Chat with a driveway guy made me rethink my expansion joints

I was finishing up a 4-car driveway in Austin last Tuesday and a guy who's been doing flatwork since the 80s stopped by to check out my crew's work. He pointed out I was cutting my joints a bit too close together, like every 8 feet instead of the 10 or 12 he recommended for that thickness of slab. At first I wanted to brush him off since I've been doing this 6 years now and thought I had it down. But he pulled out his phone and showed me photos of a job he did in the 90s that still had zero cracking between the joints. That hit different because I've been dealing with hairline cracks on maybe 1 out of 5 of my bigger pours lately. So I tried his spacing on this commercial walkway I bid last week and the finish came out cleaner too since I had less saw cutting to rush through. Anybody else gotten a tip from an old timer that actually improved your numbers?

3 comments

3 Comments

emma_rodriguez3020d ago

12 feet is pushing it on a 4 inch slab in Texas heat though.

nancy_king2920d ago

My brother's slab in Phoenix cracked within a year.

emma_garcia20d ago

And that Texas heat just makes the ground shift more, so even a good pour can crack.