Depending on the layout of your home, a porch or patio might be a cornerstone of your home. Whether you use it to wind down or enjoy times with family and friends, you don’t want your concrete looking dilapidated with cracks or chips. You want your space to be inviting and comfortable and fixing distressed concrete will make those summer evening hangouts much more enjoyable.
If you find yourself in this situation, don’t worry. Most patios or porches will have cracked or chipped concrete at some point. It is natural to have this happen, which means that there are plenty of solution plans for these issues. Thankfully, we can offer you good insight into getting the whole fix for your home.
Identifying decaying concrete
While it is easy to see chips or cracks in your concrete, that isn’t the only sign that the area is decaying. If you notice slanting in the concrete or weeds growing out small cracks, that is a telltale sign that you have issues on the horizon. What might start as a small crack could turn into a wider crack, a trip hazard, or invite pests/weeds to grow in the new opening.
On the side of chipping, the issues can also start small and get more serious quickly. When dealing with chipped concrete, the issue could be a standalone issue, or it could be a sign of the structural integrity of the area. There is not a visual indicator of whether it is standalone or encompassing the entire region. With that in mind, we suggest getting the concrete inspected as quickly as possible. The faster an issue is addressed, the cheaper the solution will be for you. Before we jump into those solutions, let’s take a look at what can cause the concrete to decrease in quality.
Reasons behind decaying concrete
As you may know, cracks in your concrete can come from a wide range of different things. The different types of cracks are discussed more in-depth here, but the short story made long is this: Yes, sometimes a crack can be an indication that you have foundation issues. However, they can come from aging, shrinking, or weather.
With a patio or porch, chances are that your cracks are NOT foundation related. While the same causes behind the cracks may be the same (shifting soil, intense weather, etc.), it is likely that you will not have to worry about your foundation collapsing just because you are seeing issues with your patio or porch. When it comes to those areas, there are three likely culprits.
The idea of something suffering from wear and tear is a very real concept and can be a large reason as to why your concrete is cracking or chipping. Just like most things in life, the concrete in your patio or porch can deteriorate as it grows older. While you can take certain measures to extend the lifetime of your concrete, you will eventually hit the point.
Other than aging, another factor that could play into the chipping or cracking of your porch/patio is intense weather. Being outside, this area is subject to mother nature. This means that it will see a variety of weather patterns ranging from intense rain to ice and snow. When a slab of concrete is subjected to so much weather, it will crack eventually. Just like aging, there are precautionary actions you can take to help protect from the weather, but the weather will ultimately win.
The final cause we are going to discuss is the high level of foot traffic that these areas withstand. Between kids, friends, family, and yourself, there are a lot of people that walk across your concrete. On top of this, you have delivery people, outside furniture, and pets that could also contribute stress to the concrete. As strong as concrete is, there is only so much it can go through before it begins to falter in the form of chips and concretes. Now that you know what to look for and how it got there, what’s next?
Proper steps to fixing your concrete
Just because you won’t have your house falling in on you doesn’t mean that you should neglect your concrete issues. Other than being visually unpleasing to look at, there are health hazards that exist with damaged concrete. The main one is that it poses a trip hazard to anyone that would walk in the area.
With that said, the best thing you can do is contact an expert to look at your concrete. At TFS, we offer free inspections to make sure that you know what you are dealing with. Whether it be a small crack or a multi-layered issue, our design specialists will be able to diagnose your issues and offer you a solution plan that gives you a whole fix.
As we’ve said, there are a lot of different things that can cause your issues. This means that the solution plans will be wide in variety, tailored to suit your specific issues. Chances are, though, that your solution will employ the use of our NexusPro Concrete Sealer. This sealant is a weather-resistant mixture that closes off the gaps in your concrete to ensure that you don’t suffer additional consequences from the cracks. Furthermore, the sealant can be used with our PolyLevel, which is used to lift concrete. As this short excerpt on patio repair notes, your fix might include PolyLevel AND NexusPro, which is why we note that the materials can be used together safely.
As you start the process of fixing your patio or porch, it is important to remember a few things. The longer you wait to get the ball rolling, the longer the process will take. It is suggested to take action as soon as you notice to ensure that you can get back to enjoying your home.
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