Concrete Repair, Decorative
Concrete Control Joints
When necessity becomes art. The primary function of joints is to break up the slab in geometric patterns to cause it to crack in a uniform way. Whether you're doing regular or decorative concrete, the joints should look nice.
by Joan Stanus
. Concrete is going to crack.
But controlling those cracks with properly designed control joints to aesthetically enhance the slab "is what separates the men from the boys," according to many of today's artisans who are carving a name for themselves in the decorative concrete field.
"Cracks are not appealing," notes Lee Levig, president of Concrete Works in Fairfield, Calif.
"If you're doing decorative work, that's something you don't want to introduce … so joints are the key. We never try to prevent cracks. The object is to control and then disguise them in the most decorative way possible."
Since joints are simply pre-planned cracks, the whole trick, he notes, is to "fool the eye" into seeing beauty, not imperfection.
"I like to use the joints as part of the decoration," Levig adds. "If you take the time and think out what's going on, it's not that difficult. It's all in the prep work and the tools. The more you carve it up, the fewer the random cracks."
"You have to plan the cracks," echoes Bud Stegmeier, manager and partner in Stegmeier Corp. of Arlington, Texas. "The primary function of joints is to break up the slab in geometric patterns to cause it to crack in a uniform way. Whether you're doing regular or decorative concrete, the joints should look nice."
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