Cascade Mudjacking Blog

Denver Concrete Repair Specialists, What Causes Concrete to Sink?

As Denver concrete repair specialists we get asked this question a lot:

What is causing my concrete to sink?

The answer is there may be a number of factors causing your foundation or concrete slab to sink. We have been in the concrete repair business for along time and we have seen a number of factors that attribute to sinking concrete. Here are some of the top reasons we see causing sinking concrete:

Geological Conditions

This basically means that the concrete was built on a part of the earth that moves. Building on expansive clay for example can cause concrete to sink. What happens is when the clay gets wet it expands lifting the concrete, then when it dries it compacts creating a void and allowing the concrete slab to sink.

Improper installation

We see this one a lot. What happens is the company or person that installed the sidewalk was inexperienced or lazy and didn’t use the correct amount of back fill or didn’t compact it correctly. When this happens the back fill underneath settles overtime creating a gap underneath the concrete and allowing it to sink.

Improper Drainage

This is probably the most common cause of concrete sinking. What happens here is water gets underneath the concrete, usually from a broken sprinkler or waterline. This creates a sinkhole, which allows the concrete to sag. These get worse overtime and can completely ruin the slab eventually,

If you have sinking concrete call Cascade, your Denver concrete repair specialists at (303) 840-4725.