How to Raise Sunken Concrete
Raising sunken concrete is a common issue many homeowners face, especially in areas prone to soil erosion or settling. When concrete slabs sink, they can create uneven surfaces that pose safety hazards and detract from the overall appearance of your property. Fortunately, several effective methods can restore your concrete to its original level, ensuring safety and enhancing curb appeal.
In this article, we’ll explore the best techniques for concrete lifting, including traditional options like mudjacking and advanced solutions such as polyurethane foam lifting. Understanding the advantages and limitations of each method will help you make an informed decision and achieve a smooth, durable result for your concrete surfaces.
Why Does Concrete Sink?
Understanding the common causes behind concrete damage is crucial for prevention and timely repair. From soil conditions and water issues to heavy usage and erosion, various factors can cause concrete surfaces like sidewalks and pool decks to destabilize, sink, and shift. Here are some of the most common causes of concrete settlement:
Soil Conditions
Poorly compacted soil beneath concrete surfaces can lead to significant issues. When the soil isn’t compacted properly, it remains loose and unstable, unable to provide adequate support for the heavy concrete slab above. Over time, this instability can cause the soil to shift and settle unevenly, creating voids and gaps beneath the concrete. As the concrete loses its support, it becomes more susceptible to stress and pressure, eventually leading to cracks and fractures.
Erosion
Erosion can cause concrete to sink by gradually removing the soil that supports the concrete slab. When water from rain, irrigation, or underground sources flows over or through the soil, it can wash away the fine particles. As this void forms and expands, the soil’s ability to hold the weight of the concrete diminishes, causing the slab to settle or sink into the eroded areas. This process is often slow and may go unnoticed until significant sinking or cracking occurs.
Water Issues
Excess water can saturate the soil, making it soft and less capable of supporting the heavy concrete slab. Over time, this waterlogged soil can shift, settle, or even be washed away. As the foundation becomes compromised, the concrete slab loses its stability and begins to sink. Additionally, freeze-thaw cycles in water-saturated soil can exacerbate the problem, further undermining the soil and leading to more significant sinking and cracking of the concrete.
Heavy Use
Heavy regular use, such as frequent vehicle traffic or heavy equipment movement, can cause driveways to sink by exerting continuous pressure and stress on the slab and the underlying soil. This repeated load can compact the soil unevenly, especially if the soil is not properly compacted during construction. Over time, the constant pressure can lead to soil displacement, causing the concrete to settle and sink into the compromised areas.
Concrete Lifting Methods
There are two common solutions for lifting sunken concrete slabs: polyurethane foam injections and mudjacking. There are advantages and drawbacks to each method, so it’s important to consider which is best for your situation:
Mudjacking
Mudjacking, also known as slabjacking, is a method used to raise sunken concrete slabs. The process involves drilling small holes into the sunken concrete and pumping a slurry mixture of cement, sand, and water beneath the slab. This mixture fills the voids and exerts pressure, lifting the concrete back to its original level. Once the desired height is achieved, the holes are patched, and the area is cleaned up, leaving a leveled concrete surface.
Mudjacking is less expensive than concrete slab replacement. However, the cement slurry can be heavy, which may further compress the underlying soil over time and lead to future sinking. Also, it may not be suitable for all types of concrete issues, such as slabs with extensive cracks or severe soil problems.
Polyurethane Lifting
Polyurethane lifting is a modern technique used to raise sunken concrete slabs. This method involves drilling small holes into the affected concrete and injecting a dense polyurethane foam beneath the slab. The foam expands rapidly, filling voids and exerting pressure to lift the concrete back to its original level. Once the desired elevation is achieved, the holes are patched, and the foam hardens, providing a stable and durable foundation.
The advantages of polyurethane lifting include its lightweight nature and minimal invasiveness. The foam is much lighter than the slurry used in mudjacking, reducing the risk of further soil compression and future sinking. The process is also quick, often taking just minutes for the foam to expand and cure, allowing the concrete to be used almost immediately. Additionally, polyurethane foam is water-resistant, making it suitable for areas with moisture issues.
Mudjacking or Poly Foam Lifting: Which is Best?
Polyfoam lifting is generally considered better than mudjacking for several reasons:
- Less invasive: Polyfoam leaves less visible residue and damage to nearby areas.
- Lighter and more flexible: The dense foam solution fills voids more effectively, providing a more stable lift.
- Water-resistant: The durable polyurethane solution prevents future moisture issues that cement doesn’t.
- Cost-effective: Lifting concrete with poly foam injections is a more permanent solution than mudjacking.
- Quick curing time: Polyurethane foam solidifies in just minutes, providing a safe and stable surface ready for immediate use.
- Addresses the root cause: Mudjacking is only a temporary fix for sunken concrete, while poly foam creates a lasting, sturdy base.
Should You Repair Sunken Concrete Yourself?
DIY concrete lifting, often using ready-made kits available at hardware stores, is an alternative solution for addressing sunken slabs. These kits typically involve injecting a polyurethane foam or other materials beneath the concrete to raise it. DIY kits can be appealing due to their lower initial cost. They can be a convenient option for small, straightforward lifting projects where the extent of the sinking is minimal and the underlying soil conditions are relatively stable.
However, the potential drawbacks of DIY concrete lifting often outweigh its advantages. Properly assessing the extent of soil erosion, determining the precise amount of lifting material needed, and executing the injection process correctly are critical to ensuring a successful and long-lasting lift. Inexperienced homeowners may misjudge these factors, leading to uneven lifting, further sinking, or even damage to the slab.
Contact Groundworks for Professional Concrete Lifting
Addressing sunken concrete quickly and correctly prevents further damage and safety hazards. Prompt repair helps avoid more significant problems, such as additional cracking or sinking, which can compromise the structural integrity of the concrete and increase repair costs. If you’re concerned about sunken concrete around your home, contact Groundworks today for a free inspection.
Concrete Lifting FAQs
If you currently have a sunken concrete driveway, there’s no need to worry too much. There are a variety of fixes that you can use for sunken concrete driveways. These fixes are a great way to maintain your concrete driveway as effectively as possible. Here are a few things to consider when it comes to sunken concrete driveways.
- Polyurethane Foam Injections
Polyurethane foam injections are one of the best options for sunken concrete driveways. They’re immensely effective, but also easy to add to your home. They’ve been a crucial part of commercial concrete lifting for many years now. Even if you’ve never heard of polyurethane foam injections before, chances are that your concrete repair expert will suggest it.
With polyurethane foam injections, an expert will inject a foam mix underneath the concrete. It will swell dramatically in size, hardening within just a few hours and allowing you to continue using the concrete with no problems. In most areas, homeowners can start using the lifted concrete within just a few minutes, which is much better than many older fixes that required days or weeks of curing time.
- Other Unique Options
Of course, other options might work well for your unique situation. If you’ve waited too long and your driveway is nothing but cracks, you might need to repour the concrete slab. There are also other fixes for concrete sinking that might work best for your driveway.
Whether you opt for polyurethane foam injections or you try a different concrete lifting process, you can rest assured that you’ll be able to get your concrete driveway back up and running as quickly as possible. It all depends on who’s able to work with you to achieve a solution. Just talk to a concrete repair expert to make sure you’re getting the best option for your unique problems.
Your first step might be to stop your concrete from falling, but that shouldn’t be everything you focus on. You might want to know whether you can lift the concrete back up. The answer is yes, but you need to make sure you’re doing it appropriately. Here are the steps you’ll have to take to lift the concrete back.
- Avoiding Concrete Falling
First, it’s common for the foremost thing on your mind to be avoiding the concrete falling; after all, the best thing for your home is to prevent damage in the first place! However, concrete lifting and leveling won’t just stop the concrete from falling. Although stopping the concrete falling is an essential element of the concrete lifting process, it’s only part of it. With more modern methods of concrete lifting and leveling, that’s only the beginning.
You can prevent concrete from sinking or falling by keeping the soil around and under your property in good health. This will, in turn, support your foundation and prevent avoidable damage and subsidence (which are common causes of sunken concrete in a property). Once concrete has started to fall, however, you must address it quickly!
- Ensuring Lifting
It’s very common for homeowners to be able to have concrete that’s back at its initial position after the leveling process, especially with polyurethane foam injections. You can raise concrete as much as a few inches, which can make it even better for your concrete as it stands right now. Raising your concrete back to its initial position makes it much better for your home’s health overall.You can do this in several ways. Slab piers, for example, will lift individual slabs that have started to sink, as will PolyRenewal. Mudjacking, however, is far better for outdoor concrete such as that found in patios and driveways. But if your foundation as a whole is sinking, foundation piers will often be the best option.
Lifting and stabilizing your concrete is more difficult than it might seem at first. You almost certainly can’t do anything to lift and stabilize your concrete on your own. That’s exactly why an expert’s help can be so valuable.
- A DIY Fix
Many homeowners love the idea of fixing their own homes. Although fixing your own home can certainly be a good move in some areas, it’s not a good idea here. Lifting and stabilizing concrete is complicated and confusing and you need to trust an expert.
- An Expert’s Help
If you’re having issues with sunken concrete, you need to talk to a concrete repair expert. This expert can talk to you about your problem, assess what’s going on with your home and your foundation, and give you tips and tricks for fixing it. Plus, with a local expert, you’ll be able to get information about how you can fix problems in all stages. No matter what you’re hoping to do or how bad the problem is right now, contacting a concrete repair expert is your best option.
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Disclaimer: “Concrete leveling” means the process by which cracked, uneven concrete is stabilized, and in many cases lifted, by means of PolyRenewal™ polyurethane foam. Groundworks does not guarantee that PolyRenewal™ can make your concrete perfectly level.