A slab calendar for the Wayne County seat
Goldsboro has been Wayne County's seat since acts passed in 1845 and again in 1847 moved the courthouse there from Waynesborough, provided the people voted for it. The concrete around your house doesn't need that much paperwork, just a few short checks spread across the year.
Every figure in this checklist comes from NOAA's engineering weather data for Seymour Johnson AFB, which sits in Goldsboro. For that station NOAA lists about 36 freeze-thaw cycles in an average year, a 100-year rainfall rate of 3.8 inches per hour, a 50-year basic wind speed of 100 mph (3-second gust at 33 feet), a 99% winter design temperature of 24°F, and a 1% summer design temperature of 92°F with a mean coincident wet-bulb temperature of 76°F. The checklist groups jobs into five stretches of the year so each one lands when it helps.
December to February: freeze-thaw watch
Seymour Johnson AFB averages about 36 freeze-thaw cycles a year, and its 99% winter design temperature is 24°F.
- Clear snow and slush early so it can't melt by day and refreeze in the surface overnight.
- Pick traction carefully. Sand, or a deicer labeled safe for concrete. Keep deicers off any slab poured within the last year.
- Use a plastic shovel. Metal blades and ice choppers gouge the finish and chip edges.
- Mark the ice spots. Ice that forms in the same place after each thaw shows a low spot that holds water. Flag it for spring.
March and April: the post-thaw walk
- Walk every slab once the cold nights are over. Photograph each crack beside a coin, and keep the photos in date order.
- Check the surface for flaking, popped pebbles and areas that feel gritty underfoot.
- Look at the edges. A gap between the slab and the soil lets water reach the base.
- Clean out joints and cracks, pull the weeds, and fill open cracks with a flexible filler made for concrete.
- Collect quotes for any new pour or replacement while the crack photos are fresh.
May and June: wash and seal
- Wash the slab with a hose and stiff brush, or a pressure washer held well back and kept moving.
- Treat green or dark patches on shaded walks and patios with a cleaner labeled for concrete, and rinse well.
- Reseal if water no longer beads. Follow the label's limits on temperature and surface moisture, and let a washed slab dry fully first. NOAA counts about 2,687 hours a year above a 67°F wet-bulb at Seymour Johnson AFB, and about 1,240 above 73°F Check the day's conditions against the label before you start.
- Rinse off fertilizer that lands on concrete before it stains.
July and August: heat and hard rain
The 1% summer design temperature at Seymour Johnson AFB is 92°F, and its 100-year rainfall rate is 3.8 inches per hour.
- Watch a downpour from a porch or the garage. Water that runs toward the house or sits along one edge is the first repair to plan.
- Keep downspouts extended and pointed away from slabs and the foundation.
- Look after new concrete. If you had a pour this year, keep it damp for as long as your contractor says, and keep cars off until they clear it.
- Spare thin slabs from dumpsters, moving trucks and loaded trailers. Park those on the street or lay plywood.
September to November: ready for the cold
- Clean gutters after the leaves fall so overflow doesn't pour beside a slab.
- Fill any cracks that opened over summer, before the first freeze can widen them.
- Regrade beds and mulch along slab edges so they slope away from the house.
- Compare photos with spring's set and note any section that has dropped or tilted.
After a wind or rain storm
NOAA's 50-year basic wind speed for Seymour Johnson AFB is 100 mph. Once it is safe to go outside after a storm:
- photograph each slab before cleanup;
- look for washed-out soil along edges and under corners;
- check the anchors on anything bolted down, such as a shed or carport;
- sweep silt and debris out of joints.
Signs it's time for a contractor
- a crack wider than a pencil, or one longer than last year's photo shows;
- one side of a crack higher than the other;
- a slab that now tips water toward the house;
- flaking spread over a large area after one winter;
- spots that sound hollow when tapped.
Ask what caused the damage before agreeing to a fix. A patch over a washed-out base won't hold.
The North Carolina Licensing Board for General Contractors says that by law a general contractor must hold a state license when the total cost of a project is $40,000 or more; the board's website has a public license search. Ask each bidder what state license, if any, covers this job, and what the number is, and look it up. Ask which city permits the work needs and who pulls them, and ask for proof of liability coverage and workers' compensation.
The slab logbook
One folder holds it all: pour dates, thickness, reinforcement, joint layout, the sealer product and every resealing date, crack photos by season, and each contractor's name and quote. The next repair, or the next buyer, will want it.