Raising Your Sinking Concrete Slab
There are plenty of reasons that contractors use concrete in outdoor applications like patios, walkways, and pool decks. Concrete is durable, weather-resistant, and can be quite beautiful if it is correctly installed and well maintained. One of the most common issues with concrete slabs is that they wind up sinking or settling over time.
Concrete can settle for a few reasons. If the soil beneath the slab is rich in clay, it can give way beneath the weight of the concrete after heavy rains or melting snow. If the ground was poorly compacted when the slab was installed, it might compact unevenly. Tree roots and improper drainage can also cause trouble with concrete slabs.
The best thing to do when a slab settles and becomes uneven is; have it repaired as soon as possible before the damage gets any worse. Most of the time, this can be accomplished without removing the existing concrete via a process known as concrete levelling. Read on to find out about the benefits of having concrete levelled for help with deciding if this is the right solution.
Prevent Safety Hazards
When one or more concrete slabs settle, they can wind up presenting trip hazards. Typically, one end of the concrete falls beneath the level of the rest of the slab, but even if the entire slab settles evenly, it can present a trip hazard where two slabs meet. Either way, it’s best to have it repaired immediately before it becomes a liability.
Restore the Property’s Appearance
Unsettled concrete doesn’t just pose a safety hazard. It also makes outdoor landscapes look like a mess, which can affect property value and curb appeal. Homeowners will be surprised by how much difference concrete repairs can make in terms of aesthetic appeal.
Preserve the Landscape
Concrete demolition can create a huge mess. Concrete levelling, on the other hand, will cause minimal disruptions to the surrounding landscape and hardscape features. There’s no need for homeowners to turn their yards into temporary construction zones when they could hire a contractor who specializes in minimally invasive concrete lifting.
Save Money
Having concrete levelled is typically much less expensive than having it replaced. Depending on the location of the slab, the quality of the soil beneath it, and how accessible the area is, it can cost between two and three times as much to have the slab replaced with new concrete.
Those who are wondering whether it’s worth doing anything about the issue at all should recognize that they stand to lose much more money if someone trips and injures him or herself on their properties than they’ll pay to have their concrete lifted. Taking action as soon as possible after the problem arises is also the best way to prevent unnecessary repairs.
Address Underlying Problems
Removing the old concrete and replacing it won’t address the underlying problem. The soil beneath the new slab will still be damaged, which will increase the chances of the same issue coming up again. Concrete lifting addresses the underlying problem so that the results will last.
Nearly Immediate Results
It used to be the case that concrete contractors used mud-jacking or slab-jacking as primary means of lifting settled concrete. These methods were valid, but they took a good deal of time and required property owners to avoid the area for days. Modern concrete remediation techniques like polyurethane concrete lifting take just a few hours to implement and can be used almost immediately.
Almost Invisible Repairs
The polyurethane concrete lifting process leaves nearly no evidence after the fact. Contractors only need to drill small holes to pump in the lifting material, and they can patch these holes after completing the rest of the job. While it’s true that newly poured concrete will also look nearly perfect, it won’t match the surrounding slabs, and the inconsistent coloration will be much more noticeable than a few small patches over tiny holes.
Go Green
When contractors tear out old concrete slabs and replace them, the old materials typically end up in landfills. Unless the slab has sustained substantial damage as a result of the settling process, there’s no need for that waste. Instead, homeowners can have their existing slabs levelled and avoid generating unnecessary construction waste, which is essential in a world where natural resources are becoming scarcer every day.
The Bottom Line
There’s no need to replace settled concrete slabs if they haven’t sustained substantial damage. Concrete lifting provides a much more efficient, timely, and effective solution. Just make sure to find a contractor who has plenty of experience with concrete lifting and offers modern methods for concrete repair like polyurethane concrete lifting instead of using old-fashioned mud-jacking techniques to ensure the best results.