Settlement Cracks In Garage Floor

Carson dunlop associates sketch shows how loose soil and gravel under a garage floor can combine with poor drainage to lead to serious slab settlement and a broken slab where no reinforcement was used in.

Settlement cracks in garage floor.

This drying causes the cement to shrink pulling apart each pour until a crack develops. A 20 foot square of freshly poured concrete will shrink about a 1 8 of an inch in each direction. This results in settlement of the slab in various points causing it to crack as seen in photo. Settlement cracks are generally more serious than shrinkage cracks.

Why settlement cracks occur on a garage floor. Garage or basement floor settlement may also produce a tipped floor even if the concrete is not cracked or the floor may settle uniformly. Another reason for crack is bowing of floor due to improper sub slab prep. Settlement cracks are larger and more serious than shrinkage cracks and have the potential to cause more substantial damage.

A poorly installed floor base will increase the likelihood of settlement crack issues. Meaning some areas were not properly compacted. New homes cracks that occur in the first few months or years. Ultimately severity depends on crack width and if it continues to grow or not.

How to determine if the cracks in walls are serious. Settlement cracks occur when the soil beneath the flooring shifts.