Soon after opening our new facility in Chester, NY, we discovered that the floor slab had excessive shrink and curl, causing a loss of the natural aggregate interlock at the control joints. In the first few years the slab joints failed, spalled, and even cracked through at some panels that were not supported by the stone base because of the curling. Without interlock, the spalling and failure at the joints continued, creating safety issues and equipment damage.

We attempted different methods of repair, including grout injection and different epoxy injection schemes at the joints. Each of the attempts eventually failed due to the lack of a mechanical interlock between the slab sections.

The solution that we have turned to is the SD7 Joint-Saver System developed by Surface Dynamics and distributed by Somero Matson Group that was presented to us by Robert Costa at Face Consulting. We used the system in a large area on our Receiving Dock area. The combination of the mechanical interlock, along with the physical repair of the spalled concrete, has proven to be a long-term solution to the problem. We plan to expand the repair program using the SD7 Joint-Saver System across the entire warehouse operation.

David Schneider, Pep Boys
Director of Engineering and Logistics