Problem: Cracked and Settling Slabs
The most common causes of concrete slab settlement are drying and shrinking soils beneath the slab, poorly compacted fill soils, or a washout of soil. All of which will create a void beneath the slab. When the concrete is not strong enough to span the void, the slab will eventually crack, break and settle. If the partition walls of your home or building start to settle with the slab, this is when drywall cracking can occur. When homes or buildings are being constructed, oftentimes layers of soil are moved around or spread out to lift the grade to a desired level. After the structure is built, the footings may extend below the fill soils, but the slab could still remain on top. If those fill soils were loosely compacted, they will eventually consolidate beneath the weight of the slab, interior load bearing walls and vehicles (in the case of a garage or car port slab). The slab will then begin to crack and break as it settles.
Solution 1: Helical Slab Piers
We offer a variety of products for porch/patio foundation repair, including:
- Slab pier assemblies are steel piers that are installed deep into the soil under the porch or patio to transfer the weight of the slab to more competent strata. Once these piers are installed, the porch or patio is lifted back to a level position.
- Helical slab piers are installed by drilling a hole and placing the bracket and screw into bedrock to more stable soil. The brackets on these helical slab piers help support heavy concrete. Helical slab piers are a more cost-effective way to repair your porch or slab rather than replacing it.
All of our foundation repair products are manufactured by only the highest quality manufacturers in the industry. With over 30 years of experience and the best products for foundation repair, you can count on the experts at Atlas Piers to for a repair job that will last for years to come! Contact us today for more information regarding solutions for porches and patios as well as other foundation repair topics!
Solution 2: Hydraulic Slab Lift Pier
Hydraulic slab lift piers offer foundation repair contractors the reliability of the classic steel pier while also providing the ease of portable equipment. For the repair of settling or sinking foundations, hydraulic slab piers are becoming an increasingly popular solution.
In most situations, hydraulic slab lift piers are used to lift and stabilize settling foundations and work in much the same way as other types of resistance piers. They are end-bearing piers, meaning that they do not rely on skin friction to produce support for the slab. Instead, the entire slab acts as a reaction force.
Benefits of Hydraulic Slab Lift Piers include:
- Can be used with slabs 4 inch thick or more
- Reliable solution for concrete leveling
- Uses portable equipment
- Evenly distributes weight of structure on piers
- Minimal setup time
- Piers install quickly
- Low cost and time efficient
- Installed indie the structure
- Pier do not rely on skin friction
- Little to no vibration
- Installs to rock or end bearing stratum
Solution 3: Soil Permeation Grouting
Another solution for cracked slabs that Atlas
Piers of Atlanta offers is Soil Permeation Grouting and Compaction Grouting. These techniques are used to stabilize the soil and repair the effects of settlement for many times of structures and surfaces. The most common application would be for garage slabs, basement floors and patios.
