ELIF: Why is concrete used on driveways cut to prevent heaving, but the same practice isn’t done in basements?

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ELIF: Why is concrete used on driveways cut to prevent heaving, but the same practice isn’t done in basements?

In: Engineering

5 Answers

Anonymous 0 Comments

just mildly confused by this question because where I am everyone has a concrete basement, but I don’t know anyone who has a concrete driveway cuz it’d obviously get all frost-heaved up the winter after you put it in.

Anonymous 0 Comments

Fact is that concrete cracks. Control joints are put in driveways to force it to crack in those spots. Large commercial floors also normally get cuts (either applied during finishing or saw cut later). Driveways are obviously exposed to much more drastic changes in temperature over time.

Simple explanation is that it’s generally just not a big deal in a basement. Seal it, cover it with carpet, whatever. It’s not normally something to be worried about unless there is significant vertical displacement between the two sides. It probably comes down to cost in the end. There are things that can be done in your basement slab that would limit this, but people aren’t normally going to want to spend the extra money for something that’s not really a big deal.

I’ve been building homes for 30+ years and I’ve rarely seen a basement floor without cracks…it happens but it’s rare.

Anonymous 0 Comments

Most basement floors are below the freeze line and aren’t susceptible to heaving from freeze/thaw

Anonymous 0 Comments

It’s not cut to prevent pavement heaving. It’s cut to provide controlled fracturing as the pavement heaves. Basements don’t suffer from pavement heaving because they are deep in the ground and not subject to freeze-thaw cycles. (Sudsidence is a different issue.)

Anonymous 0 Comments

To add to the other comments which are correct. Basement slabs are a lot thicker than driveways and have more reinforcement.