Concrete deck areas around in-ground pools and spas usually develop cracks over time. They are often overlooked and occasionally may be a sign of more severe problems. Large cracks distract from a pools natural beauty and can be trip hazards for both adults and kids. The reasons for a pool deck to crack can range from weather and seasonal temperature variations to soil issues and leaks.
Rainwater and melting snow may be a drawback, mainly once it runs into the concrete cracks and freezes. When water freezes, it expands and creates tremendous pressure on the concrete, which leads to damage and cracking. Winter after winter, and season after season, this process repeats itself.
As summer rolls around, the concrete will be changing temperatures quite dramatically. Sometimes it becomes so hot that you can’t even walk barefooted across the deck. This constant expansion and contraction of the concrete takes its toll, and more damage occurs.
Even worse, if no proper control and expansion joints are present in the concrete deck, what started out as a pure hairline crack can easily spawl out of control.
Let's take a look at why concrete cracks form in the first place:
- A significant portion of the US and Canada has expansive soils, and when expansive soils get wet, they expand. Naturally, this soil expansion causes the concrete to crack. When left unchecked, the cracks allow more moisture to penetrate into the ground, thus more expansion and more cracking.
- Lack of proper expansion and control joints. Contractors know the game, and they know that concrete cracks. A job that is worth your money will be from a contractor or team that takes the proper preventative measures by installing adequate expansion and control joints. It's not uncommon to see small mistakes made by inexperienced teams or contractors looking to save a few dollars by cutting corners. Unfortunately, they can turn into a massive money sink for you.
- Failure to seal cracks when they first occur. Just like many things, doing preventative repairs on your concrete can limit unsuspecting damage in the future. Therefore, it essential that you seal any new cracks once or twice a year to minimize future cracking.
- Poor compaction. The soil around a pool seldom gets compacted well because when the pool is first built the pool builder doesn’t want to put a lot of compaction force on the soil around or near the pool. Secondly, since the ground isn’t carrying a load like the house pad, contractors do not put as much emphases on getting an excellent compaction job.
The Solution:
Take preventative measures and seal the cracks in your concrete deck before they get worse over time. Our range of do-it-yourself kits use the same materials that your professional waterproofing contractor uses, but made easy for anyone to use.
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