TL;DR
A plastic shrinkage crack is a shallow, irregular fissure that forms in concrete during the first hours after placement, when surface moisture evaporates faster than bleed water can replace it. The cracks typically run parallel to one another, from an inch to a few feet long, and rarely threaten structural capacity, though they can telegraph through coatings.
What it means
A plastic shrinkage crack is a shallow, irregular fissure that forms in concrete during the first hours after placement, when surface moisture evaporates faster than bleed water can replace it. The cracks typically run parallel to one another, from an inch to a few feet long, and rarely threaten structural capacity, though they can telegraph through coatings. Finishers prevent them with fog sprays, evaporation retarders, and prompt curing in hot, windy, or dry weather.
Where it sits in the glossary
Plastic shrinkage crack is part of the Trade jargon group inside the ProFix Directory glossary. Browse every term in this category from the glossary index.
Why Ohio homeowners should know it
This is a term Ohio homeowners encounter when reading contractor quotes, hiring paperwork, or inspection reports. Understanding it well enough to ask one good follow-up question is usually all the protection a homeowner needs.
ProFix Directory keeps definitions short on the index page and saves the longer context — Ohio-specific rules, where the term comes from, and which ProFix tools touch it — for these per-term pages so the term is easy to cite and easy to share.
ProFix tools that touch this term
See also
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