Andy Asks: How can I Fix a Sinking Concrete Patio?
Howdy folks! We need some help… A good friend of mine, Andy, sent me a question and asked if we could help. Frankly, I’m not sure what exactly to do given Andy’s budget constraints, but I thought someone out there might have some creative ideas. My only idea is posted at the end, and it isn’t a cheap one. I think Andy’s open to anything, however temporary it may be, so please weigh in!
Andy: The problem is on a porch outside one of the apartments. At a guess, it’s probably fifty to sixty years old. The concrete has settled over the years. The problem is that it is no longer even with the house. It also happens to be next to/outside of a crawl space. As you will see in the pictures the porch has settled into what looks much like a funnel, so all of the rain water runs down this funnel and into the crawl space and that slowly drains into the laundry room and other parts of the basement. The pictures will best show you what I am talking about, I don’t really know of any other way to explain it in words. I am not sure if the information will help any but the concrete is about two inches thick. I also have learned that this has been a problem for many years , it just got worse over the past few months .
I am looking for a somewhat long term fix, I want to do it right, however I am working on a very cheap budget. I am looking for the best cheap solution. I am sure you can understand this. I am open to ideas; I also welcome any questions you might have about it or the photos. I have more pictures if you need or want them.
This is a view from in the basement across the crawl space this best shows the problem from the inside:
This is a picture of where I took that inside shot, as you can see the problem of the water seeping out after it drains through the dirt in the crawl space.
This is a shot on the porch, as you can see there is a gap at the base of the house. That is the problem from the outside. You can see the water still laying there a day after the rain. There is also power and cable wires that need to stay so I have to work around them:
This is a low side view:
A low front view of the problem. I didn’t get a picture of it but so you know there is a door just to the left of this picture:
Fred: The only think I can think to do here is to tear up the old patio and have a mixing truck brought in to pour a new one. Obviously, this is an expensive route to go for a fix like this, but I can’t think of anything else that wouldn’t present problems within a few weeks. (The things that come to mind in that range are tarps, etc).
What do you think? Does anyone have any ideas?
June 2nd, 2008 at 9:47 pm
I can’t really tell from the pics (and I’m NO PROFESSIONAL, that’s for sure…right Fred?
), but, is there a way you could get under the patio concrete from the inside, “jack” it up above the level of the gap and back fill and pack dirt, gravel, fill and/or concrete underneath to prop it up? Then seal the gap with a couple inch thick “wall” of concrete?
I mean, it’s a longshot for sure and it would probably be extremely, extremely heavy, but if there was a way to get the house end propped up and then filled under, it would be slanted away from the house and you’d be winning half the battle there.
Then again, that’s probably not a long-term fix either. Again, I’m just brainstorming here, and am not a professional by any stretch…but maybe this will get your creative juices flowing somehow…
June 3rd, 2008 at 12:01 am
Well, we got a quote for raising our front concrete porch by two inches in the front to level it… $675 for it and the first two squares of sidewalk. We have it tucked away for a later project when we have money! It seems very reasonable, though.
The process this company uses involves drilling holes into your concrete through into the ground and pumping a mixture of sand, water, and concrete into the hole until the cement has lifted the required amount. They then patch the 1 inch holes up. Seemed like a good idea to me!
June 3rd, 2008 at 12:06 am
ssa - i thought maybe some kind of jacking would work, but i think the access thing is problematic.
jennifer - this idea is really neat and perhaps will be the solution for andy. with the limited information we have, its hard to know whether or not a company here would think that would work, but it gives him another angle to look at, so this post has served its purpose. Thanks much!
Any other ideas???
June 3rd, 2008 at 9:45 pm
I’ve been thinking about this problem for a couple of days and it’s just not clear from the photos how things are framed. I’m assuming that this is a wood framed deck above a crawl space with a 2″ concrete slab poured over the wood joists? If that’s what is built the proper solution would be to remove the concrete, re-frame the porch to meet current code then pour new concrete. There really isn’t a cheaper long term solution unless you can do away with the crawl space. The concrete isn’t the problem, it’s the framing so unless you solve that problem you’re not going to fix anything long term.
June 3rd, 2008 at 11:54 pm
Hello everyone, (I am Andy) thank you for your suggestions.
Todd, to answer that question, the crawl space pictures that you see are what is under the house itself. That part of the house was built sometime in early 1900’s. The rest of the house was built in the late 1700’s. The porch as i said to my guess is 60 years old, but it could be much older or newer, I have no clue. It wasn’t built to what i think is proper. I have been trying to figure out at much information about that porch for the past month or so and it’s not easy. It in fact could be part of a support for another part of the house. but i have no way of knowing without pulling the concrete up. I do know it is not framed on anything the concrete is over dirt. So it was most likely framed up poured over dirt and then the frame was taken down. I know that most of this was done by family members due to it was part of a working farm when most of this was build. The idea of it being done the way you would think went out the window and it was done the best they knew how. I can say that most of what was done has lasted over a hundred years so i give them great credit for knowing what they were doing. This porch however just is a true problem cause of all the water filling the basement. So if any of this information helps great.
I thank Fred and everyone who has made suggestions about this problem of mine and welcome anymore!
August 8th, 2008 at 3:24 pm
Hello Everyone, if you cannot afford to tear up the slab and replace it then you will have to fix the “funnel” effect. I am going to assume that the water is running down the crack that you see in the photos between the bottom of the house and the slab. Go to one of the home improvement stores and purchase a large bucket of hydraulic cement. This will be a water tight cement. Use the cement to “fill” the crack where the water is going under the house. This will be about a $16 fix. You will probably need two buckets and remember that this cement dries very quickly so you will only want to do a little at a time. Hope this helps. Sue