Concrete is a strong and durable material, but even it has imperfections and can wear down over time. One of the most common visual signs of this happening to your concrete is the appearance of cracks, which may be large or small and can appear on several different sections of your concrete driveway, patio or other area.

At Lift-Up Concrete, we’re here to provide high-quality commercial and residential concrete lifting and leveling services for these and all other concrete concerns. Some driveway cracks may just need simple caulking as a filler, while others may signal the need for more significant leveling services that may also include caulk. Let’s go over some of the basics on why your driveway or other concrete surface may crack, plus why it’s important to fill these if they’re present.

Why Driveways Crack

There are a few different reasons why a concrete driveway might begin to crack:

• Drying: In some cases, concrete that isn’t cured or poured correctly can dry too quickly after being applied to a given surface. This will cause it to craze and crust over – the former refers to a network of small cracks that take place due to moisture content, while the latter occurs on stamped concrete when the pattern is pressed too early in the process.
• Shrinkage: Concrete is made from a combination of cement and water, which hardens as water evaporates. This causes a shrinking process, but if too much water is used, the shrinkage will be more than expected and can cause cracks.
• Weather changes: Another cause of concrete shrinking and expanding, even sometimes months or years after the concrete has been installed, is temperature or moisture changes. Temperature and humidity increases lead to expansions of concrete, while the other sides of these coins cause it to contract. When this happens too often, concrete can crack from the strain.
• Settling: When the soil collapses below concrete for various reasons.
• Heaving: When the ground pushes up against concrete and leads to cracks, usually due to growing tree roots or a heavy freeze and thaw cycle.
• Overload: In some cases, too much weight can put such large amounts of pressure on the concrete that it cracks.

Importance and Benefits of Filling Cracks

A few reasons why being sure to fill cracks that appear in your concrete surfaces, particularly driveways, is important:

• Safety: Driveways free of cracks prevent injury to you and any pedestrians.
• Damage: Cars, tires, bikes and any other items that touch the driveway will be at lower risk of damage.
• Leveling: Procedures like concrete leveling with raise and align your slabs, and this process is often combined with caulking to seal any cracks and keep the driveway level.
• Appearance: Finally, from both a comfort and home value standpoint, a clear driveway without cracks is the way to go.

For more information on why sealing concrete cracks is important, or to learn about any of our concrete raising or leveling services, speak to the pros at Lift-Up Concrete today.

If you’ve recently noticed uneven concrete issues in your driveway, patio or other major concrete areas on your Utah property, you might be thinking of simply leaving them alone until the spring. The snow is about to fall, after all, and how much worse could these issues really get over the winter?

At Lift-Up Concrete, we’re here to advise you against this kind of thinking. If you require driveway lifting or leveling services, we highly recommend you call us and get these scheduled for before the snow drops and the full winter has completely hit. Here are a few of the primary reasons why we will never advise that you wait through the winter to get your concrete leveling issues handled.

Hazards

Snow and ice that come during winter are already hazards to begin with, and uneven concrete issues can exacerbate them in several unsafe ways. Trips and falls become far more likely, often due to the fact that you simply can’t see the uneven areas you have to navigate on your patio or driveway.

Even when you can see them, it’s much easier to lose your balance and risk a fall. This kind of thing goes double for any children you have in the home, who have less balance and may not pay as much attention to danger areas as they play outside. Not only will getting leveling done before the ice and snow hits save you money in the long run on your concrete, it will prevent costly medical bills and other negatives that come with safety hazards.

Snowblowing Issues

Have you ever tried to use the snowblower on a driveway that’s badly uneven? Not only will the job simply not get done as well – which can in turn lead to additional hazards, which we discussed above – you’re also risking major damage to your snowblower itself. Those blades aren’t invincible, and they will bend or even fully break if they’re regularly hitting uneven concrete.

Rather than deal with these issues, which might reduce the lifespan of your snowblower by as much as 50 percent, simply call us about concrete leveling before this becomes a problem. Both your driveway and your snowblower will appreciate the gesture.

It’ll Only Get Worse

You may think you can simply let your cracked or uneven concrete sit over the winter and get to it when the snow thaws, but this simply isn’t the case – at least not if you’re talking about the same level of damage being present, and therefore the same level of repair needed. Moisture from snow and ice will spend the entire winter infiltrating these cracks and uneven areas, widening them through the expansion and contraction of water at freezing temperatures. What you come back to in the spring will likely be exponentially worse than what you could have addressed in the previous fall.

For more on why having your concrete issues addressed before the snow sticks is vital, or to learn about any of our concrete leveling or raising services, speak to the staff at Lift-Up Concrete today.

If you’re considering selling your home in the near future, or even just having it appraised so you’re aware of the value moving forward, your home inspection will be a vital element of this process. This is when a third party inspector comes to your home and assesses various areas that may need to be addressed or fixed before the home can be sold.

At Lift-Up Concrete, we can help with one area that’s commonly raised by home inspectors: Concrete issues. Our various residential concrete leveling and lifting services can assist you as you look to address all related concrete areas, from minor cracks to major voids or settling damage. Here are some of the primary concrete issues found by inspectors during home assessments, plus how to go about addressing these if they come up.

Pitch Problems

When we talk about pitch, we’re referring to the flatness or slope of your concrete. This is a primary concern for larger concrete areas like driveways and patios – during periods of moisture, incorrectly sloped pitch surfaces can lead water toward the home, where it may leak into the basement, foundation and other areas. Drainage is a big point of emphasis for inspectors, and they will absolutely notice this sort of thing.

Luckily, basic concrete raising services will allow you to achieve the pitch you need without replacing your entire slabs. This is a faster process as well, and one that doesn’t require major renovations.

Cracks and Potholes

Perhaps the most noticeable forms of concrete damage that an inspector may spot are cracks, potholes and various bumps found in the driveway of your home. Not only do these signal possible property damage issues, they’re physical hazards for both people and vehicles and could draw you a big demerit on your assessment. Similar issues may also take place in the garage, or in the section between the garage and the driveway. We can help with alignment and smoothing for all these areas at a low cost.

Step Height

After many years of foot traffic that have put more and more strain on concrete steps, they may experience similar sinking effects to other concrete areas. Once again, these are not only property value detractors, but direct safety hazards that will not look good on a property inspection.

In addition to basic visible sinking, inspectors will be looking for a standardized step height. Anything above 8.25 inches between steps will generally be regarded as a problem, so you should measure your steps and contact us about leveling them off if they don’t fit this qualification.

For more on the issues property inspectors will be looking for relative to your concrete, or to learn about how our concrete lifting and leveling services can help, speak to the pros at Lift-Up Concrete today.

Concrete is a fantastic and durable product for several important areas of a given property, whether residential or commercial, but it’s not invincible. It can be damaged over time, either through specific events or, more commonly, by the natural wear and tear they go through over the course of the passing years.

At Lift-Up Concrete, we’re here to help if your concrete is dealing with these wear or damage issues of any kind. Our concrete leveling and lifting services are available at the residential, commercial and municipal levels, and can assist with everything from minor concrete issues to major damage. One common type of damage to concrete in various areas is the concrete void – how do voids appear, what are some signs they’re present underneath your concrete, and what are your options for addressing them? Let’s take a look.

Signs of Void Presence

Concrete voids may appear in slabs for several reasons, and they refer to gaps beneath the concrete slab between it and the soil or foundation area. Voids may form for a variety of reasons, from lack of proper compression to water erosion that takes place due to leaks at the surface. Voids will weaken your concrete slabs, first just a little but eventually to the point where surface dips, tilting, cracks and even major breakages take place.

When voids are first forming in your concrete, they may be a bit tougher to spot or notice. But as they worsen, they will present visible signs that you should be able to pick up on. These signs include the following:

• Cracking: Cracking will generally begin in small ways, with tiny fissures forming, often near the corners. Eventually this will become larger and full pieces may begin falling off.
• Deterioration: Beyond basic cracking, you may also notice chipping or erosion based on moisture or other elements.
• Corners: A telltale sign of hollow ground below the concrete is breaking corners, which signal that the slab itself is falling in areas.

Options for Addressing Voids

If you’re unsure whether you have voids underneath your concrete, our professionals at Lift-Up Concrete can help determine it for you. And if we do assess voids present, you’ll have a few options available for how you address them:

• Ignorance: Unfortunately, too many home and business owners choose this option. Trust us, we can tell you from experience: All this will do is make your problem worse and cause it to cost more when you do eventually get it taken care of.
• Replacement: In most cases of concrete voids, full-on replacement of your slab is not necessary. This is quite expensive in most cases, and usually does the same job that much more affordable leveling services can do just as well.
• Leveling: Using our expert services, we can drill into your concrete and help raise the void areas with no replacement needed.

For more on your options for concrete voids, or to learn about any of our concrete raising or leveling services, speak to the staff at Lift-Up Concrete today.

At Lift-Up Concrete Lifting LLC, we’re here to help with all your concrete raising and lifting needs, whether they’re residential, commercial or municipal. We’ve helped clients achieve comprehensive and affordable solutions to concrete sinking issues large and small, from sidewalk repair to basic driveway leveling.

We can also help with the prevention of future sinking issues, much of which comes back to understanding why your sinking took place to begin with. There are several possible contributors to this happening, depending on where you live and what kind of concrete materials you’re using. Let’s look at some of the most common reasons for sinking concrete, plus how to prevent them.

Base Erosion

One of the most frequent reasons why concrete sinks is erosion of the slab’s base. This is generally caused by water that’s able to make its way under the concrete, then begins to slowly decompose it over time.

Stopping this from happening is as simple as making sure your concrete areas are protected from water flow. Make sure water lines, downspouts, gutters and other water transportation elements are directed properly, plus sealed firmly.

Climate Effects

Depending on where you live, concrete sinking might be more or less likely due to the climate. Harsher climates lead to quicker breakdowns of numerous materials, and concrete is among them. Know that visual damage is only one part of this picture – if you can see damage on your concrete, chances are there’s more significant damage below the surface as well.

Workmanship Issues

In other cases, your sinking issues will be due to concrete slabs that were not built or installed correctly. During this process, crews have to spend time on details like the compacting of the soil, gravel and anything else under the area where the slab is going – if poor workmanship is done here, the foundation won’t be able to support the actual concrete piece. This will lead to sinking that you can’t do anything about, and that might require costly repairs.

Slab Curl

The slab curl is a term for when the concrete is in the curing stage and actually curls up a bit. This happens due to some of the concrete curing faster than the rest, changing the shape slightly. This impacts the way the concrete settles, and may cause it to sink in certain areas faster than it would in others.

Nearby Vibrations

If you live near heavy traffic or there’s been major construction taking place in your area, these vibrations could impact your concrete. Vibrations settle the earth underneath your concrete, which can lead to major impacts on sinking.

For more on the precursors to your concrete settling, or to learn about any of our concrete lifting, raising or leveling services, speak to the pros at Lift-Up Concrete Lifting LLC today.

There are a number of issues that can affect the handy DIY homeowner, and a sunken patio is among the more major ones. Problematic for both practical and visual reasons, sunken patios can be major hassles and cost a significant amount to get cleaned up.

At Lift-Up Concrete Lifting LLC, though, we’re here to help through our concrete lifting and leveling services. We can help with even the worst sunken patios, those with exposed foundation or other major structural issues. Here are some basics on the dangers of a sunken patio, plus why it generally makes far more sense to repair it using a service like concrete leveling rather then replacing the entire patio.

Sunken Patios and Safety Hazards

Sunken patios are an eyesore and not something any homeowner wants seen, but this is a relatively minor issue compared to the safety concerns they can pose. Particularly in homes that have any children or pets, but even in those that don’t, sunken patios can be major hazards in some of the most common walking areas out there.

Exposed wood can lead to splinters and similar issues, presenting safety issues. And in the worst cases, long enough exposure may lead to moisture coming into contact with wood and causing mold or mildew formation, which can be harmful for personal health.

Why Repair Beats Replacement

If you’re dealing with a sunken patio, you should be doing everything in your power to attempt to repair it rather than replace it entirely. Costs are far greater for a full-on patio replacement, often up to double the cost of simply using leveling or raising to repair.

Here are a few benefits of repairing the sunken concrete patio instead of replacing it:

• Saves time: Using a technique like concrete leveling, which pumps material in from the bottom up, allows you to walk in your cement right away after the procedure is done. Other processes, such as mudjacking, leave wet concrete that can’t be contacted for days after the project is done.

• Saves money: As we noted above, repairing concrete is much cheaper than replacing it.

• Helps with water damage and sealing: The foam used in our concrete leveling is water-tight, meaning no further water damage can take place to any exposed areas.

• Less intrusive: Unlike other processes that take a lot of time and force you to alter a bunch of your daily routines, raising your concrete is not intrusive. We drill holes the size of a dime, meaning you’ll never even notice we were there. We’ll also then match your concrete with what we put in the hole, plus won’t bother you with loud jackhammers or other noises.

How We Can Help

If you’re dealing with a sunken concrete patio, call the pros at Lift-Up Concrete Lifting LLC today to learn about whether leveling is the right choice for you. Contact us today.

With fall in full swing and winter on the way, it’s vital for home and business owners in Utah to be thinking about keeping moisture out of their homes. The winter is the riskiest time for home floods and leaking issues, with snow melting into water runoff and creating issues in some situations.

At Lift-Up Concrete Lifting LLC, we’re here to help. Our commercial and residential concrete lifting services can benefit your entire property in several ways, including preventing water leaking and flooding issues that you may not have thought were even related to your concrete. Let’s look at some of the common misconceptions with home waterproofing, plus how concrete leveling might be able to help if you’re having problems.

Waterproofing Basics

When it comes to the home, waterproofing refers to any techniques and materials used to prevent water from making it inside the home, namely into the basement. A properly waterproofed home will have no leaks or moisture seepage into the basement or anywhere else, even after significant snow or rain storms.

If you’ve had flooding in your home, though, it’s important to know that the waterproofing of the actual structure itself might not be the problem. Let’s look more at this.

Is Waterproofing Even the Issue?

In many cases, homeowners assume they have a structural waterproofing issue if water gets in when this isn’t truly the case. And while this is sometimes true, there are cases where it isn’t – namely, if you notice that the basement looks find and doesn’t have any foul smells or mildew present.

If this is the case, it’s possible your issues actually relate to the concrete outside your home. This concrete could be sunken, cracked or sloped in a way that allows moisture to move toward the home during or after a storm, causing water to leak into the basement for this reason. In situations like these, a waterproofer won’t be able to do much – rather, our pros might be able to perform a simpler leveling procedure on your concrete that will save you huge amounts of time and hassle.

How Concrete Leveling Can Help

There are a few different approaches to leveling concrete, but the general goal is the same: Restoring both the look and overall performance of the concrete itself. If you have holes that are causing sloping issues or water pooling, for instance, leveling will fill these easily along with any other minor cracks that might be contributing. Rather than rainfall or snow runoff flowing toward your home during or after a big storm, you’ll have a flat surface that doesn’t promote flooding or pooling in any way.

To learn more about how concrete leveling can help with water leakage issues, or for more on any of our concrete lifting, leveling or raising services, speak to the pros at Lift-Up Concrete Lifting LLC today.

There are several important exterior elements of a given home when it comes to everything from home value to basic curb appeal, and one such element is the driveway. As one of the largest and most noticeable design and practical elements of your home, your driveway and the materials you use for it are extremely important.

At Lift-Up Concrete Lifting, LLC, our professionals can help you maintain a perfect driveway through high-level residential concrete lifting and leveling services. We can also help you understand why concrete is such a great material, not only for driveways but for several important hardscape areas. One great way of doing this is by comparing it to another common driveway product: Asphalt. These two materials are often the final choice homeowners are deciding between when they get a new driveway – here’s why concrete is the right choice for you.

Durability and Value

Concrete is significantly more durable as a driveway material than asphalt. If all else is equal, in fact, it will last about three times as long. It will also do much better at standing up to basic wear and tear and weather elements, which is important if you have lots of cars or feet regularly pounding the driveway.

This durability also has a major impact on your cost efficiency, as well. It’s true that asphalt is cheaper than concrete up front – this is why some buyers gravitate toward it. But these folks aren’t thinking of things from a broad enough perspective: A driveway that lasts three times as long will provide far greater value over time than one that costs a little bit less but won’t provide nearly the same quality. In addition, concrete adds greater curb appeal and resale value on average.

Safety

Particularly for homeowners with young children or pets, concrete driveway materials are far safer than asphalt. Not only is it non-skid by nature, making it easier to walk on when there’s moisture or even ice formed, it provides more visibility when it’s dark – asphalt’s deep color can make it very tough to see water or ice at night.

Aesthetics

The driveway is often the very first thing guests or passers-by look at when they se your home. While asphalt looks fine in most cases, it simply can’t compete with the elegance and beauty provided by concrete options.

Cleaning and Maintenance

Another area where there’s no comparison between these materials is maintenance. Asphalt coatings are particularly burdensome here, often requiring major time consumption – concrete requires virtually no maintenance after installation.

In addition, concrete is far cleaner. We’ve all seen asphalt stick to shoes during hot weather, then track into the home and stick to the carpet. There are no such concerns with concrete.

Comfort Considerations

For children or adults who might walk outside in bare feet often, such as during gardening projects, concrete is much better to walk on. Asphalt can heat up to dangerous temperatures in the summer, and it’s also rougher and tougher to walk on year-round.

For more on why concrete is preferred over asphalt for your driveway, or to learn about any of our driveway, patio or walkway leveling or raising services, speak to the staff at Lift-Up Concrete Lifting, LLC today.

At Lift-Up Concrete Lifting, LLC, we’re here to provide you with comprehensive services for concrete lifting, raising and leveling. Whether you have issues with residential, commercial or municipal concrete, we can help you assess and manage settled concrete in healthy and permanent ways.

Concrete is a fantastic material for a wide variety of project areas, with great durability and economical qualities that stop it from being wasteful. But that doesn’t mean it’s perfect – it can still crack, chip, crumble and sink after settling. Let’s look at some of the reasons why your concrete might sink noticeably, plus a few precautions you can take to help limit this from happening.

Causes of Sinking

There are two primary causes of concrete sinking into the ground:

• Base construction issues: When concrete slabs are installed in a given walkway, driveway or similar area, they’re placed over a base that’s built prior to construction. But not all bases are created equal – some might not be compacted in the right ways, while others might use the wrong materials, such as loose aggregates or softer soils that aren’t dense enough. When this happens, concrete is liable to sink. 
  
  For example, a common location where you might find sunken concrete is the perimeter of the concrete foundation. This perimeter is often called the “over-dig” area, one that’s set slightly further out than the actual foundation to allow workers to move around the foundation easily. If the over-dig area is not backfilled properly, it will settle in and can easily cause sinking.

• Water erosion: In proper concrete jobs, a seal is created between the upper part of the work and the concrete slab. But in some cases, water is allowed to intrude below the slab. This will cause erosion to take place, and will also lead to issues in colder climates – water will freeze and expand, then shrink back down again when the weather warms up. This creates voids in the concrete, which can lead to sinking. Anywhere water is allowed to flow below the seal can create this issue. Broken pipes or sprinklers are a common cause.

Preventing Concrete Sinking

There are several things you can do to help prevent sinking from taking place in your concrete:

• Seal all cracks or openings near concrete using either silicone or polyurethane caulk. If you have larger caps to fill, use backer rod and then place caulk material on top.

• Pack any open sides of concrete slab with soil to make sure water cannot slip below them.

• Move all water runoff downspouts to at least five feet away from concrete slabs, and even further if possible.

• During new concrete installation, make sure the base is both compacted and at least four inches deep. One good test here is to stomp your feet around the entire base – it should not move at all when you do this.

For more on the causes of concrete sinking and how to prevent it, or to learn about any of our concrete raising or leveling services, speak to the pros at Lift-Up Concrete Lifting, LLC today. 

There are several lifting and leveling techniques available today that have been around for generations, and one great example here is mudjacking. Popular for over 70 years, mudjacking is a common process where slurry (a mixture of cement and sand in most cases) is pumped into holes in a given concrete surface, with hydraulic pressure causing the slab to rise.

At Lift-Up Concrete Lifting, LLC, we’re experienced with mudjacking among our concrete lifting services. We’re also aware of cases where mudjacking might not be the preferred method for raising a given concrete area, whether it’s a driveway, walkway, patio or other area. Let’s go over a few issues that may arise in some cases with mudjacking, plus a suitable alternative that’s often used.

Material Breakdown

In some climates, the “slurry” material used in mudjacking won’t be particularly optimal for use in these kinds of projects. As we noted, slurry is generally comprised of a combination of sand and cement, occasionally involving soil as well. This material is not waterproof, meaning it’s not ideal for use in any climate where moisture might be present.
If there is indeed lots of moisture, it will be able to drain below the concrete due to a lack of waterproof qualities. As this happens, and moisture goes through a cycle of freezing and thawing, sand and cement will be prone to shrinking, eroding and other forms of damage. This can lead to the same areas of concrete that you were looking to raise in the first place sinking back down again, sometimes to even lower levels.

Hole Issues

For mudjacking to take place, it requires that you drill fairly large holes of about one to two inches in the slab of concrete that needs to be filled in. In some cases, these holes can cause issues with the structural soundness of the concrete itself. Besides, they’re no fun to look at.

Weight Problems

After about 24 hours, the slurry material pumped underneath your concrete will harden completely. At this point, it will be extremely heavy – and as it turns out, this weight is often the source of leveling issues to begin with. Original concrete poured over an unsuitable base is usually what leads to slabs settling and dropping after a period of time; if you add more weight to this equation, you’re risking the same thing happening all over again.

Polyurethane

For certain projects that might not do well with mudjacking, the use of polyurethane has become more and more popular since its patent expired in the early 2000s and it became available for widespread use. This method was originally used by state and federal agencies to fill sunken roadways, but it can now be used in several raising areas. It cures and hardens in far less time than mudjacking slurry, and is often the more feasible material for areas like driveways and walkways. It’s the preferred method throughout the industry.

For more on mudjacking and suitable alternatives, or to learn about any of our concrete rising and leveling services, speak to the pros at Lift-Up Concrete Lifting, LLC today.