While it certainly feels like it’s taken forever, a heavy Utah winter is finally winding down and giving way to warmer temperatures. This means several things for homeowners in terms of basic maintenance heading into the spring and summer season, including possibly a few concrete areas you might want to consider.

At Lift-Up Concrete, we’re here to tell you why this period of the year is often perfect for residential concrete lifting and leveling services. Here are several warm-weather activities and themes that are made both more entertaining and, more importantly, safer through proper, leveled concrete.

Kids and Playtime

If you have children, whether they’re extremely young and willing to play anywhere or getting older and looking to competitive sports like basketball, the driveway is a big-time potential play area. It’s the perfect spot to set up a hoop and play HORSE, or to purchase a couple road hockey goals and start a neighborhood game for your kids and their friends.

If your concrete is cracked or otherwise uneven, though, it both spoils the fun and risks the safety of everyone involved. And worse yet, if you try to simply play through minor concrete concerns, you’re guaranteed to make them worse eventually – to the point where no one can play on the surface at all.

Pool Considerations

Another central area for warm-month fun? The backyard pool, which is perfect for everything from a relaxing day in the sun to a full-on birthday celebration with a bunch of screaming kids.

But if you were a parent of a child preparing to attend such a party, would you be okay with them going if you knew the pool deck was badly cracked and unsafe? Remember, you’re not only dealing with the concrete issues here, but also with large amounts of water that can increase hazards. You likely wouldn’t be okay with this, and as such, you should have these surfaces leveled before the season begins.

Patios and BBQs

For the adults present, patio areas are valuable for some summer relaxation, often in the form of a gathering or barbeque. No one is going to want to come by for a few dogs, however, if they’re constantly tripping over cracks or uneven bricks. Our leveling services extend to patios and decks as well, so you can ensure you avoid these concerns well in advance.

Blades and Skates

If you have kids who have entered the world of rollerblading or skateboarding, it might not just be your driveway you have to consider – these items keep them moving all over the place, and you’ll want to ensure your sidewalks are safe as well. A broken arm due to poorly-maintained sidewalk concrete is just one area you can prevent if you have sidewalks leveled now.

For more on how concrete leveling can improve your warm-weather fun, or to learn about any of our concrete lifting or leveling services, speak to the pros at Lift-Up Concrete today.

While sidewalks, curb ramps and other similar concrete areas near your home or commercial building play a role in your property’s aesthetics and curb appeal, they’re also important areas for public transportation and safety. This area is of particular importance to those who are disabled or struggle with movement-related issues, a group of people protected by what’s known as the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) – an act that includes guidelines for sidewalk construction and safety.

At Lift-Up Concrete, we can help you with concrete raising or leveling for residential and commercial buildings to help ensure they’re fully compliant with all ADA regulations. Let’s go over a few of the important areas you need to consider here.

Sidewalk Width and Slope

Primarily with those who have to move around in wheelchairs in mind, ADA compliance requires a specific width minimum of 36 inches for all sidewalks. Sidewalks are allowed to be wider than this, of course, but they cannot be thinner.

In cases where sidewalks are under five feet (60 inches) wide, ADA rules also require the creation of passing spaces every 200 feet. Passing spaces could refer to driveways or any other wider sections, and they have to be at least 60 inches all the way around.

Tripping Hazards

ADA rules also require that various tripping hazards be managed and eliminated. And while these may refer to items like child toys or gardening tools in a residential setting, the most common form of tripping hazard under ADA guidelines is actually broken or lifted concrete areas.

These are commonly found at joints or cracks – any vertical lift or change of greater than a quarter-inch at any joint or crack qualifies as a hazard under ADA rules, and you could be legally liable if someone with a disability is injured as a result of this hazard. Luckily, our concrete leveling services can easily correct these concerns.

Texture

Texture is another important consideration, namely slip-resistant qualities that allow disabled people to walk safely on the sidewalk. Once again, there should be no cracks or unevenness in the concrete, which should be stable and properly finished.

Curb Ramp Considerations

One section of ADA regulations not to overlook is the one on curb ramps, which are required anytime a sidewalk reaches a curb space for an intersection. Curb ramps are especially vital for blind people, who cannot see traffic and must rely on these kinds of physical aides.

Per ADA rules, all curb ramps must be at least 36 inches wide, just like sidewalks. In addition, they must have a slope with a ratio of no greater than 1:12, plus a warming device with a raised dome surface and a color that properly contrasts.

For more on sidewalks and curb ramps, or to learn about any of our concrete raising or leveling services, speak to the pros at Lift-Up Concrete today.

There are a number of important concrete areas in nearly all homes or buildings, and one of the single most vital from a structural standpoint will be the foundation. Available in various concrete slab types, concrete foundations are part of the baseline for the entire home’s construction, balance and physical properties.

At Lift-Up Concrete, our concrete lifting and leveling services are often highly valuable for the foundation of your home, business or municipal building. Foundations, like other concrete areas, can be susceptible to cracking, leaking and other forms of damage that can put not only those areas, but the entire building structure itself, at risk. We can also provide valuable expertise on stopping this from happening to begin with – here are several areas where you can be proactive and help limit the risks of foundation damage.

Inspection for Physical Damage

At least once every few months or at minimum twice a year (between changing seasons is always a good time), take a basic walk around the foundation of your home or building and check it for anything that looks unusual. This includes major holes or damage, but also can include smaller hairline cracks or tiny holes that have begun to form in the concrete.

Here’s the thing with these smaller holes and cracks: They won’t stay that way for long. Damaged concrete is just susceptible to being damaged further, as it leaves the interior exposed to the elements. You should also be on the lookout for issues of pest or insect infestation, which can also contribute to deteriorating elements of the foundation and your surrounding structures.

Moisture and Plumbing

These kinds of physical checks are particularly important surrounding storms or other occasions when moisture is present. Water and moisture can cause the expansion and contraction of soil that’s below your foundation, which in turn can put pressure on the concrete itself and lead to the kind of cracks we mentioned above.

Whenever there’s been a recent storm, check your foundation areas for any damage. In addition, during months where you utilize items like sprinklers and hoses, be aware of how your sloping works and ensure water is moving away from the foundation. If upgrades are needed to your drainage system to make sure this is the case, have them handled as soon as possible.

Tree Root Concerns

Tree roots can be issues for several areas of the home, including both main sewer line damage and driveway repair needs in some cases. But they can also impact the foundation – they draw out moisture from the soil, and if they’re too close to foundation areas, they could directly cause the kind of settling we talked about earlier. If you have large trees already on your property near the foundation, consider a root barrier to prevent this concern.

For more on how to protect your home or building’s foundation from cracking or other damage, or to learn about any of our concrete raising services, speak to the pros at Lift-Up Concrete today.

When it comes to any home project, large or small, one of the primary factors for homeowners is return on investment, or ROI. Any home you buy is an investment in and of itself, as are several areas of improvement or upgrades you make that may impact how much the home is worth if you ever choose to sell.

At Lift-Up Concrete, our ability to provide fantastic ROI within your concrete lifting and leveling needs is one of our top points of pride. Concrete lifting can generally be done for less than half the cost of replacing that same concrete, and usually in just a fraction of the time. Let’s go over a few of the distinct reasons why our concrete services are the way to go if return on investment is a high priority for you.

Prevention of Future Issues

The primary benefit of concrete lifting and leveling, and one that will set the baseline for many of the other benefits discussed here, is the way it prevents future issues with your concrete surfaces. Whether for a walkway, driveway, garage floor, patio or any other area of your home or building, we can address the causes of concrete settling and provide long-term solutions to stop it from happening in the future. We also provide valuable seals to prevent cracks or any kind of unwanted moisture from entering.

If you wait on these kinds of services, on the other hand, your risk of high costs goes up. Smaller concrete issues can lead to larger ones, to the point where you may even be forced to replace the entire slab for a significant cost and hassle.

Lower Future Cost

In many cases, our concrete lifting services will be downright cheap for certain small jobs. Because we don’t have to remove full slabs to work on your issues, we can complete raising projects for even minuscule areas. But as we noted above, if you let these issues simply remain, the chances of them becoming worse and far more expensive in the future is high.

Increasing Property Value

Basements and foundation areas are some of the most important issues for potential homebuyers. If you are considering selling, you want to be able to tell buyers that your basement is waterproofed or that your foundation has recently been leveled and sealed – and to be able to prove this with documentation, which we’re happy to provide.

Safety Concerns

Some of the areas that are related to concrete settling, such as foundation cracks, uneven floors, wet basements and others can all lead to significant safety concerns in any home or building. Ensuring these are taken care of limits any health or injury expenses.

For more on how concrete lifting and leveling services provide great ROI, or to learn about any of our concrete raising services, speak to the pros at Lift-Up Concrete today.

If you’re buying a home, there are numerous physical and structural factors you’ll have to consider when it comes to determining if you’re getting a good deal and paying an appropriate price. Everything from outside structures and landscaping to areas like pluming, electrical and air needs are those you should be keeping in mind.

At Lift-Up Concrete, we’re here to tell you about another vital factor to consider when purchasing a new home: The foundation quality. Some of our most valuable concrete lifting and leveling services are applied to home foundations that are experiencing cracks, leaks or other damage, but without our services, these concerns could lead to major structural issues with the home.

So what if a home you’re considering purchasing has foundation issues? Here are some areas to think about before making a decision in either direction.

Are You Prepared?

Just like any other major structural issue, it’s never a good idea to purchase a home with foundation concerns unless you understand the precise scope of those issues and what they might mean. Concrete foundation issues can be stressful and require the right expertise, but they’re not impossible to fix and don’t necessarily have to torpedo your purchase if all the numbers are in the right places. Our next several sections will look at some of the most important areas to ensure you don’t turn a good home deal into a bad one by making the wrong decision on your foundation.

Professional Inspection

For starters, if there’s even a small question about foundation quality, you should involve our professionals. We’re happy to provide free estimates on what a given repair will cost, important information for helping you determine whether this additional expense on top of the home purchase price makes for a worthwhile investment.

In addition, this kind of inspection generally provides great future value. Not only can we tell you how much a given repair will cost, we can also point out signs of long-term issues that may crop up, preventing you from dealing with them later on.

Property Value

Once you have an idea of what the cost of repairs will be, you can assess whether the home purchase is worth it. You can evaluate the housing market in your area, plus look at factors like whether you plan to eventually sell the home, rent it out, or simply retain it.

Timing Concerns

It’s also important to keep track of timing when it comes to foundation repair. During our estimate, we can tell you whether the need for repair is immediate or might be reasonably delayed a few years – this can heavily impact your finances and move-in process in many cases.

For more on identifying foundation issues and assessing them in a home you might purchase, or to learn about any of our concrete lifting and leveling services, speak to the pros at Lift-Up Concrete today.

For many who haven’t had a chance to take advantage of them yet, concrete leveling services may seem like a fairly narrow area. They’re only used for garage floors, some may think, or only needed when you’re getting a brand new driveway every couple decades or so.

At Lift-Up Concrete, we’re here to tell you that our commercial and residential concrete leveling services cover far more than just these areas. While areas like driveways and garage floors are indeed covered by our services, these also extend to several other areas of home life and property value that you may not have considered. Here are some additional areas where concrete leveling can be beneficial to you.

Remodeling Options

Whether to increase your home’s value, some part of its aesthetic appeal or both, a home remodel is a great chance to highlight different features of the home. Concrete contractors can help with a couple significant upgrades:

• Porch or patio: The porch will be one of the first things guests notice about your home, and we can help with either installing a new one or adding on to an old one. If your patio is experiencing sinking issues, as can happen at times, we can assist you with leveling it and firming up its foundation.
• Pool deck: Remodels are often made with long-term property values at the top of the priority list, and a pool is one of the single best returns on investment here. Installing or redoing your pool deck is a great way to complement the overall pool ambiance, plus allows for easier gathering and movement in the area.

Curb Appeal Areas

We’ve talked about property value a lot here, and one of the most important factors in it is something called “curb appeal.” This is a real estate term that refers to the outsized importance buyers tend to place on their first visual impressions of a property – the very first things they see, that is.

And when it comes to your home or business, multiple concrete areas are among the biggest hot spots for curb appeal. The driveway is not only a vital practical area for any home, it’s also one of the first a buyer will look to; if they see cracks and uneven surfaces, they’ll be unimpressed and worry about the dangers those pose. The same goes for sidewalks, which buyers worry will trip their children or provide other dangers. Leveling and otherwise repairing these surfaces will improve your home’s practical value in real ways.

Foundation Maintenance

Finally, certain concrete areas like the basement floor are big indicators of building foundation issues. In many cases, leveling and repairing these surfaces helps maintain your foundation for years into the future, avoiding some of the costliest repairs you may have to deal with as a home or business owner.

For more on alternative areas concrete leveling can help with, or to learn about any of our leveling or raising services, speak to the pros at Lift-Up Concrete today.

As unfortunate as it is, the world of home repairs and services contains a great number of scammers and unscrupulous actors. There are a number of people out there who try to exploit home and business owners alike when it comes to services such people are unable to do on their own, and this even includes the world of concrete lifting and leveling.

At Lift-Up Concrete, we highly encourage all prospective clients to compare our high-quality residential and commercial concrete lifting and leveling services with our competitors – this is what any smart home or business owner should do before hiring any contractor, and we’re confident our quality and affordability will stack up to anyone in the industry. But we also want to ensure you don’t get roped in by someone running a fraudulent concrete scheme. Here are some tips to avoid this.

No Instant Commitment

One of the most common tactics these kinds of dishonest individuals or companies will attempt is getting you to commit right away. This is most common during home visits where they knock directly on your door, but may also be done over the phone or even online.

Generally, the scammer will have at least one highly compelling reason why you should commit right away. They’ll say they have a limited-time special going on, for instance, or perhaps will even drive by your home with you outside and suddenly “notice” you there, claiming they have some extra concrete and they’ll pour it for a discounted rate. Don’t fall for these offers, and instead offer to confirm some basic details first.

Demand Written Estimate

One such detail that all reputable concrete contractors should be able to provide is a written estimate of services. At Lift-Up Concrete, we provide these estimates on a complimentary basis to all prospective clients.

If a contractor cannot do so, you should be wondering why. These services are not complex, and should be easy to lay out on a basic work order that details the expected costs for the area being serviced.

Referrals

A good contractor should have plenty of successful jobs on their history, and they should be able to refer you to multiple happy clients from the past. It’s also good to use contractors who have been specifically referred to you by people you trust.

Online Reviews

For an even more objective look at how people have felt about a given contractor’s services in the past, read their online reviews to get an idea. You don’t have to eliminate a contractor just based on one or two bad reviews, of course, but a consistent theme of low scores – or worse yet, a total lack of such reviews available online – could be a red flag.

For more on avoiding fraudulent concrete contractors, or to learn about any of our concrete raising services, speak to the staff at Lift-Up Concrete today.

Like many other elements of home repair, concrete leveling and other foundation projects have become associated with a number of significant misconceptions over the years. Not every pro in the industry does great work, and sometimes the negatives from inexperienced contractors become reputations that spread far and wide in the field, even to the point where some people consider them to be facts.

At Lift-Up Concrete Lifting LLC, we’re here to help dispel these unfortunate misconceptions as we provide high-quality commercial and residential concrete raising and leveling services. Despite what you may have heard from a talkative neighbor, here are some realities about concrete repair services that help debunk the disinformation.

Time and Expense Myths

The first and most common misconception regarding our services is how long they will take. Some assume they’re a weeks-long project that will render your driveway or other surfaces completely unusable during the work.

But with a high-quality company like us, this simply isn’t the case. We’ll give you an early estimate of how long your project will take, an estimate that’s often well under a single day. Only projects that truly require it will take multiple days, and these are the kinds that are preventing far more expensive fixes later on.

Down similar lines, the costs of our services are often highly overstated. For starters, costs here aren’t stagnant – they can vary widely based on your exact needs. But because we use modern techniques that don’t require us to remove and haul away concrete for every small job, we can keep the cost low and affordable for you.

Procrastinating

Perhaps the biggest single mistake when it comes to concrete surfaces of any kind is assuming you can hold off on fixes to small issues. They’re not that bad, you might be thinking, and you can put them off with other things on your mind.

Unfortunately, this often leads to far more expensive issues down the line. Concrete cracks or foundation issues aren’t to fix themselves, and will only get worse. Taking the time to repair them now could save you a much bigger project and cost later.

Just Fill the Cracks

If cracks are truly your only issue, filling them with epoxy may get the job done. But in many cases, cracks are just one symptom of an underlying foundational issue, and just filling them with no attention to the larger problem will only put a Band-Aid on a big wound.

All Contractors Are the Same

We’d love to tell you that every contractor in our field is highly reputable and legitimate, but unfortunately this just isn’t true. Like in any industry, there are a combination of scammers and simply inexperienced contractors out there who won’t provide you with high-quality work at all. Don’t simply assume every contractor is the same – do your research and go with a quality company like ours for all concrete services.

Buying a Home With Foundation Issues

There’s a common myth in the real estate world that you should never buy a home with foundation issues or damage. And while it’s certainly important to assess these issues before making a purchase, it’s okay to purchase such a home as long as you have a plan for addressing these issues. In fact, some buyers are able to get a great deal by purchasing homes with foundational issues for a significant discount – one that’s far more than what they actually have to pay us for foundation repair services.

For more on dispelling disinformation on concrete services, or to learn about any of our concrete leveling solutions, speak to the staff at Lift-Up Concrete today.

Whether we’re talking about the garage or another important area of your home, leveling a concrete floor is a common need. Important for everything from safety to property and home value, concrete leveling services can range from small fixes to raising entire damaged slabs.

At Lift-Up Concrete, we can help with all garage floor lifting and leveling you require in your home or business. Garage doors are known to sink, unfortunately, especially if they don’t have the right kind of drain functioning installed or are exposed to significant snow and ice on a regular basis. They may also show large cracks in some cases.

What are the steps you should follow with our professionals if this has happened to your garage floor? Here are some basics of what to expect during concrete floor leveling and lifting services.

Quote

For starters, we’ll work with you to assess the damage present on your floor or surface, then determine exactly what kind of work needs to be done to repair it. From here, we’ll give you a basic quote that will include things like the cost of all materials, how long the job will take, the cost of labor, and finally the cost of the entire job. If you’re getting quotes from our competitors as well, know that we welcome this and know our services stack up with anyone – but be sure to check for all the important details, as there are unfortunately a few less than reputable competitors in this industry.

Drilling

In the past, concrete leveling was a long, arduous process. Companies like ours would have to manually remove entire slabs of concrete, haul them away, and then pour new concrete in the required area – a process that was both more time-consuming and exponentially more expensive. Luckily, newer technology and processes have allowed this to be a thing of the past.

Instead, we now use a lifting process that’s far easier and more affordable. It involves first drilling small holes into the block or area of concrete that has been sunken or otherwise damaged. This is in preparation for our next step.

Filling

Once holes are drilled, we pump a green, environmentally-friendly grout mixture into any voids or sunken areas of the concrete slab. This requires no removal, and lifts the surface of the concrete up evenly across the entire area. It’s then filled with non-shrinking grout that will trap this mixture under the surface, keeping the concrete level permanently.

Smoothing

From here, we just take the small steps of smoothing everything off to make it look and feel perfect. The process is simple and takes nowhere near as long as older, manual services.

For more on what to expect during concrete floor leveling, or to learn about any of our concrete driveway services, speak to the staff at Lift-Up Concrete today.

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.