Decorative concrete requires well-thought out and placed joints to help prevent the concrete from cracking. These joints known as isolation cuts are used in all colours of concrete; Continue reading to learn how you can minimize how noticeable the joints are in decorative concrete.
Stamped concrete patterns and engraved concrete still require isolation joints. The joint must be at every 3m intervals of the slab. This means if a pad of concrete is 100mm , then the joints must be 20mm. Stamped patterns and engraved patterns are not deep enough to prevent cracking.
On stamped concrete that has looks like slate or 
other pattern paving. The pattern can be used to cut in your joints. The joints can vary in order to follow the pattern of the design by as much as 1metre causing cracks. Concreters often use hand crafted to cut expansion joints into concrete.
Because shrinkage and expansion do not always run perpendicularly to a joint, a joint following a fieldstone or cobblestone pattern may not function properly. With these patterns, movement can occur in almost any direction, resulting in uncontrolled cracking.
If you are putting a slab over the top of concrete , then joints need to match the joints in the bottom slab.
A topping slab can experience crackling stress because the base slab is a hard surface. Any cracks in the base should be repaired to help prevent damage to the topping slab.