Cracked, crumbling and broken concrete doesn’t give the best impression of your home or business. Not only does it compromise your residential or commercial curb appeal, it’s also a safety hazard.
If you have broken concrete, you’ll want efficient, affordable repair options that don’t involve tearing out the entire structure and starting over.
Lift-Up Concrete can quickly reface and even out your sinking concrete slabs, whether it’s a driveway, walkway or patio that’s in question.
Before you think about making repairs, find out why the material degraded in the first place. Consider these five possible reasons:
You Use Rock Salt
De-icing salts are an effective safety measure, but they’re terrible for concrete.
Concrete is a porous, absorbent material. When rock salt is spread on it, ice and snow melts and the concrete absorbs the resulting moisture.
But since winter temperatures have a tendency to drop, especially at night, as soon as it gets cold again, all the moisture inside the concrete freezes. Since water expands when it freezes, it puts pressure on the slab, weakening it and causing it to crumble.
You Parked a Dumpster on It
Concrete is strong — why else would it be one of the most common building materials in the world? But for the most part, structures like residential driveways can’t take an obscene amount of weight without cracking.
If you parked a dumpster or other heavy object on a slab not designed to take the weight, you may end up with broken concrete.
You Have a Bad Water Drainage System or a Sudden Flood
Severe soil erosion does a number on this building material. Without the supportive, compacted soil underneath, the void left behind leads to sinking and cracking. If your home has a faulty water drainage design or you’re in an area that sees frequent flooding, this could damage your concrete.
It Was Mixed Incorrectly
Concrete must have the right proportions of water, Portland cement and aggregate to stand the test of time. If it wasn’t mixed properly before installation, you’ll have problems at some point.
For example, too much water in the mix leads to excess shrinkage, and shrinkage leads to crumbling and cracking.
It Was Poured and Cured Wrong
Was your concrete poured onto frozen soil? Were control joints not added? Was it cured incorrectly? If your installation contractor didn’t follow the proper procedure for readying the surface, pouring and curing the slab, broken concrete shouldn’t come as a surprise.
Would you like to restore your patio, driveway or sidewalk today and learn how to prevent future issues?
Lift-Up Concrete is ready to help assess damage, offer free quotes before starting work and execute affordable, attractive, long-lasting repairs that solve your broken concrete problems — call today to learn more.
