5 Methods to Repair Concrete Cracks

It is very common for buildings to develop cracks over a period of time. In many cases, these cracks need to be addressed and repaired. Repairing cracked buildings involves a lot of time and cost constraints. There are several methods of repairing building cracks. Choosing the right method of repairing concrete cracked in your buildings can help you save a lot of time, money and energy and can give long-lasting results.  It is very important to know the type and nature of cracks that have appeared in the building to be able to select the most suitable and cost-effective method of repair. It is also important to know the cause of cracks so that it can be corrected in order to keep the cracks from recurring.

1. Contents

   Epoxy Injections

Epoxy injections are used to fill the cracks that are as narrow as 0.05 millimeters. Under this method, the cracks on exposed surfaces are sealed injecting epoxy under the concrete. However, it is important to find and fix the root cause of cracks before injecting the epoxy into the cracks otherwise the cracks will keep on emerging again and again. Problems such as leakages and silt contamination damage the efficiency of epoxy, therefore it is recommended to fix these issues before injecting the epoxy in order to make it last longer. This method of crack repairing requires a lot of tact and skillful execution so you need to be sure that the person executing the repairs knows his work.

2. Routing and Sealing

Routing and sealing the cracks is a much more common and a much simpler method to repair cracks. That said, it can be only used in cases where only remedial crack repairing is required and structural repairs are not needed. This method simply involves enlarging the cracks on the surface and then filling and sealing it with a joint sealant. It is important to take care of the width to depth aspect ratio when sealing the joint so that there is enough room left for the movement.

3. Stitching the Cracks

The stitching method is a simple and long lasting method of repairing cracked buildings. Under this procedure, holes are drilled to make entry and exit points across the cracked surface. A number of U-shaped metallic staples are then passed through the holes and anchored strongly in the holes with a grout or an epoxy based system.

4. Drilling and Plugging

If you need to repair vertical cracks that run in straight lines, this is a good method for its cost-effective and less time-consuming.  Under this method, vertical holes are drilled in the cracks and a key is formed by passing down a grout. The grout key helps in preventing leakages and the consequent loss of soil from the walls.

There are a number of other concrete repairing methods such as Gravity Filling, dry packing, overlay and surface treatments etc. One can choose from one of these methods depending on the nature of cracks and whether a crack requires remedial or structural repair.