Concrete Floor Slab Cracks

As you may already know, cracks in a concrete floor slab can indicate a foundation settlement problem; however, sometimes those cracks can be misleading. It is possible that the floor slab can settle and crack without it having to do anything with the home’s foundation. 

Sometimes these problems can be the result of heave, which is never a good thing. Heave is the upward movement of a floor slab due to the swelling of the underlying clay because of an increase in moisture which can lead to some serious basement waterproofing problems. Slab settlement usually occurs because of one of the following reasons:

• Drying and shrinking of the soil under the slab.
• Washout of soil under the slab.
• Poor compaction of fill soil.

All of these causes happen due to the amount of soil underneath the slab, as well as the amount of moisture in that soil, whether it is too much or too little. However, concrete floor slab settlement does not develop without showing a few signs first.

1. Cracks in the concrete floor, often times creating dangerous tripping hazards.
2. Floors dropping and separating from walls forming a gap between the floor and the wall.
3. Interior walls pulling down and separating from the ceiling forming a gap between the wall and the ceiling.
4. Walls pulling away from other, adjacent walls.
5. Interior wall cracks, commonly of the corners of the interior doors.

Now that you know the signs to look out for in your home to see if you slab settlement, it's time to learn what to do if this is in fact a problem in your home. First and foremost, you should not try to fix this problem on your own. Definitely call a professional.

Here at Quality 1^st Basement Systems we have a well skilled staff that can help you come up with a great plan to fix your slab and execute it for you. What you should have done in order to fix this problem is to have deep-driven slab piers installed. There are two types of these kinds of piers: helical piers and hydraulically-driven slab piers. Both are equally effective, determining which one to choose is just simply as matter of your specific situation.

Ultimately, Foundation Supportworks will provide you with the best quality slab piers around. What makes ours so unique is that our piers are completely hidden after installation and have special bracket designed to work with the slab pier system for the most support.

No one wants to deal with these type of problems, so if you find yourself with settling concrete floor slabs your should get in contact with Quality 1^st Basement Systems in order to receive the proper care that you need.