Slab (Pressed Piers)
The vast majority of homes and buildings are built on concrete slabs, providing flat and even surfaces for the home or the office to rest.
They may range from four to 20 inches in thickness and may be used for floors and ceilings as well as exterior paving. When water or sewer lines beneath these concrete slabs break or leak for any reason, this causes serious damage to these structures.
It may be caused by ground shifts, faulty pipe wrapping, a nicked water line, or pipe erosion. Whatever their cause, SLAB leaks require immediate attention by qualified, licensed professionals.
A DFW Foundation Repair expert can help if you have noticed any potential sign of a leak in your foundation. Our Master Technicians provide noninvasive camera inspections to identify the source of your slab leaks and can carry out high-quality repairs as quickly and efficiently as possible.
Signs of a Potential Slab Leak
An undetected slab leak could cause tens of thousands of dollars in damage and can compromise the structure and foundation of your home. It is important to be aware of the signs of a potential slab leak and to contact one of our Technicians as soon as possible.
The following are the most common signs of a slab leak:
- Cracked or Uneven Flooring: Over time, a concrete slab will sometimes move because of the water leaking beneath it, where it will then start to buckle your tile, laminate, or wood floors.
- Mold: Leaking water may seep into your floors and then travel up your walls, where it can lead to mold.
- Musty, unusual dirty sewage smell: A water leak can cause a damp, musty smell in your home. A sewer line leak beneath your slab can cause a far worse smell.
- Raised or Dropping floors: Slab leaks can shift and crack the concrete foundation of your home. Bumps and rises in your floors may indicate that this has occurred.
NOTE: Other indicators may be the sound of running water when no faucets or appliances are on or an unusual increase in your water bill.
What we do:
Step 1. Dig Under The Slab
The First step to leveling a slab foundation is to create an access hole big enough to get under the slab. Whether tunneling beneath from the perimeter or jackhammering through the floor, we need to gain access to the problem. Ultimately, we will be working in or underneath your house to fix the problem. Our slab foundation repair works are methodical and conforming to the ASTM and ANSI quality standards to ensure the longest lifespan of the structures we repair.
When one of our knowledgeable technicians determines what the problem is we zero-in on why that issue has caused damage and why it has occurred. Once we know this information we then move forward with a detailed solution and a FREE estimate so that you know exactly what it’s going to cost to fix the problem.
Step 2. Press the Piers & Raise Slab
Next step is to press the piers. Piers are concrete cylinders about a foot in length and six inches in diameter and they weigh about twenty to thirty pounds depending on concrete used and its density. Some have steel re-bar in them for added strength but usually, it’s not necessary. The piers are pressed with a hydraulic jack into the earth using the weight of the house or building, one on top of the other until they will go no further. This depth is known as “absolute refusal.” The physics behind it is that there is so much surface area produced because of the “stacked piers” that the skin friction generated prevents them from going any further into the strata. Normally these piers are pressed under the outside perimeter beam of a slab foundation but sometimes the problem is in the interior of the home and the piers need to be pressed closer to the center of the slab foundation. They should then be pressed deep enough to support the weight of that particular area of the slab. Once this step is complete you can set-up hydraulic jacks in every hole to begin raising the slab in concert to its desired level (Determined by the experienced Foundation Repair Manager). Each hydraulic jack is rated to support and lift up to 25 tons of weight. Once this phase is complete we can proceed to the last and final step.
Step 3. Shimming & Filling in Holes
Upon completion of leveling the slab. It is then shimmed with “slice of bread” sized metal plates called shims (Shimming and capping takes place with concrete blocks and metal shims for incremental control of vertical movement for the desired height) at the desired leveling points locking in the final elevation. Once this is complete the holes are filled back in with the displaced earth and evened out to allow for proper settling of the dirt.
Concrete Slab Crack Repair – Feasibility Analysis
Any concrete slab crack repair for your home should be technically feasible and economically viable. Only then, you will feel the inclination to take up that service. At the DFW Foundation Repair, you can realize the best solutions to the slab foundation repair at affordable prices.
Concrete Slab Repair – Quality and Durability
At the DFW Foundation Repair, the concrete slab repair we perform addresses the most critical issues including the concrete slab crack repair. We ensure in depth diagnosis, analysis, and customized solutions to every type of slab foundation repair to increase the structural stability to the highest levels.