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How big can a concrete slab be without control joints?

Usually, expansion joints should be no farther apart than 2 to 3 times (in feet) the total width of the concrete (in inches). So for a 4 inch thick concrete slab, expansion joints should be no more than 8 to 12 feet apart.

kaloutas.com - How Often Do You Need Expansion Joints in Concrete? | Kaloutas
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At Kaloutas, we know that inte­ri­or and exte­ri­or con­crete floor­ing is expen­sive. For that rea­son, you need to pro­tect your invest­ment from the most com­mon form of dam­age in con­crete – crack­ing. The most pop­u­lar way to pro­tect against ran­dom crack­ing is the instal­la­tion of expan­sion joints. In this post, we’ll talk more about expan­sion joints and answer the ques­tion of how often you need them in your slab of concrete.

What to Know About Improv­ing Your Expan­sion Joint Con­crete Slab

What are Expan­sion Joints?

As con­crete dries, it shrinks and forms to the topog­ra­phy of the ground it was poured on. Some parts of the con­crete can shrink more than oth­ers, pulling and stress­ing oth­er parts of the slab. Sim­i­lar­ly, as con­crete expe­ri­ences dif­fer­ent tem­per­a­ture changes, it expands and con­tracts – some­times more in some parts of the slab com­pared to oth­ers. Expan­sion joints are full-width cuts installed in pro­fes­sion­al con­crete floors and walls that allow the con­crete to expand and con­tract with­out crack­ing ran­dom­ly. They iso­late dif­fer­ent parts of the slab so that the whole slab can move with­out strain­ing cer­tain parts more than others.

How are Expan­sion Joints Created?

Expan­sion joints are cut depend­ing on the tem­per­a­ture around the con­crete. In hot weath­er, expan­sion joints are usu­al­ly cut with groov­ing tools while the con­crete is still wet. In cool­er weath­er, expan­sion joints can be cut with saws after the con­crete has hard­ened a lit­tle. Expan­sion joints cut through the entire width of the slab and are then filled with some sort of filler.

How Often Do You Need Expan­sion Joints?

Usu­al­ly, expan­sion joints should be no far­ther apart than 2 to 3 times (in feet) the total width of the con­crete (in inch­es). So for a 4 inch thick con­crete slab, expan­sion joints should be no more than 8 to 12 feet apart. They should also be placed around struc­tures that go deep­er than the con­crete slab, such as columns or walls.

Con­tact Kaloutas

Expan­sion joints are too impor­tant to be installed poor­ly. If you need indus­tri­al floor­ing and expan­sion joints installed, con­tact Kaloutas’ pro­fes­sion­al floor­ing con­trac­tors. We’d love to help you with your project, and can ensure qual­i­ty results!

Kaloutas is an ide­al ven­dor for these needs:

Kaloutas is New Eng­land’s pre­mier con­trac­tor for com­mer­cial & indus­tri­al paint­ing, floor­ing, and relat­ed ser­vices. Estab­lished in 1987, Kaloutas has become a trust­ed resource for gen­er­al con­trac­tors, facil­i­ties man­agers, and build­ing own­ers from Con­necti­cut to Maine. Our team prides itself on high qual­i­ty work­man­ship, jobs done on time & bud­get, and tack­ling com­plex projects that oth­er con­trac­tors don’t have the expe­ri­ence or resources to han­dle. Con­tact us today for a paint­ing or floor­ing esti­mate, or give us a call at 978−532−1414 to learn more.

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Can I getting planning permission after work done?

If you have made a change to your property that requires planning permission and you have not had approval, a local authority can request that you submit a retrospective planning application for the work that you have already carried out.

planningportal.co.uk - Retrospective planning permission - Planning Portal

If you have made a change to your property that requires planning permission and you have not had approval, a local authority can request that you submit a retrospective planning application for the work that you have already carried out. The local authority will make the request to the owner or occupier of the land concerned. Although a local authority may ask for a planning application to be submitted, it does not mean that planning permission will automatically be granted and the application will be treated in the usual way. If the retrospective application is refused, the local authority can issue an enforcement notice which requires you to put things back as they were. A planning consultant may help with the smooth running of your project and guide you on your planning permission requirements. To find an accurate consultancy quote, explore Studio Charrette's calculators .

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