Over time, as melting snow and rain enter into the ground under concrete at your home it will be absorbed and drained. As this ground shifts and moves around, empty spaces can be formed. The concrete can settle into these open spaces and ultimately form cracks in slabs or gaps between slabs.
There are numerous factors and conditions that can facilitate the settling of concrete slabs. These could include drastic changes in the moisture level of the soil from rainy weather or an extended period of dry weather causing the soil to become depleted of water and shrink.
The moisture level in your soil will fluctuate over time, it can cause the concrete slab sitting on top of that soil to become uneven. If the soil becomes saturated due to poor drainage, this water will cause the soil to become weak and prevent it from being able to support the concrete.
If the temperature is warm and dry for longer periods of time, it will cause soil to shrink. As the soil becomes dry, it will make cavities form below your concrete slabs. As time progresses, these holes will put unnecessary stress on the concrete slab that will eventually cause it to fail.
The soil has to be removed and replaced as the house is being built. After this is completed it is very important that it is replaced to the original density as when it was removed. If the earth is not appropriately compacted, it can speed up the creation of spaces under any concrete poured on top. These spaces will put undue stress on the slab and cause settling over time.
Any time there is earth below your concrete, there could be a danger of requiring concrete lifting. These are the main areas that we've seen both businesses and homeowners needing our services.
The best alternative to tearing out and re-pouring your cracked or settling concrete is polyjacking.
This is a relatively new technology that makes use of polyurethane foam to raise and repair these damaged slabs back to their intended position. Historically a process called mudjacking has been used to perform this same procedure. The advantage that polyjacking has over mudjacking is the polyurethane foam quickly expands to fill the void and harden to permanently restore the concrete in position.
If you're in need of permanent concrete slab leveling and raising, contact us today for an estimate.