You had Concrete work done a while back and now the cracks that were very small and almost impossible to notice at first are opening up. You never discussed a warranty with your Contractor but it kinda seems like there should be one? How do you go about addressing this and what can you expect?

Concrete has only a few issues that normally trigger a warranty. Cracking, settling and spalling. Cracking and settling are the most common in AZ.

Too much water added to the mix, improper sub-grade compaction or plant mix ratio errors are the main culprits in cracking. Your warranty covers replacement of the cracked section(s) ONLY if a crack opens wide enough to fit a dime into within your warranty period. Fine cracks are cosmetic only and do not qualify for replacement.

Improper compaction leads to settling. If your concrete pour settles it will most likely crack as well. Your warranty will include replacing concrete sections that have settled only if they cause a drainage problem, tripping hazard, cause cracks that open up wider than a dime or if it was designed for a level structure to be built on, making it difficult or impossible to build on.

Spalling:
Spalling is basically the top of the concrete chipping, flaking or peeling away for one of many reasons. Concrete cancer shows up as deterioration of the concrete surface at first. This is known as a Alkali–silica reaction (ASR) which is a chemical reaction within the hardened concrete. There are other reasons the top peels off though. In the frost belt if too much fly ash is added to the mix, or if the concrete is improperly finished the top will flake away, here in AZ there is one main reason for losing the top though… water splashed onto the surface as a finishing aid. It simply dilutes the top part of your slab also known as the cake.
Unfortunately the spalling doesn’t normally show up until the after the ROC warranty is expired. If you received a 5 year warranty, from BST, any sections affected will be replaced.

When you check the status of your Tucson Contractor’s License, check out more warranty specs on the AZ Registrar of Contractors website. http://www.roc.az.gov

We offer  a minimum 2 year warranty here at BST with a 5 year option available on most and up to 10 years available on a select few types of projects.

Thank you for taking a look

Jon Molden

BST Concrete