Homeowners Beware!

Wednesday, November 17th, 2021 by Marissa Metcalf

When we say stress in the winter months, you might be thinking around the holidays. But in fact, winter can cause a lot of trouble for the concrete around your home.

Everything from snow, sand and salt, to freezing soil and thawing impacts your concrete. This is why many homeowners feel their concrete has moved or deteriorated after the winter months.

But how does all of this affect the concrete?

Freezing temperatures cause what’s known as a frost line in the soil, including what’s under your concrete slabs. Water in the soil freezes and causes the soil to expand. This expanding soil can heave your slabs upwards.

There are times the concrete returns back to normal once the ground below has thawed. But it’s also possible the concrete slab stays out of places and needs to be leveled by a professional.

Moisture from melting snow can seep below the slab. This can wash away softened-soil after the ground has thawed. The result is a void under the slab.

Without the soil supporting the concrete, it can start to crack and sink.

Finally, there are a lot of measures homeowners take to keep ice off their concrete walkways, patios and driveways. This includes using salt or sand on the surface. Unfortunately, many of these methods wear away the concrete.

Concrete is porous, so it soaks up water at the surface — maybe from rain or melting snow. When temperatures drop below freezing, water turns into ice, which expands and breaks the walls of those tiny pores, weakening the concrete.

Salt accelerates the breakdown of concrete by causing corrosion under the surface, leading to cracked and crumbling concrete.

Homeowners who are worried about the long-term effects of winter on their concrete can take preventative measures by sealing their concrete and caulking the joints. Valley Concrete Restoration has the best products on the market to fix and protect the concrete around your home this winter.