Concrete and joint deterioration happens to any slab over its lifetime; concrete damage occurs as changes in temperature, heavy equipment operation, heavy traffic, slab settlement, and chemical exposure occur in the course of daily operations. Our team of concrete joint repair contractors will ensure that these damages are identified, assessed, and repaired before the new flooring system is installed.
A concrete floor is very strong in compression, but its tensile strength is relatively low, resulting in cracking of the concrete. To control cracking, concrete expansion joints are placed in the slab at specific locations that create weakened areas where the concrete can crack in a straight line. Floor joints are, in fact, controlled cracks in concrete slabs designed to protect the integrity of the floor, so they are often the first place where the floor begins to deteriorate.
Concrete joint damage is a common problem seen in many industrial concrete floors. In fact, joints are often the greatest source of maintenance problems in industrial or warehouse floors. They can be a health and safety hazard to your people and your equipment.
Unfilled joints are especially vulnerable to damage and tend to spall under the impact from hard wheeled traffic. Because of budgetary or time limitations initially, filling of joints is not always done at the right time, or at all.
Damaged joints result in a bumpy floor surface that can cause:
The strength of your epoxy coated floor is dependent upon proper preparation of the whole floor and especially of the joints, whether they need to be filled, repaired or rebuilt. At Industrial Applications, we take great pride in the joint work our concrete joint repair contractors do to ensure the integrity of the coatings we apply.
The size and cost of floor joint repairs can be kept to a minimum if the damage is detected and repaired at an early stage. In-house patching may provide short-term band-aids, but very little long-term support for your joints. If damage has been allowed to progress beyond the scope of re-filling joints, it will be necessary to reconstruct the joint itself.
What typically happens to do-it-yourself internal or emergency floor joint fix repairs – they fail…quickly.
When joints first begin to chip away, this is the ideal time to repair them. It is an early indication of more serious potential long-term damage. Our team will thoroughly clean and prep the joint area, removing existing damaged joint filler, and cutting the edges to form new arrisses. The joint is then fully filled with semi-rigid joint sealant before being ground smooth to create an impact free transition for wheeled traffic and forklifts.
If minor joint damage goes unrepaired, it can eventually wear joints down so badly that they require a structural rebuild. Our team uses a process of excavating 2 inches of concrete on either side of the joint with a jackhammer. The concrete and any loose debris and dust are removed and the joint is refilled and rehonored. This allows the joint line to move as it is intended to and the floor becomes smooth which protects your wheeled traffic and forklifts from damage.
