It took two days to pour the drive because of rain. The saw joints ( I was
mistakenly calling them expansion joints) were cut in on the third day.
No way not to have the concrete truck on the compacted area. It's either
that or ruin the lawn.
Perhaps the saw joints are no more than 12ft apart, plus there is one down
the center of the entire driveway. I was guessing on distance, doing this
from work.
No vehicle traffic for 9 nine days.
So he's coming tomorrow and what would be a reasonable expectation on my
part. OK, maybe all concrete will eventually crack, but jeez I didn't
expect it in two weeks.
I was doing this drive over two years and next year there is still another
250 ft of drive to pour so that gives me a little leverage... maybe.
How would you try and make me, the customer, happy?
Thanks,

"DanG" wrote in message
news:U5Koe.85405$yV4.55253@okepread03...
It sounds as if the saw joints were performed too late. Saw
joints and jointer tracks are control joints. Tar joints are
expansion joints. Cold joints are construction joints.

The best dollars spent are on the preparation of the sub grade.
Good compaction, uniform slab thickness, do not allow concrete
trucks on compacted grade are all good practices. I pour most
concrete without rebar or remesh.

Rebar should not continue through joints. I would limit the
distance between saw joints to 12 feet or less. Saw joints should
be performed on the same day as the pour as soon as the slab can
be cut without raveling.

The slab should be cured. GOOD:Cure with curing compound applied
by the contractor immediately after pouring. BETTER: visqueen
cover with water trapped on the slab (this often leaves a mottled
appearance and /or visqueen printing) BEST: total immersion
accomplished by building an appropriate dam around the pour -
usually not possible on sloped drives, etc. The water cure should
be applied for +/- 7 days. Keep heavy objects (cars, trucks, etc)
off the concrete for a minimum of 3 days, preferred 7 days to
allow the concrete to make enough initial strength to deal with
the loads.

These are all givens about concrete. Here is another: Concrete
will crack. The trick is to get it to crack where you want it to,
preferably in a neat straight line. Sometimes there is just no
simple answer to why concrete cracks where it does. Heat
shrinkage, hot rebar, design mix, finishing techniques, wind, hot
sun all have profound effects on concrete.

I hope that you and your contractor can arrive at a solution that
is equitable to both of you. Remember he has a lot of time and
material in this job already. I do not guarantee concrete not to
crack, in fact, I make owners aware of the potential before hand.
I am also aware that you have money and quality expectations that
should be part of the overall resolution.

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