Thread: Whole Lotta Spalling Goin' On

This is the driveway of the house next to today's inspection. Most driveways in this neighborhood have significant cracking and differential movement due to expansive soils. I don't know what the deal is with this driveway. Too much salt or snowmelt. Water / cement ratio too high. I don't know.

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I love what they've done with those planters next to the driveway Bruce. If life gives you lemons, make a concrete garden.

Why not just crack up the rest of the driveway instead of having to look at that? I'd say that is from too much salt or someone has been doing some serious acid washing over the years.

It looks like the roads up in Oklahoma I travel on to see family sometimes. It not the potholes you avoid hitting, its the good pieces of the road that will take out your front-end out on your truck.

It looks like scaling.

Caused by not using air-entrained concrete or by improper installation (overworking, excessive water in the concrete mix, etc).

When concrete is allowed to set too long, it will not be "soft" enough to properly float.
The "mason"??? then adds water to the surface in order to create a floatable slurry.
Unfortunately this new "cap" on the lower layer of hardened concrete doesn't always adhere properly, causing failures as pictured.

Also, In colder climates, after a crack forms, water will infiltrate the concrete, ice up, and, as expansion from ice forming occurs, will separate layers.

So its not "Aggravated aggregate"? But I love that "Green" planter, great water saver....