Maintaining My Home

two key factors for dealing with cracks in concrete floor slabs are to establish the cause of the cracking and to determine whether the crack is live (getting wider or longer) or is dormant (it is not changing)

for very minor shrinkage cracking that is not increasing, and where the appearance/location is acceptable, leaving the floor as-is is an option. (Extremely fine cracking may actually become less visible over time)

dormant cracks can be chased and then filled with traditional cement grout or mortar or a specialised epoxy resin or other material

where a crack is judged to be live, any material used to fill it must be flexible

a specialist concrete floor company, registered building survey or a chartered professional (structural) engineer may be able to provide additional advice

floor slabs can crack as a result of earthquake, ground slumping, or ground movement on certain types of soil, such as clay soils, where there may be seasonal expansion/contraction

for very minor shrinkage cracking that is not increasing, and where the appearance/location is acceptable, leaving the floor as-is is an option. (Extremely fine cracking may actually become less visible over time)

dormant cracks can be chased and then filled with traditional cement grout or mortar or a specialist epoxy resin or other material

where a crack is judged to be live, any material used to fill it must be flexible

where a crack is large or getting larger, contact a chartered professional (structural) engineer for advice

for cracking that is the result of an earthquake, if you have fire insurance for the property then you automatically have cover from Toka Tū Ake EQC – contact EQC