What Are the Most Common Types of Concrete Cracks
                     What Are the 
Most Common 
Types of 
Concrete 
Cracks?
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When you come 
across a crack in 
your concrete 
foundation wall, your 
first guess is usually 
that something has 
been done wrong – 
but that isn’t always 
the case. To be frank, 
concrete cracks are 
pretty common, 
some are even 
unavoidable. Here 
we have explained 5 
of the most common 
types of concrete 
cracks for your 
understanding.
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Shrinkage Cracks:
Concrete is full of water when it’s poured to form your foundation. When that water finally leaves the slab, it 
leaves behind big gaps between the solid particles. These voids or spaces can cause the concrete to 
become weaker and more vulnerable to cracking. This sort of cracking occurs often and is known as “ 
ShrinkageCracks”.
Expansion concrete cracks:
Heat causes concrete to expand and when it expands, it pushes against anything in its way (a brick wall or 
nearby slab for instance). When none of them has the capability to stretch, the expanding force cause 
concrete to crack.
Heaving concrete cracks:
When frost enters and freezes the ground it exerts tremendous pressure on your foundation.The harsh frost 
thaw cyclesmake for the perfect environment to cause a foundation crack. Such cracks are referred to 
“heaving concrete cracks”.
Settling concrete cracks:
This form of cracks usually happen in circumstances where a gap is formed in the ground 
underneath the concrete surface. Think about when a big tree is removed from nearby and the 
roots start to decay or when a utility firm digs a channel for their pipes, lines, etc. and don’t 
compact the soil when they fill it again – these are instances where settling concrete cracks are 
expected to occur.
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Cracks caused by overloading the concrete slab:
Even though a poured concrete foundation is by far the superior type of foundation, it does 
have its limitations. Cracking can happen if you place excess amount of weight on top of a 
concrete slab.
As far as residential concrete foundations are concerned, overloading of the actual slab is 
not all that common. Rather, what’s more expected to happen is excess overload on the 
ground underneath the slab.
Following a downpour or snowmelt when the ground underneath is wet and soft, excess 
weight on the slab can squeeze the concrete down and upshot in cracks. Homeowners who 
used to place dumpsters or large recreational vehicles on their driveways are more expected 
to notice this sort of cracking.
For specialized repair of concrete cracks in Toronto, feel free to call 
Accurate Construction LTD. We repair any poured concrete foundation by using the latest 
technology, equipment and process available. Let us know the type of foundation issue you 
have to get the best concrete crack repair quote in Toronto.
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Any questions?
You can find me at
× basementcrackrepair.ca
× [email protected]