this was poured friday may 22 and the crack appeared 48 hrs later on sunday. they did not cover it with plastic to dry if that matters. we did get a small amount of rain on friday and saturday so is that what caused it to crack? first time i’ve had concrete work done so i know absolutely nothing on the subject. does this mean ill have more issues down the road should i be pissed or is this something that happens? what say the forum?

dried too fast, nothing you can do unless you want to tear it out and repour.

did they put wire in it or rebar?

yessir 18” on center rebar

I'd imagine every concrete slab ever poured has hairline cracks. It's just what happens when concrete dries.

I would have it cut out and repoured if you paid for it.

Looks like it dried too fast to me

The sun will rise and concrete is going to crack, two things you can be assured in this life. If it rained on Friday and Saturday that should have slowed down the curing process some and I don’t agree with the others about it drying to fast. It’s starting at an expansion joint which is very common. I understand you being upset but I’m not so sure if they redo it something different will happen.

then just enjoy the new concrete, with the ground movement in this part of Tx. cracks are probably inevitable.

My dad used to tell costumers this when they asked about concrete cracking he said I will guarantee concrete to crack but I will put rebar in it to keep it from separating in this Texas soil.

This is part of your 3 phase warranty - concrete goes down wet, it dries hard and it cracks. And yes, I tell this to all my customers.

However, you can control the cracking if you know where to put the expansion joints and or grooves.

Concrete actually cures, it doesn't dry. And you don't pour it, you place it.

The chemical process can continue for quite some time. The mix design, slump, temperature, whether it had fly ash in it, how long it set in the mixer after batching and a whole host of other things that the customer has no idea about also go into whether or not you have a quality product.

Only two guarantees with concrete. Its going to get hard and its going to crack.

for sure.

Would like to see another pic showing where the next control joints are, if they are not placed and spaced properly you will get cracks. Concretes gets hard and cracks, fact of life.

yeah, what he said ^ ^^^ ^ ^ ^

How much concrete work was done?
Is this a large area?
Backyard?
Side yard?

I wouldn’t worry about it. Concrete will crack eventually, might as well crack early.

If the cosmetics bother you and it’s a small area, Home Depot sells a Behr Granite Grip concrete coating
It’s in that middle zone between a paint and a resurfacing coat. It would likely hide that crack
These concrete resurfacing products are destined to crack, chip, and flake also. But if you do it now, while the concrete is still curing, it might bond really well.

I’d ask an expert, they might suggest to let the concrete fully cure first, then acid etch it, then put on the coating

The Behr product comes in different colors, get the lightest color one—it cures darker than what’s on the can.

"I know cement and it's not that hard!"

Klinger
M*A*S*H