Why concrete cracks in Colorado Springs and how to stop it.

By CO Springs Concrete · Updated September 2026 · 7 min read

Here is why concrete cracks in Colorado Springs, which cracks are normal, and what prevents the rest.

Why does concrete crack in Colorado Springs?

Every slab starts with a built-in weakness. Concrete shrinks as it dries and is much weaker in tension than in compression. The ground under the slab holds it in place while it tries to shrink, so tension builds until something gives.

The National Ready Mixed Concrete Association (NRMCA) is plain about it: all concrete tends to crack, and completely crack-free concrete is not possible. What a good installer controls is where cracks form and how wide they get.

NRMCA traces most cracking to installation: poor jointing, a badly prepared subgrade, too much water, poor finishing, fast drying and skipped curing. Here, freeze-thaw cycles, swelling clay and deicers pile on.

How freeze-thaw damage breaks down concrete

Concrete is full of tiny pores that soak up snowmelt. Ice is about 9 percent less dense than liquid water, according to the USGS, so water needs more room once it freezes. In a saturated slab, that growth pushes on the cement paste around it. Each thaw lets more water in. Each freeze pushes again.

How often does that happen here? NOAA's engineering weather data for the Colorado Springs airport station lists an average of 52.2 freeze-thaw cycles a year, based on a 1988 to 2017 record. A night below freezing is not the same thing as a freeze-thaw cycle, so be wary of much larger numbers that count freezing days instead.

About fifty cycles a year is plenty. NRMCA notes that scaling risk rises with the number of cycles, and the Federal Highway Administration says deicing chemicals amplify freeze-thaw damage by keeping concrete wetter.

The main defense is entrained air. An admixture puts millions of microscopic bubbles in the mix, and those bubbles give expanding water somewhere to go so pressure does not build up.

What are the different types of concrete cracks?

Not every crack means the same thing.

Plastic shrinkage cracks

According to NRMCA, these form when surface water evaporates faster than bleed water rises to replace it. Wind above 5 mph, low humidity and high temperatures all raise the risk. Windbreaks, fog sprays and prompt curing help. The cracks rarely weaken a slab, but they can let water and chemicals in.

Scaling and spalling

Homeowners often call any flaking "spalling." NRMCA defines scaling as flaking of the finished surface from freeze-thaw exposure. The FHWA lists scaling, spalling and map cracking as the forms freeze-thaw damage takes, generally starting near joints or cracks.

Does expansive soil crack concrete in Colorado Springs?

It can. The Colorado Geological Survey describes expansive soils as clay soils that swell when wet and shrink when dry. It lists cracked driveways, sidewalks and basement floors among the damage, and says these clays can expand up to 20 percent by volume.

The survey maps potentially swelling soil and rock along the Front Range urban corridor from Fort Collins to Pueblo, which takes in Colorado Springs. CSU Extension notes that all of Colorado's major population centers sit partly on expansive soils. Whether your lot has them depends on the ground at your address.

A slab cannot out-muscle swelling clay. What helps is a uniform base and good drainage. NRMCA's guidance is to remove topsoil and soft spots, compact the subgrade, slope it for drainage, and never pour on frozen ground.

CSU Extension's advice for houses points the same way: grade so water drains away, and keep sprinklers from soaking the soil right beside the foundation. If a driveway in a newer subdivision cracked early, our post on why builder-grade driveways crack covers the usual causes and what replacement involves.

Which hairline cracks in new concrete are normal?

Most small cracks that appear early are not a structural problem. NRMCA says early random cracks, while unsightly, rarely affect a slab's structural integrity or service life. A thin crack running inside a saw-cut joint is the joint doing its job.

Usually normal:

• A hairline crack along the bottom of a control joint.
• Fine, tight cracks that showed up early and have not changed.
• Short, shallow surface cracks from plastic shrinkage.

Worth a closer look:

• One side of the crack sits higher than the other.
• Flaking, peeling or pitting that spreads across the surface.
• Cracks that appear years later near joints and edges. NRMCA flags late freeze-thaw cracking as one of the exceptions to "early cracks are harmless."
• Low spots where salty slush sits. NRMCA says poor drainage that lets salt solutions collect increases the damage.

For comparison, the City of Colorado Springs rates damage on public sidewalks by how much of the panel is broken, how many inches it has settled, and how much has spalled. Even a harmless crack is a path for water, so keep an eye on it.

How to prevent concrete cracking: what the guidance says

For exterior flatwork that freezes and sees deicers, here is what NRMCA and the American Concrete Institute (ACI) recommend for the mix.

ACI 318 is written for structural concrete, so residential flatwork usually follows ACI 332. According to an ACI Concrete International article on exposure classes, water-cement limits reduce the chance of the concrete becoming saturated, and adding more air than the table calls for does not improve durability.

The rest of the checklist comes from NRMCA's sheets on cracking, joints and curing:

1. No extra water at the site. NRMCA recommends a slump of 3 to 5 inches for most slabs. Watered-down concrete leaves a weak surface.
2. Joints at the right spacing and depth. Maximum spacing of 24 to 36 times the slab thickness, about 10 feet for a 4-inch slab, and no more than 15 feet. Keep panels nearly square, no longer than 1.5 times their width, with grooves at least a quarter of the slab's depth. Saw too late and the slab may crack first. Add isolation joints where a driveway meets a walk, curb or garage slab.
3. Steel placed correctly. Reinforcement cannot prevent cracking, but properly placed steel keeps cracks tighter. NRMCA calls for at least 2 inches of concrete cover over it.
4. Careful finishing. No finishing with bleed water on the surface and no overworking, which strips entrained air from the top layer. A broom finish suits most exterior slabs.
5. Real curing. Start right after finishing and continue for 3 to 7 days, per NRMCA, which references ACI 308. Concrete left to dry can lose as much as 50 percent of its potential strength compared with moist-cured concrete.
6. Freeze protection. Keep new concrete from freezing until it reaches at least 500 psi, and take care with late-fall pours.

What a good contractor does on every job

Here is what our crew does on every pour. It is also a fair list to hold any contractor to.

• Excavate and compact the base.
• Set reinforcement (rebar) sized to the job.
• Use an air-entrained exterior mix suited to freeze-thaw.
• Finish by hand.
• Saw-cut control joints.
• Give you cure instructions and dates.

The crew that measures your job is the crew that pours it, and we finish with a walkthrough. When comparing quotes, ask each contractor what strength and air content they order, how they space joints, and how they cure.

How to protect new concrete through its first winter

The first winter matters most. NRMCA advises skipping deicing chemicals on new concrete if you can, using clean sand for traction, and using deicers in moderate amounts after that. Never use ammonium sulfate, ammonium nitrate or magnesium-based salts, which it says destroy concrete surfaces.

NRMCA also suggests a breathable silane or siloxane sealer, applied when the slab is reasonably dry. Our guide to sealing concrete before winter and choosing a safe ice melt covers timing and products. Hose off salty buildup when the weather allows.

Planning new concrete driveways, patios or pads? We are locally owned, family operated, licensed and insured. Book a free on-site estimate for a clear written quote, or call (719) 437-3658.