Installing CHANCE® helical piles and slab brackets is a common solution for repairing settled sections of concrete slabs. The helical piles transfer the weight of the concrete from the base of the slab down to a layer of suitable load bearing soils
The weight of a home is heavy and when the soils underneath a concrete slab are unable to support its weight, the foundation will sink. Often times, part of the foundation is supported partially in some areas by soils and other sections it is not. Unsupported parts of the concrete slab may crack and settle away from the other sections resulting in a concrete foundation that is no longer level.
A simple crack in a concrete slab isn’t necessarily a problem. However, when a concrete shows signs of cracking and sinking, this indicates a more serious structural issue.
When a part of a slab begins to sink, it is always worth fixing. Whether it is located in your basement, garage, driveway or patio, a sinking concrete slab not only looks bad, but can present a safety issue. Ignoring it could mean letting it potentially worsen.
Foundation Repair Methods: Helical Slab Raising and Slab Jacking
The two most common methods of repairing concrete slabs are helical slab raising (or helical piering) and slab jacking (sometimes referred to as concrete lifting).
Helical slab raising uses steel helical piles that are driven through unstable soil as hydraulic jacks raise or stabilize sinking concrete slabs.
With slab jacking, small holes are drilled into the concrete floor, driveway, or other concrete slab and a urethane foam material is pumped in to lift the sunken concrete to a level position.
Installation of Helical Piles and Slab Brackets
CHANCE® Slab brackets used individually or in conjunction with our specially formulated Prime Resin Structural Polymer or mud jacking (slab jacking) can be used for precision lifting/raise and level your slabs, patios. Work can be completed in hours/days vs. weeks/months. We can also use our Precision resin polymer for soil stabilization to go along with our compaction grouting and permeation grouting services
First, small holes are cored into the concrete slab at predetermined intervals. The helical pile is then installed deep into the earth, until the required depth is met. Once the helical pile is in stable substrata, a steel bracket is fixed onto the pile. The cored hole is then repaired with fresh concrete embedding the bracket into the slab.