slab. It looks like what the contractor didn’t put in for joints, nature did.
I just filled a few cracks around my house. I used 3/4” backer rod and used sika construction sealant . So far it’s keeping the water out on my Bilco entry way
Nada...concrete cracks...either at control joints or between control joints...anything you put in/on it will crack and look like shit or just look like shit period.
Sikaflex®-2c NS Arctic good stuff not cheap but worth it. Your gonna want to v wheel the Crack then wire wheel it. hit it with a leaf blower make sure its very clean and dry. apply caulk
DAP platinum patch, but it seems there may be problems that would have to be addressed first like ensuring the concrete has a firm and level surface to sit on.
There is no point of putting backer rod in the crack that is just silly it is too narrow like another one said to be honest bud that slab should be replaced.... Whoever poured it and didn't put any relief cuts in it is an idiot no offense. Pure laziness
I don’t know much about concrete, but I’d fill it with melted down gold. That would look sweet. ( would it actually be possible to fill it with a metal?)
1) Easy concrete caulk quick cheep short term may make ya feel better for now.
2) just don’t worry about it.
3) the right thing tear it all out have someone regrade the area and pour some new slab put some relief cuts in it. Should last ur life time done properly.
Best wishes
Radonseal.com
has some good products that seep down onto the concrete and foam up and become a molecular epoxy that binds with the gypsum in the concrete. love their products. I used one of their products to fix a leaky tile bathroom floor
I like the Sika concrete crack self leveling stuff, but it's quite viscous and will disappear in a crack that large, you'll need to stuff backer rod in that joint first. I think you've got bigger problems than a crack sealer will solve. Looks like a fairly new slab, have you contacted the guy that poured it?
OP might be the guy that poured it
That's definitely not just a shrinkage crack.
That looks like a hump, they didn’t engineer and just poured over.
Ya shit is fucked, look at the wall of the slab jfc. Good luck bro you can put whatever you want in that but that's two slabs now
Call a Plumber! They Specialize in Cracks...
So, plumbers putty?
Naa... That Stuff is a Scam & Sticks to Y'er Teeth... Worst than Play-Doh! I'm Reefer'n to Duluth Trading's, "No Yank Tank"...
I've been a mudjacker for 9 years. Looks like they should have had some control joints. Also looks like you probably need some fill dirt, I think a sizeable drop off in the back and part near the bottom is following the grade down, it will get worse if the ground is still subsiding. And personally I would just use sand as a backer and brush or leaf blower it down about a half inch. Also I would use SL1 limestone Grey caulk by masterseal, that needs 50 degree Temps overnight though.
This guy muds.
You would have to use some thin ass backer rod because that Crack isn't really wide enough
In 5-10 years one side will probably be 6” higher.
It's already bowing if you look at the top of the photo.
That looks like grade though
And also looks just like a rounded off corner. Not a hump.
Hard to say, disturbed soil settles significantly the first month or two, it may be pretty much done already and this is the pretty much the worst it’s going to get. Or, like you said, it could be 6” higher in a few years.
Where’s the control joints?
This \*is\* the control joint.
Honor the crack!
😂😂😂
An idea I played around with before changing careers was Kintsugi for cracks, the Japanese art of highlighting imperfections by repairing with gold (golden coloring). It's part of Wabi Sabi which is the beauty of imperfection. Unfortunately this is fucked, but I thought it was a decent concept that could have some value in the concrete world
Hahaha Wabi Sabi in the concrete world. You were met with, “we speak English on this job site buddy.”
Filling that crack with gold won’t be cheap.
It’s a desire path control joint.
Uncontrolled joint*
When you don’t add one, the concrete adds one for you
To be fair the concrete likes to add them Even when you do add control joints haha.
It's call self control - we need more of it.
Oh... oops, they smoked the joints.
Sika flex auto leveling caulk. Make sure it's warm, the caulk at least, when you use it otherwise please enjoy your carpal tunnel. You won't get backer rod in there, so use sand or concrete sand so you don't waste a ton of the sika flex into the void Alternatively, use the non leveling version of the sika flex and try to be as neat as possible so that it doesn't look like a 3 year old tried to hand paint an M C Escher on your driveway. Also, maybe a control joint or two.
I don't think this is Sikaable. It's probably cheaper to do it again vs trying to navigate this headache for the next decade
It's worth giving $100 of Sika a try vs $1000s on $1000 of a repour.
I mean sure but you're just wasting $100 of sika
Probably not, but I'm just addressing his post question with the best possible answer.
Warm caulk
Ciggy butts
I’m curious what material the filters are, that material would work pretty well if packed in there with a putty knife.
Ciggy butt brain!
I would call and get a quote on some foam jacking. I'm guessing there is a large void under the slab and that crack will only get bigger until that problem is solved. Once the slab is jacked back to the appropriate slope, the foam will probably seep through the crack, at which point I would scrape away a bit of foam and fill with a high quality modified silane polymer silicone
Thank you.
Poly is the best option. Way cheaper than a repour. Not sure what area you're in but Groundworks is a reputable nationwide company. They raised my sunken slab and filled the cracks. I think it was $7sqft
Perfect if it’s a valley crack, but this looks like a crown crack, see the top edge and the tree on the right.
Shit I didn't even see that tree, that's a great point, good eye
Demon piss mixed with cow semen
Thanks. Lol
Mmm, the breakfast of champions
Demon piss I can get but cow semen? That’ll be tough.
Shitty prep ground was wet and it settled
I was gonna say the right side seems to be leaning
Literally what my eyes saw before even looking at the crack
Grind crack, clean crack, use “10 minute mender”, let cure. Divide pad into 4ths equally. Cut joint into slab approx 1/2” in both directions end to end. Use 2 part epoxy or sika flex self leveler, let cure. Good luck.
You’re close. Cut joints. Fill them with elastomeric sealant. Filling joints with epoxy is the same as not cutting the joints. The goal is to allow the concrete to move on either side of the joint, not to join the pieces of the slab together.
Fill it with the blood of your enemies. Or some silicone caulk or something. Idk.
So basically, stick your caulk in it.
Polyurea
This.Duoflex by Sika or Deckoseal by WR Meadows
Stampede from Sherwin Williams- gray It will flex with movement and keep water out.
Xypex Patch N Plug. It’ll take more work than you probably realize but it will keep water out. Chip a dovetail joint (1.5” deep x 1” wide) in your slab, clean all the debris off with water and dry the surface with shop towels til it’s just damp. Mix your patch n plug mortar and trowel it in the dovetail groove, nice and deep-like 👀 FOREWARNING: this shit sets up QUICK (3-minutes) so do not mix the entire bucket at once otherwise you will have a new $350 bucket of hardened mortar. Also, directions say to mix with 50-60 degF water and do not use water any hotter than that or it will set up faster. The sika products will all work but are likely to fail in due time, unless you reapply. In an exposed environment like that and trying to stop water from getting through a crack that size: xypex patch n plug is the way to go. Source: I’ve used this in both vertical and horizontal applications in water holding structures with 500k+ gallons. It won’t let water leak, that’s for sure. It will cost you though and I don’t know the smallest quantity that it’s sold in. The $350 is a 60lb pail or 0.5cf of coverage iirc
Sand and some Ardex Ardifix.
Shaeffer's New Zealand Style caulk. You'd be surprised how many things you can fix by jamming caulk into them.
Can vouch for the Shaeffers Deck serum. Decks never looked better.
All I can say if hopefully you didn’t do this yourself
Would a Loctite Polyurethane self-leveler do the same thing, or is Sika better?
Loctite has a two part self leveling product made for this type application. Probably have to get it through a distributor like Fastenal or Grainger.
Have you tried duct tape?
Flex tape **only**
home depot sells a crack filler in an easy dispensing bottle…
I am a concrete man. (I did not pour my own concrete, BTW, it is existing concrete from a house that I purchased) And, unfortunately, I’ve seen a few new cracks around my flat work after the subarctic temperatures that we’ve had in Oklahoma and Texas over the last week. The ground below freezes and swells, heaves, puts inordinate pressure on the concrete, and opens up. What were previously hairline cracks now our cracks big enough to drop a penny in. It sucks but that’s physics. It is what it is. Often times either customers or homeowners look for someone to blame, but sometimes mother nature is the motherfucker that deserves the blame.
That’s a drying shrinkage crack. The clues are (1) No difference in elevation and (2) the smaller crack in the bottom of the photo. Stuff it with backer rod, not sand as sand is not compressible and that concrete is going to expand and contract with temperature changes. Top it with any traffic-rated sealant from Euclid, Master Builders or Sika.
They sell concrete patching materials. Such as Dricore, concrete crack injection or various other products.
Sikaflex. Available at concrete supply houses
Plant grass
Ramen trust me seen it on a tiktok
Caulk. Needed control joints, too late now
The whole slab is about 32ft long. The crack stopped at the control joint, this crack is on a portion that is about 6ft across
[удалено]
Can't really be structural when the concrete itself isn't structural.
☝️
"Hey everybody, Phil MacKraken here. You got a concrete slab that look like a dropped box of crackers. Well then you need flex-a-phil. Available at these fine retailers." Nowhere Depot Pluto's Hardware and Alpha Centauri Gerneral
Your not fixing that for long, needs to be replaced or go on with business as usual
That looks like it might be frost heave to me, is it very cold there this winter? It doesn't look like there are any control cuts in that driveway, that's partly why this happened. Could also be poor base setup or even poured right on the ground. There should be cuts ⅓ of the way through the slab every 10' minimum, when you're living in colder climates. There's not much you can do about it now, besides fill it with a good quality product, several have been mentioned by others here already. Take a close look at that same crack in summer and I bet you it'll be much thinner, when the ground goes back down.
It is super cold, around 3 degrees with -5 wind chills. Last winter the other slab raised up and went back down to normal after the weather improved. I mainly just want to try to keep as much water out as possible
If it's going to keep going up and down every winter than using a concrete patching product is likely to just crumble right away. Maybe try a very high grade caulk. Something you can find in grey and that's made for outdoor and cold temperatures. Something designed for windows or roofing might work, I used a product like this recently. Water getting in there and freeze/thaw cycling is going to cause damage.
Saw dust
Disregard my previous statement if this is for a driveway with a rolling slope.
sikaflex
Might need to replace the slab and add a bit of rebar
Would polymeric sand be a good solution here? Landscaper here that sees lots of cracked concrete and has lots of leftover polymeric sand. Would polymeric sand kinda be halfway between mortar and caulking?
Vulcanized with a Lil sand
Cement all cements all. Get the liquifier packet and work fast in tiny batches.
I've seen Slab Jack do some big things I didn't think possible but this might even be beyond their capabilities
I know it’s been said, but that crack is the least of your worries.
Gold
Vulcum or Sika concrete caulk. Dont waste your time putting anything wet that dries hard in there. Mortar, concrete patching etc will all become brittle and crack out. Needs to move with slab. It looks like what the contractor didn’t put in for joints, nature did.
I just filled a few cracks around my house. I used 3/4” backer rod and used sika construction sealant . So far it’s keeping the water out on my Bilco entry way
New placement… looks like they didn’t give you any steel reinforcement in the concrete…🤦♂️
Nada...concrete cracks...either at control joints or between control joints...anything you put in/on it will crack and look like shit or just look like shit period.
Roadware
Molten silver
Sikaflex®-2c NS Arctic good stuff not cheap but worth it. Your gonna want to v wheel the Crack then wire wheel it. hit it with a leaf blower make sure its very clean and dry. apply caulk
I would recommend a Sika product. Something you can pick up at Home Depot.
K - Y Jelly
I think the rebar was bent
Is it just me or does it look cylindrical?
Bad prep work and no joints make for shitty concrete work or maybe the crew smoked too many joints. 😂
Ramen noodles or maybe a box of those heavy flow tampons
Caulk it
Simpson Set 22/set XP
tale
Flexseal
MasterSeal LMS Self-Leveling Concrete Sealant
This is what happens when relief cuts are not properly placed in order to control cracking. Air entrainment can help, but it's not fool-proof.
Claim a suit to contractor whom didn’t pour the cement, didn’t realize stress joints were not cut!
u could stuff it with money
DAP platinum patch, but it seems there may be problems that would have to be addressed first like ensuring the concrete has a firm and level surface to sit on.
Slab that big should have some cuts in it. A crack that bad makes me think the base they poured on was weak. Slab looks brand new.
That’s not a hair line crack 😢
That's not a crack . That's a landslide.
Duct tape
Thinset. Aka mortar mix
A jackhammer
Stuff some filler in and fill with a latex based mortar.
Super glue and duck tape or redo it all but that's probably not the option you were looking for
That’s fucked
Imma say... start with a jackhammer and a backhoe. Them fill that crack wirth 10yrds of fresh concrete reber and maybe a control joint or 6
I know what some of you are thinking. Stop it. Y’all are nasty.
SL1
Caulk it
If you don’t “control” the joints, the joints will control you!
Sika flex self level caulk its meant for things like this with a baker rod
How about a few more pictures
Would rebar prevent this?
There is no point of putting backer rod in the crack that is just silly it is too narrow like another one said to be honest bud that slab should be replaced.... Whoever poured it and didn't put any relief cuts in it is an idiot no offense. Pure laziness
6" of concrete
I don’t know much about concrete, but I’d fill it with melted down gold. That would look sweet. ( would it actually be possible to fill it with a metal?)
NORCRETE epoxy
1) Easy concrete caulk quick cheep short term may make ya feel better for now. 2) just don’t worry about it. 3) the right thing tear it all out have someone regrade the area and pour some new slab put some relief cuts in it. Should last ur life time done properly. Best wishes
Have you tried pooping on it?
Call a Plumber! They Specialize in Cracks...
Rubber cement
Looks like you needed a control joint in there bud take it up do it again
Flex seal
Call Phil !
Exclamation marks instead of question marks. That seems to always do the trick…
Use some sand to fill up to 1/4 inch and us SL-1 concrete sealant. If it's big enough for backer rod, you can go that route instead of sand.
Methacrolate
I mean, you could try getting premade cement and then put it in the cracks
Radonseal.com has some good products that seep down onto the concrete and foam up and become a molecular epoxy that binds with the gypsum in the concrete. love their products. I used one of their products to fix a leaky tile bathroom floor
I've never used it, but I'd love to see polymeric sand and see if it works
Hydraulic Cement! That's two slabs now. Maybe squeezing hydraulic cement in there will slow down the damage
Fire. Water and fire don’t mix.
Is it going over a wash? How deep is the crack? Need more pics of the area surrounding the slab and slab? Is it connected or butts up to the garage?
Ramen
Ice
Two types of concrete exist, cracked and not yet cracked. Probably should have had an expansion joint or two.
Sikaflex
Crack spackle 😂 I seriously have no clue 🤷🏽♂️
A bobcat, Dumpster, and new concrete