Sinking concrete can be blamed on poor drainage, soil conditions, soil compaction, and tree roots. The soil just beneath the concrete slabs must be strong enough to bear the weight on top to prevent the concrete from sinking in.
Concrete sinking is a common occurrence and it is usually treated by a technique called mud jacking. It is a repair technique that allows contractors to raise and level sunken concrete without replacing it altogether. Mudjacking comes in handy for stabilizing and raising sunken sidewalks and driveways and leveling cracked and damaged outdoor concrete slabs.
How is Mudjacking Helpful
Mudjacking is a preferred method of concrete repair by contractors, homeowners, and businesses is due to the following advantages:
1. Cheap and Affordable
It is the cheapest way to raise the sunken concrete and repair any damage to it. Costing one-third to half of the price of total concrete replacement, mud jacking is an affordable and cost-effective technique.
2. Root Cause Fixer
Replacing a sunken slab with a new one without treating the root cause will cause the new slab to sink in a couple of months. During the mud jacking process, the soil beneath the sunken slab is treated by filling the voids to make it strong enough to hold the heavy concrete. This fixes the actual issue and the concrete gets a solid place to rest, without settling again for quite a long time.
3. Fast-Acting
As compared to slab replacement, which takes weeks to complete and additional time for concrete curing and drying before being ready to use, mud jacking makes the slab reusable within a few hours of treatment. Additionally, it is not noisy like slab replacement, which involves demolishing and removing the original slab before replacing it with a new one.
4. Tidier and Cleaner Way
Slab replacement is noisy, messy, damaging to landscaping, and long – everything mudjacking is not. The machinery required for mud jacking doesn’t damage the roads and sidewalks surrounding the treatment site. The spilled cement during the process is removed afterwards by washing or cleaning.
5. Maintains Uniformity of Concrete Color
A replaced slab can be identified from far, owing to that patch having a different color from the surrounding slabs. Matching the color of the new slab to the old one is next to impossible. Mudjacking uses the actual sunken slab, treats the mud underneath it and its treatment stays below the sunken slab, hiding any effect from the outside.
As the process uses the original slab, once the work is finished, the slab fits perfectly with its neighboring concrete and cannot be identified as being the one that required treatment.
6. Eco-Friendly Repair Method
The mud jacking process does not require a lot of energy. It uses natural materials and does not leave any waste. That is why it is one of the most eco-friendly repair techniques.
Final Consideration
Lifting and leveling concrete through mud jacking requires considerable experience and uses heavy machinery. Always trust the experts in your area to leverage their training and experience to lift that sunken block of concrete in your area. Contact your local concrete lifting company to get a free quote or consultation.
