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Concrete Slab moved?
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So I have a relatively new concrete driveway.

The lip into the garage seems half to a full inch higher than before winter. There's an actual bump now when going in and out. The kinda rubbery tarry looking stuff in the joint looks significantly more exposed.

Is it possible the ground heaved during the winter? Will it resettle? Something the contractor is obligated to fix? Psychosomatic?
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Re: Concrete Slab moved? [windywave] [ In reply to ]
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If it has warmed up enough then yes it is quite possible that it is frost heave, it will like come down some but won't go back to where it was.

I wouldn't expect the contractor to fix it but it can't hurt to ask.
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Re: Concrete Slab moved? [windywave] [ In reply to ]
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Garage attached to house? If so, your garage has footings that go below the frost level for your area so the house/garage combo does not move up and down with the seasonal ground movement. Your driveway on the other hand is a floating slab most likely. So, in the winter the frost in the ground moves it up and it will come right back down this spring at some point. Nothing the contractor can really do to stop this from happening, unless you specifically asked and paid for a driveway that is built on footings below the frost line so it would stay at the same height as your garage.

Ryan
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Re: Concrete Slab moved? [windywave] [ In reply to ]
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Perfectly acceptable. Slabs move and concrete cracks. Nothing abnormal. Keep the joint compound filled once the temps settle down to mitigate further water intrusion. No biggie.



Lifeguard: "Do you need help?" Me: "No, that's just my butterfly."
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Re: Concrete Slab moved? [windywave] [ In reply to ]
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The ground never moves.

You should call 911 immediately.

Civilize the mind, but make savage the body.

- Chinese proverb
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Re: Concrete Slab moved? [Duffy] [ In reply to ]
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Duffy wrote:
The ground never moves.

You should call 911 immediately.

Says the guy that lives on a fault line
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Re: Concrete Slab moved? [windywave] [ In reply to ]
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As others said its the frost. Your in Chicago area right? I'd wait till late April early May to see if it goes back down.
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Re: Concrete Slab moved? [ryans] [ In reply to ]
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ryans wrote:
Garage attached to house? If so, your garage has footings that go below the frost level for your area so the house/garage combo does not move up and down with the seasonal ground movement. Your driveway on the other hand is a floating slab most likely. So, in the winter the frost in the ground moves it up and it will come right back down this spring at some point. Nothing the contractor can really do to stop this from happening, unless you specifically asked and paid for a driveway that is built on footings below the frost line so it would stay at the same height as your garage.

It is attached. Driveway came with the house, just know the owner put a new one in a couple of years ago.
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Re: Concrete Slab moved? [TriHard Indiana] [ In reply to ]
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TriHard Indiana wrote:
Perfectly acceptable. Slabs move and concrete cracks. Nothing abnormal. Keep the joint compound filled once the temps settle down to mitigate further water intrusion. No biggie.

So the compound is in the crack still. It's just exposed as opposed to being flush.
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Re: Concrete Slab moved? [AndysStrongAle] [ In reply to ]
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AndysStrongAle wrote:
As others said its the frost. Your in Chicago area right? I'd wait till late April early May to see if it goes back down.

Yup. Just weird because my parents never had this issue that was noticeable.

Would parking my SUV on the slab help?
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Re: Concrete Slab moved? [windywave] [ In reply to ]
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Very likely heave. I suspect the contractor did a crappy job on drainage / sub-layer under concrete.
You will likely not get much action from the driveway contractor unless you had a proper written contract with warranty clauses, and even then you would likely need lawyers....
I would focus on preventing it from getting worse - this summer you may want to figure out water flow and if it makes sense to pit in some cut-off trench / french drain around the driveway to keep dry so there is no further heave.

Remember - It's important to be comfortable in your own skin... because it turns out society frowns on wearing other people's
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Re: Concrete Slab moved? [windywave] [ In reply to ]
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windywave wrote:
Would parking my SUV on the slab help?

Not unless your SUV is an Abrams Battle Tank. Maybe not even then.

Remember - It's important to be comfortable in your own skin... because it turns out society frowns on wearing other people's
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Re: Concrete Slab moved? [windywave] [ In reply to ]
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Guffaw is correct. I've been in commercial and highway construction. Residential guys (not all of them) take shortcuts and sub prep is one of those shortcuts.

I'm in a house flipping group and there was discussion on replacing a failed driveway. There was consensus on listening to the couple year houseflipper over the 30 year construction guy.
After I posted about doing work right, not cheap, they went silent.
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Re: Concrete Slab moved? [Guffaw] [ In reply to ]
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If it moved all together, the prep might have been well done. If it is pitching and moving at an angle, then the sub-layer work (if done) was crap. No amount of sub-work will totally stop the ground from moving around when it freezes for a floating slab. The goal is to have a nice consistent movement because the sub-layer is the same under the complete slab (so it moves the same).

And parking a personal vehicle on it should not have any impact whatsoever. I wouldn't park a tank or large heavy commercial vehicle on it until after the frost is out though. Even the roads in municipalities where it freezes heavily have road restrictions for heavy vehicles this time of year on non-freeway/highway type roads (think cement trucks).

Ryan
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Re: Concrete Slab moved? [ryans] [ In reply to ]
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The whole reason for subgrade prep is to stabilize soil movement.

By cement truck, do you mean concrete trucks (with water and sand also) or just cement?
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Re: Concrete Slab moved? [windywave] [ In reply to ]
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I live in Colorado where we have many freezing days every year and I've never seen what you've described. I have seen some gradual settling over the years, where walkways around homes sink a little. If it gets too pronounced people use a process called mud jacking to raise them to their original height.
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Re: Concrete Slab moved? [windywave] [ In reply to ]
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There are companies who can fix this. Yesterday, I saw a van with the advertising on the side that said they fix concrete sloabs that have moved. Contact one of these guys and see what he tells you.

---------------------------
''Sweeney - you can both crush your AG *and* cruise in dead last!! 😂 '' Murphy's Law
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Re: Concrete Slab moved? [Perseus] [ In reply to ]
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Perseus wrote:
I live in Colorado where we have many freezing days every year and I've never seen what you've described. I have seen some gradual settling over the years, where walkways around homes sink a little. If it gets too pronounced people use a process called mud jacking to raise them to their original height.

Around the Great Lakes there is quite a variety of soil. Some of it very sandy. It happens.
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Re: Concrete Slab moved? [Bumble Bee] [ In reply to ]
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I agree, stabilize soil movement so the slab moves as a whole slab evenly. It will still go up in the winter, whereas his garage which has footings that go below the frost level will not move at all up or down.

Yes, concrete. I was pretty sure people would understand what I was getting at. I also call pop, pop and not soda. You knew what I meant, right? An extremely heavy truck. Heavier than the average door to door fedex delivery truck so I couldn't simply say commercial trucks.

Ryan
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Re: Concrete Slab moved? [Guffaw] [ In reply to ]
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Guffaw wrote:
Very likely heave. I suspect the contractor did a crappy job on drainage / sub-layer under concrete.
You will likely not get much action from the driveway contractor unless you had a proper written contract with warranty clauses, and even then you would likely need lawyers....
I would focus on preventing it from getting worse - this summer you may want to figure out water flow and if it makes sense to pit in some cut-off trench / french drain around the driveway to keep dry so there is no further heave.

We have good drainage generally and my driveway runs at a slight decline toward the street i.e. this is the highest slab.
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Re: Concrete Slab moved? [windywave] [ In reply to ]
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windywave wrote:
We have good drainage generally and my driveway runs at a slight decline toward the street i.e. this is the highest slab.


Its not quite that straight forward. You may have good topsoil drainage around your property but if the contractor dug down 3 ft. under the driveway footprint and then used some crappy aggregate (i.e. 'clayey') as a base it could be perching large amounts of the water that drains so nicely into your topsoil.

Come to think of it, there could be another answer...



Remember - It's important to be comfortable in your own skin... because it turns out society frowns on wearing other people's
Last edited by: Guffaw: Mar 20, 19 12:04
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Re: Concrete Slab moved? [Bumble Bee] [ In reply to ]
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Bumble Bee wrote:
Guffaw is correct. I've been in commercial and highway construction. Residential guys (not all of them) take shortcuts and sub prep is one of those shortcuts.

Like using a measly 250lbs plate tamper, having poor drainage under the slab, and that flimsy re-mesh instead of proper re-bar?

Nah... Never happens...

Quote:
I'm in a house flipping group and there was discussion on replacing a failed driveway. There was consensus on listening to the couple year houseflipper over the 30 year construction guy.
After I posted about doing work right, not cheap, they went silent.

It's amazing how often I have these conversations with people.

Long Chile was a silly place.
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Re: Concrete Slab moved? [windywave] [ In reply to ]
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It settled back to a point where I can't tell a difference from the fall!
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Re: Concrete Slab moved? [windywave] [ In reply to ]
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Good for you, glad it worked out!

If you ever have to sell the house, just don't sell it at the end of winter.

---------------------------
''Sweeney - you can both crush your AG *and* cruise in dead last!! 😂 '' Murphy's Law
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Re: Concrete Slab moved? [Sweeney] [ In reply to ]
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Sweeney wrote:
Good for you, glad it worked out!

If you ever have to sell the house, just don't sell it at the end of winter.

I live in a 53-yr old house, due to temperature and the house shifting I have a door to the laundry room that only properly closes fully during 2-3 weeks in August. The rest of the time it rubs on the door frame...

We always joke that if we sell the house, it needs be in August!
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