Using a blend of established technology ‘Slabjacking’ and new dynamically engineered technologies - ‘Push Piering’ and ‘Helical Piering’ - homeowners having concrete slab and foundations problems can use these innovate and economic solutions to repair concrete vs. replacing it .

Concrete is a building product most homeowners know very little about. It’s gray, it’s hard, it cracks and it’s expensive are the limits to most people’s knowledge. So it stands to reason that when concrete has a problem, it often stays a problem for an extended period of time. It stays unsightly, annoying and unsafe for far too long.

When a portion or all of a garage floor, driveway or patio settles causing a tripping hazard or drainage problems, or a foundation cracks and the floor tilts the homeowner’s first instinct is often to call a residential concrete contractor listed in the phone book. Unfortunately, almost all residential concrete contractors specialize in new construction so their best recommendation is to tear out the bad concrete and replace it before it gets worse. Usually, this is a very costly mistake!

There are new and exciting technologies available now to repair concrete making removal and replacement the last resort, not the first:

Slabjacking, an established technology in use since the 1930’s, gently lifts sunken or uneven concrete slabs, such as garage floors, driveways and patios back into place. This process injects grout under the slab, filling all the voids and then hydrologic pressure supplied by a specialized pump provides the lift. Slabjacking, depending on how large an area needs to be repaired, is approximately 1/2 to 2/3rds the cost of tearing out the problem concrete section and installing new concrete.

Repair of the existing slab has distinct advantages over replacement.

• The disturbing aesthetic appearance of new concrete adjacent to existing concrete is avoided.
• Often entire driveways or patios are replaced even though only a small section has settled. The homeowner feels replacement of the only the small areas would be unsightly.
• The adjoining yard and landscaping are not ruined. Placement of new concrete usually requires removing plants or wheel barrowing across grassed areas leaving ruts. Slab-jacking is accomplished with no disruption to existing landscaping.
• With slabjacking the repaired concrete can be used almost immediately. With new concrete, the homeowner must wait for a 10 day curing period.
• Slabjacking is environmentally friendly. After a slab is torn out, the rubble needs disposing of, usually in a landfill. There is no rubble with slabjacking. Also the amount of energy and material required to make and deliver new concrete far exceeds the mini-mal material used in repair.

Foundation Piering is the exciting new technology that stabilizes and lifts cracked or sunken foundations. This innovative procedure has saved many homeowners from the enormous cost of full replacement of a distressed foundation. There are many types of piers available, however the two most common and effective are helical and push piers. Push piers of 3” diameter steel pipe are hydraulically driven into the ground at selected points along the troubled foundation until they reach bedrock or stable soil. The piers are then attached to the foundation by heavy steel plates. Once all the required piers and plates are in place they are linked together and controlled by a hydraulic pump. The foundation is carefully lifted in one eight inch increments until fully stabilized and in most cases lifted back to its original position. Helical piering is much like inserting a giant screw into the ground. In areas were the soil is substandard to bear the weight and loads of the structure, these piers are inserted and designated locations and support the concrete that links the piers and then acts as the foundation for the building.

In all these applications the property owner is fully involved in the process (if they choose to be) and has final say over any lifting decisions. Costs are 1/2 or less of foundation replacement and the work is usually done in 1 to 5 days. There is very little disturbance to the yard and landscaping; unlike foundation replacement the homeowner does not have to move out, and the work is warranted for 10 years.

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Michael Houghton owns and operates Concrete Lifting Solutions a concrete repair service company using a blend of established technology ‘Slabjacking’ and new dynamically engineered technology ‘Push Piering’ and ‘Helical Piering’.

For further information please contact Concrete Lifting Solutions at 503-595-5110