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Flaking, peeling, or pitting that shows up on Winston-Salem concrete after winter is called spalling, and it is the surface layer failing, not the whole slab. Water gets into the top of the concrete, freezes, expands about nine percent, and pops the surface off in thin flakes. Deicing salt makes it worse by letting more water in and adding more freeze cycles. The Piedmont gets dozens of freeze-thaw swings a winter, which is exactly the weather that causes it.
Updated Aug 18, 2026 · Winston-Salem Concrete Co, Winston-Salem, NC
Spalling is usually a finishing or curing story. Concrete that was overworked when wet, watered down for easy placement, or poorly cured ends up with a weak surface layer that freeze-thaw finds in the first few winters. A properly finished air-entrained mix shrugs the same weather off for decades. Salt is the accelerant: rock salt on a young or weak surface multiplies the damage.
Shallow spalling on an otherwise sound slab can be resurfaced: the weak layer is ground or cleaned off and a bonded overlay puts a new wear surface on. Spalling with deep pits, exposed aggregate across large areas, or cracking underneath usually means the surface problem goes deeper, and sectional or full replacement is the honest fix. Either way, stop salting it: sand for traction, and a breathable sealer before next winter to keep water out of the surface.
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