Concrete Lifting

There is a reason why the PolyRenewal™ System is the sole solution available for concrete lifting and repair at Dry Pro Foundation and Crawl Space Specialists: the PolyRenewal™ System is so multi-functional that it can single-handedly address any and all concrete problems that you may have—guaranteed. 

What Else Can PolyRenewal Fix? 

The PolyRenewal is certainly not limited to concrete steps alone. Due to all its features, the polyurethane foam can be injected anywhere you have concrete! From your driveway, patio, garage, or even beside your pool deck, the PolyRenewal can, and will, work to repair cracks or broken concrete, or restore and level slabs to their original position. 

It is not only the exterior too. If you are noticing uneven floors in your home, then our expert contractors can easily inject the foam into interior slabs below, allowing you to walk through your home safely and not have to deal with any unsightly, uneven floors. 

How Is PolyRenewal Installed? 

Installation of the PolyRenewal foam only requires a hole the size of a penny, so worrying about any invasive or disruptive procedures is a thing of the past. The polyurethane foam of our PolyRenewal™ System is injected through these small holes, where it expands upon application. It only takes about half an hour for this foam to cure and become more rigid, so it works incredibly fast! Installation takes less than a day. In fact, it can even take under a couple of hours. 

Once the PolyRenewal™ System foam is injected into the site of interest, our experts will cover up the hole. You are guaranteed to have professional flooring finish every time. You won’t even notice that there was any work done, but you will reap all the benefits! 

There is a reason mudjacking is not recommended by the experts at Dry Pro Foundation and Crawl Space Specialists. Although mudjacking has been the traditional method to repair broken concrete and even lift concrete, it is neither sustainable nor a long-lasting solution for any concrete woes. 

What is Mudjacking? 

Mudjacking is one of the older methods of repairing cracked, broken, or unlevel concrete. Mudjacking uses what is known as a slurry, or a mixture of clay, sand, and cement, to fill into voids under concrete to lift it back up. It is also used to repair any concrete that has formed cracks or even broken in half. For this to happen, however, a contractor must drill a large enough hole into the concrete site for the slurry to be poured into. Mudjacking requires a few days to cure before use. 

However, soil compaction and settlement can result from excessive weight. The slurry mixture is quite heavy. While it does level out your concrete, it will weigh on your soil even more, causing more cracks and slabs to become uneven with time. 

Why Use the PolyRenewal™ System Instead? 

Mudjacking is more temporary than the PolyRenewal™ System due to the weight of the mixture. The slurry used in mudjacking is rather heavy, weighing at about 120 pounds per cubic foot alone. The PolyRenewal™ Injection foam weighs at around four pounds per cubic foot—30 times less than mudjacking slurry! 

In contrast to mudjacking, the PolyRenewal™ System addresses the source of the problem: soil shrinkage, compaction, settlement, or washout. The PolyRenewal™ System is waterproof, a feature that is unique to the polyurethane foam of the PolyRenewal™, and, therefore, prevents soil from experiencing an excessive amount of swell-shrink cycles or soil washout. Its lightweight foam also prevents future soil compaction, which is common with mudjacking slurry over time. The PolyRenewal™ foam cures in a shorter period and is significantly less messy than mudjacking.

Concrete cracks can make some areas of your property look dated and poorly taken care of. To avoid this problem, you’ll need to prevent concrete cracks as much as possible, though there are some things that can’t be prevented.  

• Things That Can’t Be Prevented 

The slabs that crack due to a poor production process are structurally weak and will crack no matter how well you take care of them. You can tell when a weak slab will crack excessively; it starts to pit, which is when the concrete develops small holes in the surface. The pitting only debilitates the structure and makes it easier for the concrete to crack. 

The same can be said for any slabs around a pool deck. Due to the way pool decks are constructed, the clay bowl effect causes rapid soil erosion and concrete settling. This can be avoided if the slabs in that area have minimal exposure to water, but because it’s near the pool, this is nearly impossible to achieve. 

• Things That Can Be Prevented  

Concrete settling can’t be completely prevented because soil will find a way to get displaced one way or another. Still, you can slow down the settling process and prevent concrete cracks by protecting the soil under your slabs. This can be done with proper yard drainage and a positive yard grade. The less water that accumulates around your property, the less structural damage you’ll see. 

This might mean extending your downspouts and altering them to point away from any slabs. You also might want to cover your driveway, at least for the winter, so that it gets snowed on as little as possible. If you do notice some signs of settling but the slab hasn’t cracked yet, then avoid putting weight on it until experts are able to repair the slab. 

Some homeowners may think that replacing their concrete steps in its entirety will solve the problem. Others may reason out that replacing the concrete steps will also make it look perfectly new, without adding a new foam that may alter the look of it. However, replacement not only does not address the cause of the issue, but also it is dangerous and is not very cost effective. In most cases, repair is better. 

The Dangers of Concrete Replacement 

Replacing your concrete requires that you demolish the concrete to get to the soil underneath. Homeowners may think that concrete demolition is quite simple, but it is this mindset that makes it even more dangerous to do alone. Demolishing concrete requires the extensive use of many tools that you may not be familiar with, which can be a recipe for disaster and lead to serious injury. 

Demolishing concrete also has its risks aside from obvious injury. Someone who is inexperienced can easily damage pipes beneath your home. In the most severe situations, water pipes will burst, causing flooding and contamination of your water supply. Gas pipes can also leak, putting you and everyone around you at risk for inhalation or fires. 

The Costs of Concrete Replacement 

Replacing concrete can be quite costly in comparison to simple repairs. Although repairs are not exactly cheap, they are much more budget-friendly than replacing entire concrete slabs. The average cost of concrete ranges from $4 to $15 per square foot. This can quickly add up depending on how large your steps are. 

Furthermore, it is not just buying concrete that is expensive. There are many tools necessary to replace concrete, and, even if you rent them out, these costs can add up very quickly. Concrete steps also require molds and certain training to get them shaped properly. 

Polyurethane foam can lift cracked slabs and level the broken piece with the rest of the concrete. That said, polyurethane is not glue, so it cannot lift slabs that are severely cracked. Past a certain point of damage, you’ll need to replace the slab instead of repairing it, which costs more money. 

Besides, with a repair method like PolyRenewal™, you are able to ensure that the erosion process is slowed, and your slab stays even for a very long time. If you get a new slab, however, then the soil erosion process is not addressed, and the new slab has the potential to settle as well. To avoid this, it’s in your best interest to learn how to keep your settling concrete from cracking.  

• Exposure to Moisture 

The bigger the gap under the slab, the more the concrete settles and the more likely it is to break. Keeping the slab as even as possible and preventing rapid soil loss is the best way to avoid a cracked slab. This might mean making some alterations, such as not using the pool until repairs are done or using driveway covers, at least during the winter to protect from snow. 

Moisture is something that not only erodes soil; it also erodes concrete. Water can displace concrete particles over time, which is especially damaging to concrete that is already weak due to a poor curing process or an incorrect recipe. Concrete damage is most severe during the winter when the moisture in the slab expands as it turns into ice. Charlotte, NC has 59 nights a year where the temperature drops to or below freezing. This is nearly two months of micro-tears from freeze-thaw, so you need to limit how much exposure to snow the slab gets if you wish to avoid cracks.  

• Weight Bearing 

Because concrete has poor tensile strength, it is most likely to crack when it begins settling. If you notice the tell-tale signs of settling in a slab, then you need to hold off on putting any weight on it until repairs are done. Not only does too much weight on a settling slab cause cracking, but also it can accelerate the soil erosion process. 

If one of your slabs is settling, then it may not be the only one that has soil problems. Slab settling can happen to multiple slabs at once, and the signs usually appear shortly after the first slab begins to settle. To prevent multiple slabs from settling, there are a few things you need to consider doing.  

• Drainage 

Soil erosion can never fully be prevented, but it can be slowed down considerably if you limit the soil’s exposure to moisture. This can be done by improving your yard drainage system. It’s important that as little moisture as possible goes near the even slabs, especially if there’s one that is already settling. 

Because soil washout is so common in Charlotte thanks to the characteristics of the city’s soil, having a positive yard grade helps immensely. A positive yard grade means that water flows away from the foundation every time it rains. You can always speak to a landscaping expert to examine your yard to see if any re-grading needs to be done. 

•  Seasonal Care 

Every winter, you should try to shovel as much snow from your yard as you can, especially during the early evening. The temperature falls below freezing at night, but even if it snows while you’re asleep, at least the snow will not melt and saturate the water like it does during the day. Early morning and evening are the best times to remove snow to protect your slab. 

During the summer, when it rains, some protection might also be good for your concrete, particularly your driveway, which is the easiest to protect. A simple, collapsible driveway cover can block the excessive amount of rain that falls between May and August in Charlotte. It’s not recommended that you cover the slabs year-round because of potential mold growth, so focus on doing so when it rains the most.