Jointing of concrete floors

Tips on installing isolation, contraction, and construction joints for effective crack control

By Anne Laning

ll concrete floor slabs are subject to stress. Causes include drying shrinkage, settlement, temperature changes, and applied loads. When stresses acting on concrete exceed its tensile strength, cracking will occur. Thats why joints planned breaks in concrete are important. They relieve stress by allowing concrete to move. Most concrete floors require three types of joints: isolation, contraction, and construction. Isolation joints separate the floor from other building elements to allow differential horizontal and vertical movement. Contraction joints act as planned cracks. They form a plane of weakness in the slab so that a crack will be more likely to occur at the joint and not elsewhere. A construction joint serves as a stopping point during floor construction, usually marking the end of a days pour. Though each type of joint is installed differently, they all work together to help minimize cracking. Following are techniques for installing each joint type.

slab to ensure no floor-to-wall contact. ACI 332 (Ref. 5) says acceptable filler materials include asphalt-impregnated fiber board, expanded plastic foam, wood, cork, and solid or cellular rubber. The filler should be 14 to 12 inch thick and not extend above the floor surface. If you cut the filler to the exact depth of the floor slab, it can serve as a screed level. To isolate columns on separate footings from a floor slab, use a round or square blockout. Round blockouts can be formed with leave-in-place fiber board tubes. Square blockouts are usually formed with wood and must be positioned so the corners meet the contraction joints in the slab. Otherwise, the slab can crack at the blockout corners (Figure 1). Whether installing a round or square blockout, cast the slab first, then install the compressible filler and pour the blockout. Contraction joints As concrete dries, it usually shrinks about 18 inch in 20 feet (Ref. 1). Contraction joints, also called control joints, relieve stress caused by drying shrinkage and thermal contraction by allowing horizontal movement of the slab. Most contraction joints are induced. The floor surface is notched or cut to create a plane of weakness so a crack will occur at the cut rather than elsewhere in the floor. To be most effective, contraction joints must be cut to one-fourth of the slab depth. You can form the joint by hand tooling, inserting plastic or metal strips, or sawing.

Isolation joints The movement of a floor slab usually differs from that of abutting building elements, such as walls, columns, machine foundations, and footings. Isolation joints, which extend the full depth of the slab, allow the floor to move independently of these elements. To be effective, an isolation joint must allow horizontal and vertical differential movement. At walls, form isolation joints by nailing or gluing preformed, compressible joint filler to the wall before pouring the floor. Install the filler the full depth of the

Hand tooling. To hand-tool a joint, finishers use a jointing tool having a V-shaped bit to make a groove in plastic concrete. Groover bits typically come in 14- to 34-inch widths and 316- to 2-inch depths. Choose a bit that can cut to a depth of one-fourth the slab thickness. ACI 302 (Ref. 4) suggests using a straight 1x8 or 1x10 board as a guide to produce a straighter cut (see photo). Because the groover makes joint edges slightly rounded, hand-tooled joints should not be used in areas subject to heavy forklift traffic. These joints usually need filling with epoxy for support and its harder to fill a joint with rounded edges. Plastic or metal strips. Various plastic or metal strips are available for making joints in fresh concrete. Thin and stiff, the strips are pushed into the concrete and left there permanently. Some strips have a removable top section that peels away to leave a groove for sealant. To make the strips easier to install, cut a slot along the path of the joint using a trowel or other sharp tool. A chalk line marking the joint can serve as a cutting guide. Dont use strips to form contraction joints in superflat floors because its hard to make the floor flat near them. Sawing. Though hand tooling is usually cheaper than sawing, sawing produces a more durable square-edged joint. Also, sawed joints are more uniform, making them the best choice for use in superflat floors. Typically, an electric or gas-powered walk-behind saw with an abrasive or diamond blade is used to cut contraction joints. Begin sawing when the concrete is firm enough not to be torn or damaged by

Figure 1. Isolation joints around columns can be circular (a) or square (b). If no isolation joints are used around columns or if the corners of the isolation joint do not meet contraction joints, radial cracking (c) can occur.

line or string line so the saw operator knows where to saw the joint. Construction joints Construction joints make placement of concrete floor slabs easier by allowing concrete to be poured in sections of manageable size. They also can act as contraction joints, providing stress relief by allowing horizontal movement of the slab. Construction joints usually are placed in the slab where concreting ends for the day or where concreting delays cause previously placed concrete to harden. They are made by stopping the concrete pour at a side form, or bulkhead. Sometimes the form is keyed to produce a tongue-andgroove joint (Figure 2). Where durability is important, construction joints should have sharp, square edges. You can produce these by sawcutting the joint after the concrete hardens.

Hand-tooled joint edges are acceptable for floors subject to light forklift traffic. Providing for load transfer Many joints are subject to applied loads that move from one side of the joint to the other. Without adequate load transfer at these joints, faulting can occur due to differential slab movement. Load transfer is needed at most construction or contraction joints exposed to heavy forklift traffic. Its seldom needed at joints supporting fixed loads, such as storage racks or equipment, and never used at isolation joints. If the floor slab contains structural reinforcement, the steel rebar passing through the joint provide excellent load transfer. But in unreinforced floors, there are other ways to transfer loads at joints. These inFigure 2. Details for producing keyed construction joints.

the blade. If you delay sawing, random shrinkage cracks can form in the concrete before its sawed or cracks can form during sawing. Make trial sawcuts a few hours after the concrete hardens. If aggregate particles come loose, its too early to saw. Floors made with hard aggregates can quickly wear out saw blades. For longer blade life, precut the contraction joint with a pointing trowel after the fresh concrete has been bull floated (Ref. 1). The trowel moves the aggregate particles aside so the saw blade only cuts mortar. Because the finisher floats over the precut after its formed, its important to mark the exact location of the cut with a chalk

clude aggregate interlock, keyways, and dowels. Aggregate interlock develops at the crack that forms below an induced contraction joint. The aggregate particles at the fractured faces of the crack interlock, helping to prevent differential movement. Aggregate interlock is effective, but only if the joint is narrow enough for the aggregate particles to touch each other. Keyways, typically used at construction joints, also provide good load transfer. But, again, the joint must be tight. If the floor slab shortens too much during drying shrinkage, the key can lose contact with its recess. Dowels provide the most effective and dependable load transfer and are primarily used at joints in industrial floors subject to heavy loads. Placed at mid-depth in the slab, dowels help hold the two sides of the joint at the same elevation as wheels travel over the joint. And unlike aggregate interlock and keyways, dowels continue to transfer loads even if the joint pulls apart. Dowels are most common at construction joints. But you also can use them in induced contraction joints to supplement aggregate interlock. Dowels should be smooth, round bars conforming to ASTM A 615. Table 1 gives recommended dowel diameters and lengths for various slab depths. Regardless of size, space dowels 12 inches on center. To allow for slab contraction and expansion, a dowel must be free to slide along its length. Otherwise, any movement at the joint can cause cracking. This means the dowel must be straight, well aligned, and debonded from at least one side of the joint. To debond the dowel, cover at least half of its length with a lubricant, such as petroleum grease, or a plastic sleeve. Debonded dowel lengths can be in the first or second slab cast, but all dowels crossing a particular joint must have their debonded lengths in the same slab. To install dowels in a construction joint, insert them through holes in the side form. Because stripping the form with dowels in place can be difficult, its often easier to remove the dowels as soon as the concrete sets. Later, strip the form and slide the dowels back into the holes. Doing this also ensures that the dowels are debonded from one side of

Table 1. Recommended Dowel Sizes and Spacings for Floor Joints Slab Dowel Total dowel Dowel spacing, depth diameter length center to center (inch) (inch) (inch) (inch) 3 5-6 4 16 12 7-8 1 18 12 9-11 114 18 12 the joint. Before placing the adjacent slab, apply bond breaker to the edge of the first slab. To install dowels in induced contraction joints, use dowel baskets. Placed directly on the subgrade before the concrete pour, these wire-frame supports hold the dowels perpendicular to the joint at midslab depth. Debond the dowels along twothirds of their length so it wont matter if the joint cut made over the dowels after the pour isnt exactly centered. Joint sealing There are several reasons to seal joints in floors: To keep out debris, making floors easier to clean To support joint edges subject to steelwheeled traffic To prevent entry of water or chemicals To improve joint appearance But sealing joints can be expensive and time-consuming, so dont seal a joint unless you have to. Contraction joints that are narrow or lie outside main traffic paths often dont need sealing. Nor do most perimeter isolation joints. In some floors, though, joint sealing is essential. In a food-processing plant, for example, strict hygiene requirements often demand sealing of every joint. And in a warehouse or factory where forklifts are used, joints in the path of traffic need sealing to prevent spalling at joint edges. The two sealant types most often used in floor joints are elastomers or semirigid epoxies. Because of their ability to expand and contract, elastomers work well in joints that tend to open and close. Most are formulated to accommodate medium to high levels of joint movement. But elastomers dont perform well in joints subject to forklift traffic because they provide little support. There are many types of elastomers from which to choose and all vary somewhat in chemical composition. Most come as one- or two-part liquids that are cold-poured into the joint. Some cure by chemical action, others by drying. Some elastomers come preformed. These types are simply pressed into the joint and require no curing. To seal joints subject to forklift traffic, use semirigid epoxies. These materials are harder and stronger than elastomers. However, they are less elastic and should only be used in joints where movement is slight. To help overcome this drawback, wait as long as possible after floor construction before sealing the joint. This will allow most of the drying shrinkage of the slab to occur. ACI 302 recommends a minimum delay of 3 months before sealing a joint with epoxy. Semirigid epoxies for sealing floor joints should be 100%-solids, have a Shore A hardness of 80 and elongation of 6% (ASTM D 676 and D 2240). The A scale is used to measure the indentation hardness of rubber, soft plastics, and similar materials. A rubber tire, for example, has a hardness of about 65 (Ref. 2). Stronger, harder epoxies can be used in floor joints, but only where no joint movement is expected. If the sealantjoint bond is stronger than the tensile strength of the concrete, the slab may crack if the joint moves (Ref. 3). Though different joint sealants require different installation methods, some general principles apply. First, the joint must be clean so the sealant will bond well to the joint walls. Blowing compressed air into a joint effectively removes loose debris. Embedded dirt can be removed by

Joint Layout Even if you use the correct procedures longer panel side should be no more than for forming joints, the joints wont do one-and-a-half times the length of the much good if they arent in the right loshort side. Space contraction joints a discations. Though joint layout varies tance two to three times the slab thicksomewhat dependness, but no more ing on floor design than 20 feet apart and anticipated (Ref. 6). Otherwise, use, there are some the slab is likely to general rules you crack between joints can follow. or curl too much. The diagram Use shorter joint shows a typical spacings if you exjoint layout for an pect a high concrete unreinforced conshrinkage rate. If crete floor. Isolapossible, locate contion joints should traction joints along be at the floor column lines and perimeter where it connect them with abuts walls and isolation joints. Also around all fixed elinstall contraction ements that rejoints at reentrant strain slab movecorners. Otherwise, ment. The corners cracks radiating of isolation joints from the corners can around fixed eledevelop. ments should conTo make jointing nect with contracmore efficient, try to tion joints. locate construction joints where they can Contraction joints should divide a also serve as isolation or contraction floor into square panels. If the floor dejoints. If thats not possible, make sure sign cant accommodate square panels, construction joints are at least 5 feet from rectangular panels can be used. But the any other joint to which they are parallel. wire brushing or chasing the joint with a saw or router. The joint must be wide enough to accommodate the sealant being installed. If it isnt, you may have to widen the joint by sawing. Its hard to install sealant in a joint narrower than 18 inch. But sometimes joints this narrow dont need sealing. Finally, the sealant must go deep enough to do its job. Semirigid epoxies should fill the entire joint, top to bottom. If they dont fill the joint, they may not stand up under traffic loads. Some elastomers also can be used full-depth. But its usually more economical to install elastomers over backer rods because less material is needed.
References 1. Slabs on Grade, Concrete Craftsman Series, American Concrete Institute (ACI), P.O. Box 19150, Detroit, MI 48219, 1982. 2. Concrete Floors on Ground, second edition, Portland Cement Association, 5420 Old Orchard Rd., Skokie, IL 60077, 1983. 3. George Garber, Design and Construction of Concrete Floors, Halsted Press, John Wiley & Sons Inc., 605 Third Ave., New York, NY 10158, 1991. 4. ACI 302, Guide for Concrete Floor and Slab Construction, ACI 302.1R89. 5. ACI 332, Guide to Residential Cast-in-place Concrete Construction, ACI 332R-84. 6. Boyd Ringo and Robert Anderson, Designing Floor Slabs on Grade, The Aberdeen Group, 426 S. Westgate St., Addison, IL 60101, 1992.

PUBLICATION #C920532, Copyright 1992, The Aberdeen Group, All rights reserved