Winter is the roughest season for your concrete driveway, due to the ice, snow and extreme
temperatures.
A concrete driveway is durable and resilient, but as strong as it is, it can crack and sink, and that unsightliness isn’t what you want to look at every day. Here’s how damage occurs, and more importantly, what you can do about it.
Soil Washout
Think about all the precipitation your property gets every winter, whether in the form of snow or rain. If your home is situated on a slope or an area with inadequate drainage, water can wash away all the soil that’s supporting a concrete structure — foundations, patios and even driveways.
Without adequate support, the heaviness of the structure starts to work against it. Cracking and
sinking can quickly follow.
Soil Settling
When soil contains moisture, winter’s low temperatures cause it to freeze and expand, pushing
up the concrete on its surface. Once winter fades, temperatures rise and the ice melts, soil will
sink.
This can leave the concrete cracked and sunken as well. Also, over time, the air pockets within
soil evaporate. This settling also will affect the integrity and evenness of your driveway.
Improper Use
Your driveway may be sinking for other reasons as well. For instance, if you’ve parked a heavy
dumpster or machinery on the concrete, the driveway may not be able to withstand the load.
What Can You Do?
You don’t have to settle like your concrete driveway. You can take control and change how it
looks. Your first step? Hire a professional slabjacking company.
Slabjacking involves stabilizing existing concrete. Before you pay thousands of dollars to rip out
your concrete and replace it, consider what slabjacking has to offer you.
We can come to your home and evaluate your driveway’s condition. If it can be repaired — and
even the worst damage usually can be — we’ll begin by drilling small holes into the surface of
the sunken areas. Using specialized equipment, we will inject grout beneath the surface, filling
the empty space caused by soil compaction or erosion.
The grout we use is a material designed to dry fast, so you can continue using the area as usual.
If you opted for a complete replacement, the project would be take longer and be much more
expensive and disruptive.
Hire a Professional Restoration Team
Spring is the perfect time of the year to make repairs. If you’d like to learn more about how
slabjacking can help fix your concrete driveway, contact Lift-Up Concrete today for a free quote.
