Concrete is one of the most used materials in all of construction. It is very durable; in fact, it often has a lifespan of many decades. This is because it is made of limestone aggregate and cement. Once the concrete sets, it is an amazingly strong material.
However, problems can arise when you lay down concrete, and you may dealing with some cracks in your concrete. There are some ways to remedy a concrete slab that is cracked. This article is going to simply outline a few different things that you can do for a cracked slab of concrete.
Patch It
One common way to fix a cracked slab of concrete is to fix it with ready-mix cement. The cement and the gravel come in a ready-mix bag that you only have to add water too. Once this is done, you are able to pour the ready-mix concrete right into the crack. Once you have filled the crack, you are going to want to smooth the concrete out as much as possible. Make sure that when you are getting the ready-mix concrete that you get the type with small gravel-sized aggregate, or some of the larger cobbles may get caught in the cracks.
Slab Jack
Often, the cause of the problem is the foundation that the concrete is on: it may actually be slumping. When the foundation moves, the concrete is unable to flex because of the rigid nature of concrete. Once this occurs, you are inevitably going to have cracks. In order to fix this problem you are going to need a slab jack. This is a machine that actually pumps sand and concrete down under the slab of concrete and pushes it back up. This will effectively fix the problem of a bad foundation. The pressure of the pump that is pushing the sand and concrete will have enough force to push the slab up. Once again, when you have the cracks filled and the slab is level, make sure to smooth the concrete. This method may not always be suitable for DIY methods, but if you talk with a slab lifting professional, they can help you out.
Rip It Up
If the concrete slab is too broken up then it may be time to simply pull up the slab and pour a new slab. Most of the time this occurs when the concrete slab is in multiple pieces. You are better off to throw those pieces away and just start from scratch. This is a very effective way to get rid of your cracked slabs of concrete.
