Gray Summit, MO Expert Concrete Raising

When it comes to concrete raising and leveling, you expect only the best services in the industry- trust and quality you can depend on for complete assurance. With sensitive and costly exteriors such as patio foundations, pool decks, or even an entire driveway, you're heavily reliant on good contracting to make sure the job is done correctly. Here at Quality Concrete Raising we offer just that: certified experts that know the products, equipment, and have acquired the years of experience you need for thorough project completion. Never again will families of the Gray Summit, MO area have to deal with unauthorized methods and techniques from our competitors that, at best, are a gamble with your monolithic slabs and important repairs.

Why Choose Quality

Our company name says it all: we are Quality Concrete Raising with means to provide everything a homeowner needs. Our years of experience and dedication to this service alone grants us the opportunity to focus on specialized repairs in this trade. After a few decades, we have narrowed down our techniques and venues for establishing firm, sturdy, and efficient leveling & realignment of sunken concrete slabs.

The most commonly effected areas homeowners experience are:

• Garage Concrete Floors - where the entire monolithic slab is more like a smaller foundation. Cracks in all shapes and forms can be a huge problem from sinking if water drains are net set up.
• Basement Floor Slabs - Similar garages, basement floors are susceptible to sinking and cracking.
• Concrete Steps - Whether it's a porch stoop or entryway step we can realign this structure. If it's a solid piece of concrete attached to another slab area we can lift and raise the entire surface.
• Sidewalks - Very similar to driveways but more prone to soil conditions and backfill problems. This is often overlooked by contractors when initially installed.

Sinking Concrete Problems

The question is, why am I experiencing concrete problems? Our team has seen every scenario and situation that alters how slabs crack, shift, move, or sink into the ground. Each project is unique but follow the same solutions: raise the concrete. Suffice to say, there are three conditions that leads to these problems and how they evolve over time.

Expansion & Conctraction: Why Clay-Rich Soil Breaks Concrete Slabs

Soil is the underlining element that's holding the weight of any concrete slab. When this becomes unstable everything resting on top become unstable as well. With clay-rich soil it easily soaks water due to the clay substance causing it to expand. During warm seasons this clay-rich soil contracts and shrinks which causes the concrete to shift. Over time this can cause cracks in the slab or voids (empty space) underneath.

Poor Backfill Creates Sunken Concrete

The most daunting and terrible of reasons for having sinking concrete slabs is previous installers not putting enough backfill during the foundation pour (before the structure was built). Especially in the midwest, Missouri is reknowned for unstable soil conditions. The backfill allows protection against sub-terrain shifts and movements. If this is not set up properly the backfill will create gaps, voids, and empty spaces underneath the slab allowing it to sink.

Natural Climate and Soil Conditions

The third and much lesser instance of sunken concrete is natural occurances of climate and soil. Sometimes the backfill is properly done and lack the clay-rich soil conditional problems, but your slabs become cracked or broken. This is from completely natural movements of the earth, rain water, pressure, and time. Concrete doesn't last forever, and we notice this as a common issue for homes that were built decades ago.

Raising Concrete: How It Works

Raising concrete is a delicate yet simple process. In the cicrumstances stated above your concrete slabs lack additional support. Whether it's poor backfill, empty space or gaps, or weak soil, the idea is to replace, inject, and compact with a sturdy material underneath. This will raise the slab and realign to the appropriate level. We do this through mudjacking or polyjacking which are both forms of what's called 'slabjacking'. The difference is the material used.

• Mudjacking - This is the method we use to raise and level concrete. By drilling a small opening into the slab we create a hole to reach underneath the area. We then inject a tube that pumps our patented cement mixture that fills the weak spots and raises the slab.
• Polyjacking - This is the exact same process except instead of cement we use polyurethane foam as the material being pumped. The substance is more flexible which gives a guaranteed fill and much more firm when the curing process is complete.