If you’re an Alabama homeowner with a tilted, sinking, or cracked garage floor, you may not know that affordable and reliable leveling services are just a phone call away. Soil conditions across the state of Alabama can include a diverse mix of loam, sand, and clay sub-types. Depending on the age and location of your home, these soil blends will react differently to changing water, weather, and ground condition and may sink or shift over time.

Fortunately, modern polyurethane foam technology makes it possible (and surprisingly budget-friendly) to restore your concrete to “like new” condition, but first, a little background.

What causes garage floors and slabs to tilt or sink?

Virtually all concrete structures tend to settle over time no matter how well they’re built. When natural settling happens gradually and evenly, deterioration is usually minor and mostly cosmetic if it happens at all (for example, an expansion joint that starts to look wider or pulls away from nearby masonry or adjoining slabs).

When settling accelerates or happens unevenly, one or more common factors could be at work:

1. Poor construction methods or materials
2. Improper grading and soil compaction before the slab was poured
3. Extreme weather events such as drought, heavy rain or local flooding
4. Inadequate drainage around the house
5. Undetected water leaks from piping buried on or next to your property

For homeowners in Alabama, the main culprit is usually soil erosion that leaves parts of your garage floor or slab unsupported. Any of the five factors above can initiate or aggravate these destructive voids in the supporting soil, causing the slab to crack, tilt, or shift out of alignment.

What can Alabama homeowners do to prevent garage floor damage?

If your slab or garage floor appears to be in good shape, there are a few do-it-yourself prevention steps you can take to save yourself money in the long run.

• Check the grading around your home (and especially your garage) to make sure that storm water drains away from your house to a lower point on the property.
• For frequent standing water situations, install french drains or perforated pipe to keep unwanted water from seeping underneath your concrete slabs.
• Stay alert for new cracks or separations that might allow water to attack the supporting soil underneath your garage floor. Consumer grades sealing or surfacing compounds are available at most home improvement or hardware stores for added protection.

If you do see signs of more serious settling, there’s no need to panic, but it is important to have a concrete repair expert take a look as soon as possible. These kinds of problems never go away by themselves and will only get worse the longer you neglect them. Reputable restoration companies will always give you a free evaluation and will not use hard-sell pressure tactics to get you to spend money before you fully understand the repair options that are best for you.

What repair options are available for sinking garage floors?

In the old days, an invasive method called “mudjacking” was used to level out tilted and deteriorating garage floors and concrete slabs. Although it’s still available today and might be the right solution in the hands of a skilled expert, it uses a lot of heavy, noisy equipment, messy slurry, and took a long time to cure and stabilize.

Modern concrete restoration experts now use a synthetic foam that fills the voids left by soil erosion and gently lifts the tilted concrete back into alignment. The foam is installed through small, coin-sized holes that the crew drills in strategic spots and then fills with barely detectable sealant when the job is finished.

One of the reasons why the modern poly foam process is such a great value is that the whole procedure can be done with a smaller crew of technicians using much less gear than outdated mudjacking. Another big advantage is that the synthetic material quickly cures to full strength so that you can drive on it the same day.

How to choose the right polyurethane foam injection leveling expert in Alabama

Besides the structural considerations and minimizing risk to your home, uneven slabs and broken, protruding concrete edges can also be a serious safety threat to children, seniors, or anyone with mobility issues. If your garage floor is starting to crack, tilt, or sink, it’s important to have a qualified inspector assess the situation and give you an objective evaluation.

Even if you already have a quote from one contractor, it’s a good idea to always get a second opinion before you commit. SouthernDry is a family-owned business that’s local to Alabama. We keep our services affordable by relying on good will, word-of-mouth, and repeat business from satisfied customers that know and trust our technicians.

Contact SouthernDry today for a free, honest, and no-obligation estimate on garage floor and slab lifting services.

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