Homeowner Guide

Why Is My Driveway Cracking?

Almost every concrete driveway develops some cracking eventually — the question is whether what you're looking at is normal, expected concrete behavior or a sign of a real problem underneath. Tyler homeowners ask us about this more than almost anything else, so here's how to think through it.

What Usually Causes It

In roughly the order we see them, here's what typically causes driveway cracking:

• Shrinkage cracking — concrete shrinks slightly as it cures, and hairline cracks from this process are normal and expected, especially if control joints weren't spaced closely enough during the original pour
• Soil movement — expansive clay soils shrink and swell with moisture changes, and that movement can crack a driveway that isn't reinforced adequately for the soil conditions
• Base settling or erosion — if the compacted base under the slab wasn't prepared correctly, or water has washed material out from under an edge over time, the slab loses support and cracks where it's unsupported
• Heavy or repeated loads — driveways poured for passenger vehicles that regularly see trucks, RVs, or heavy equipment can crack under loads they weren't designed for
• Tree root pressure — roots growing under an edge of the slab can lift and crack it, particularly in older, established yards

How to Tell If It's Serious

Width and movement matter more than the presence of a crack itself. Hairline cracks under about 1/8 inch that aren't growing are typically cosmetic and don't need immediate attention. Cracks wider than that, cracks where one side sits higher than the other, or cracks that keep getting longer or wider over a few months point to something happening underneath — usually the base or the soil — that's worth having assessed rather than just filled. If a crack is isolated to one small section and the rest of the driveway is sound, that's also a different situation than cracking spreading across the whole slab.