It’s easy to underestimate the eventual damage a single crack can do to concrete. You might even walk over and not notice them, but at some point, a driveway or sidewalk crack could be a major safety hazard, causing injury and even death. Making sure that the concrete around your home is safe is important for avoiding trips and accident liability.
One of the most effective ways to correct cracked or uneven concrete is by using polyurethane lifting foam. Compared to other alternatives, this method has great benefits that make it highly appealing. But before we look at how this game-changing solution benefits your walkway or driveway, let’s first look at what can cause concrete damage.
Cracked and Uneven Concrete: The Causes
There’s no question that concrete is one of the most durable construction materials around, but concrete sidewalks, driveways, and patios are still susceptible to cracking and breaking down over time. Many things, such as exposure to the elements, poor water drainage, and repeated frost heave can lead to deterioration through the years. Here are some additional reasons for cracked or uneven concrete:
Improper Installation
Plastic shrinkage cracks happen during installation. If the concrete is overmixed or applied during extremely hot weather, the water can evaporate too rapidly before the mixture has time to properly set.
Ground Movement
Settlement occurs most often when dry soil shrinks, causing unwanted space to grow below the concrete.
Loss of Moisture
Dry shrinkage cracks are formed when concrete loses moisture, a process that can take place several months to three or four years after the slab is installed.
Improper Mix of Materials
The driveway, walkway, or patio can contain aggregates or types of cement that are not completely suitable for one another in a mixture, leading to deterioration.
Chemical Damage
Chemical deterioration occurs when salt is poured on concrete during winter weather, instead of a safe alternative such as sand.
Corrosion
When concrete containing steel rebar or wire mesh comes in contact with moisture and oxygen, the result is rust—which greatly weakens the structural integrity of the slab.
Excess Weight
Although concrete is super strong, overload issues can occur when sidewalks, residential driveways, and patios are not able to withstand the weight of a heavy truck parked or driven on it.
Preventing Tripping Hazards: The Solution
High density (HD) polyurethane concrete lifting foam helps fix sinking, moving and cracking concrete—making it an ideal way to repair uneven surfaces and eliminate tripping hazards.
This specialty foam gently elevates concrete slabs or other damaged surfaces, restores its stability and structural integrity, and provides a moisture barrier between the soil and the concrete. Steps, sidewalks, residential driveways, slab floors, pool decks, and other concrete with cracks and uneven areas are all capable of receiving this easy, quick treatment.
How Polyurethane Lifting Foam Works: A Simple Process
This innovative and effective fix to your driveway or walkways can be installed without interrupting your daily life or disrupting your property.
A truck or trailer that contains the foam can be parked wherever it’s most convenient for you and your neighbors. An extremely long hose can be set up to transfer the foam to your property, so there’s no risk of heavy trucks sitting on your driveway or blocking the road.
Our well-trained installation will pull the hose to the area of concrete that needs to be repaired, setting it carefully in place. We’ll then inject the polyurethane foam through drilled holes that reach under the slab, filling any areas below, thereby raising it to appropriate levels and creating a lovely, smooth, even surface.
Polyurethane Foam: The Benefits
HD polyurethane concrete lifting foam is an affordable and more effective alternative to an earlier method of crack repair and concrete raising called mud jacking. Here are the many benefits you’ll enjoy when you choose this method:
Fast Completion
Unlike other methods like mud jacking, which can take days to install and cure, this foam hardens in mere minutes. Depending on how much concrete needs repair, the process is completed in a few hours. A car can drive over the repaired area in less than 30 minutes.
Attractive Results
Homeowners love this solution because it yields a clean-looking concrete surface. There’s no need to tear up your property to apply this fix. It’s also environmentally safe and mess-free.
Durable Base
Polyurethane foam easily makes its way below the concrete slab, compounding the soil particles together. This produces a stronger base below the sidewalk, driveway or patio than was there before.
Flexibility
Polyurethane foam expands to match the shape and size of all unwanted spaces below the concrete, allowing it to completely repair the pavement.
Greater Structural Integrity
This specialty foam can be inserted through very small injection holes, just 3/8” in diameter, which reduces any serious impact on structural integrity.
Increased Strength
Polyurethane foam is a stronger, more durable approach than alternative methods like mud jacking. It is solid and dense, producing greater strength that you can rely on.
Less Weight
Polyurethane foam only produces about three to five pounds below the concrete. Compare that to other solutions, which can weigh down the sub-base up to 100 pounds per cubic foot.
Superb Precision
Other methods, like mud jacking, have to take shrinkage into account, but polyurethane foam is more exact, producing superb precision during the installation process.
Waterproofing
This foam naturally resists wet conditions. You get a solid, dense material that is unaffected by moisture below the surface of the repaired area, preventing future erosion.
Get Safe, Smooth Concrete Surfaces for Your Home
Uneven, cracked concrete is unsightly and unsafe—but there’s no need to put up with that problem. Our friendly, professional team will help you get your driveway, walkways, steps and patio flooring back in tip-top shape. You’ll love how our High Density Polyurethane Lifting Foam makes your concrete look and perform beautifully.
