2 Ways The Professionals Repair Sunken Foundations
Unless you were lucky enough to build your home on solid bedrock, its foundation will likely settle unevenly over the course of decades as the soil slowly moves beneath it. A settling foundation can lead to sloping floors, cracked walls, and other more serious problems that can even lead to an inspector declaring the building uninhabitable.
Fortunately, there are ways which basement contractors can repair foundations and level them off without replacing the concrete slab altogether.
1. Piering
To use an analogy, think of piering as putting a home on different length stilts that let it rest above uneven ground. However, instead of sitting above the ground, these particular stilts, or steel piers, are driven into the uneven ground beneath a settling foundation. The contractors then lift or lower the foundation to the appropriate height with hydraulic jacks and then bolt or weld it to the steel piers.
2. Slabjacking
Slabjacking isn’t as common a solution as piering since it’s mostly used to correct bad backfills. Normally, the backfill material is rocks and gravel: it’s porous enough to let water through without collecting next to the concrete slab, and it’s easy enough to compact into a level surface. However, if the backfill is dirt, the construction team might not compact it evenly, causing it to settle over just a few short years.
Slabjacking corrects this mistake by drilling holes into the foundation and pouring in a special grout which fills in the settled areas and lifts the foundation back to where it ought to be. Once the holes are patched with additional concrete, the foundation is practically as good as new.
AA Action Waterproofing handles all sorts of foundation repair jobs, including piering, slab waterproofing, sump pump installation, and even complete foundation replacement. If you need a professional’s touch for your foundation, and you live in Maryland or a nearby state, contact us today for a free initial estimate.