How and Why Slabjacking Works

Causes of slab settling

Like foundations, slabs settle due to

1. moisture and its effects

2. fill dirt used during original construction

How moisture can shift your slab

Moisture, just as it affects your foundation, can allow soils to compact and shift below your concrete slab. Too much water unequally available will allow one side to compress the soil below it more than other areas. As well, this water during a freeze can "heave" your slab higher, then drop it as the moisture evaporates or wicks off.

Fill soil might have been composed of sand or gravel which was not compacted adequately before the concrete was laid. Over time, both pressure from the slab weight and the presence or absense of moisture can allow this soil to become more compressed.  Fill soil might also have been composed of different materials, such as the original clay soil on once side, and topsoil or sand used to fill low areas.  Also, burrowing animals can remove material, which removes the support soil.

Instead of replacing a slab, the grout pumped in under pressure below that slab will restore it to the needed level. What this does is to put very dense material in under that slab in a liquid form. The chemical change which occurs then solidifies that grout and restores a very dense material which cannot be compressed like the original soil.

As you do not have to raise the slab and fill the area needed, or break up and replace the slab, this allows you to more inexpensively produce a quicker result that can be even more permanent than the original construction work.

There is no need to disturb the surrounding area with other construction equipment or movement. Grout is pumped in from street or driveway area through long hoses. Your landscaping is not disturbed. There are little if any effects to clean and restore, other than the holes initially drilled are re-filled.

By counting what you don't have to pay, you can see the cost savings mount.

Slabjacking is not used to re-level homes or replace any needed foundation repairs. It was designed with smaller slabs in mind. In some cases, it will simply be cheaper for very small slabs to be replaced.You'll need an inspection and estimate to determine whether you need slabjacking or another method.

Check with Robbins Foundation Systems for a free consultation and estimate.