Pop-outs, also called rock-pops, are fairly common in concrete flat work. The culprits for this are typically porous, moisture-susceptible aggregates within the mix.

Usually, the culprits for this are porous, absorptive, moisture-susceptible aggregates within the mix. If these aggregates become saturated by water, they can expand with great force and pop-out the concrete mix covering them.

Even with quality control in aggregate supply, problem aggregates are almost impossible to avoid completely. With extra care in installation, finishing, curing and sealing, these can all contribute to preventing moisture from reaching these aggregates.

Cracking, like pop-outs are unfortunate, but there is no guarantee that this won’t happen. We do our best to help prevent cracking by adding control joints into the concrete flat work. The purpose for this is to manipulate the cracking to occur inside of the control joints so that they are less visible to the naked eye.