Control joint missing in concrete driveway

onni.palaste · Apr 28, 2023 6:23 pm

Private inspector picked up that in our driveway, control joint exceeds the maximum spacings, and as such, are non-compliant. Its an exposed aggregate concrete in a slightly sloped driveway and was poured end of last year.
As it’s already more than 4 months, is it fixable by making saw cuts now to make control joint or am I looking at fighting with my builder for one more reason to get the whole driveway redone?

BuildingandLegal · Apr 28, 2023 8:01 pm

Just get a concrete cutter out to install a second cut in the mid section of the larger piece.

onni.palaste · Apr 29, 2023 3:41 pm

BuildingandLegal

Just get a concrete cutter out to install a second cut in the mid section of the larger piece.

Thanks but I’ve read it in different places saying sawing should be completed within the first six to 18 hours and and never delayed more than 24 hours. So would it be effective to do it after 4 months?

Callifo · May 02, 2023 10:42 pm

To my understanding early saw cuts are to control shrinkage cracks, so doing them now would be pointless. Control joints may reduce ugly cracking during periods of soil movement, however you have aggregate so its probably not going to be overly noticeable.

Mine were done similarly at wider than the recommended maximum amount, and the concreter said control joints are uglier and more noticeable than small cracks through the aggregate. Two years on, he was right; there have been cracks that formed that followed the control joints, and others where there weren't. The ones that formed where there weren't control joints I need to stand over it, in bright sun to even see them. The control joints that were put in, and I filled with gap filler, are much more noticeable.

It would likely be a different story on plain concrete, where the random crack profile would be highly noticeable.