What We Need to Know During a Concrete Leveling Estimate
November 9th, 2022 | 4 min. read
By Sarah Etler
Letting your concrete leveling expert know about these seven hidden obstacles during your estimate can help you get the best possible outcome for your concrete repair.
Your concrete leveling estimate is coming up soon, which means you’re one step closer to safe and level concrete. But before the fun really begins, the leveling expert at your consultation needs to know a few things about your property.
In addition to looking at your concrete’s problems, the A-1 Concrete Leveling team member will also ask you a few questions about things around your home that can affect a successful concrete repair.
While usually not a problem, knowing that things like sprinkler systems, electric dog fences, buried downspouts, and more are around your property will help your repair team get the job done without damaging these hidden obstacles.
This article will walk you through seven things we need to know about your property during our on-site concrete leveling estimate and consultation in order to do our repair job as best as we possibly can.
1. Sprinkler System Along or Beneath Your Sidewalk
In order to lift your concrete back to a level position, strategic holes are drilled through the slab and leveling compound is pumped in, raising it up. It’s important to know if you have sprinkler lines running beneath your sidewalk, as they can be avoided while drilling or in cases where the concrete slabs have to be cut.
Sprinkler systems are typically buried deeper than our drill depth, but sometimes they are installed as an afterthought rather than originally with the home, and in this case, the sprinkler system can be positioned shallower than expected.
In the case of sprinkler systems, it’s good for your leveling team to be aware of and allow for extra caution, in case the depth of lines varies or can cause problems during the lift.
2. Electric Dog Fence Running Across Your Driveway
If you had an electric dog fence installed after your concrete driveway, chances are that the wires run through the expansion joints in the concrete rather than being buried underneath the slab.
This is usually not a problem when it comes to concrete leveling, but letting us know that you have an electric dog fence running across your concrete can help us be cautious and try to avoid pinching the wires when lifting the settled concrete slabs.
While we usually do not run into issues with electric dog fences when leveling concrete, it’s important to recheck the area when the lift is complete to make sure no wires were pinched or damaged in order to keep your furry friend safe and sound inside your yard.
3. Landscape Lighting or Security System Wiring Around Your Property
The low-voltage wiring for landscape lighting and security systems can also be a concern when lifting settling concrete. Knowing that the wiring for these systems is around your property will help us avoid damaging them during your concrete repair.
Occasionally we need to cut slabs or joints in order to allow the slabs to move more freely during the lift. This is when it tends to be most important to know landscape or security system wiring is there, as we can do our best to locate and avoid the wires while cutting.
Pinching wires is also an issue that can happen when lifting settling concrete, especially on sunken steps, as it’s convenient to tuck landscape wire behind them.
4. Buried Downspout Drainage Pipes Under Your Concrete
Similarly to sprinkler systems living underneath concrete, drainage tubes and pipes running under your concrete can be damaged during drilling if they are not buried deep enough and we don’t know they are there.
Most of the time, downspout drainage pipes placed as part of the original home construction are buried at a depth that won’t affect our concrete leveling process. However, downspouts buried as an afterthought are typically not placed deep enough.
Because we don’t want to drill into any pipes or damage drainage lines during your concrete lift, it’s important to let us know if there may be buried downspout drainage pipes in the area during your concrete leveling estimate.
5. Your Home’s Unconventional Craftsmanship
We make assumptions about how things are built based on code, and it’s with this information that we create and execute our concrete repair plans. If things around your home were modified or weren’t originally built based on code, it could affect the outcome of your repair.
It’s crucial that you let us know if you’re aware of any modifications or unconventional craftsmanship around your property that isn’t to code, as bad outcomes can occur when we go into a repair without knowing what we’re truly up against.
6. Water Flowing From Your Gutters
If you notice that water flows over your gutters when it’s raining, it’s important to let us know about that as well, as we may not be able to see it while visiting your home on a sunny day.
Water plays a huge role in the health of your concrete, especially in areas with large amounts of clay soil. As the water flows out of your gutters, it can hit on or around your concrete slabs and erode the soil underneath, which is the perfect recipe for concrete settling.
If a problem like this is not solved, the concrete leveling repair will only be a temporary fix, as the continuous stream of water flowing from your gutters will continue to erode away the soil under the newly-leveled concrete.
7. You’ve Had Foundation Repairs Done
Sometimes house foundations need a little TLC, and getting it repaired is essential to the safety and longevity of your home. If a foundation repair was done on your home, however, we make the assumption that the foundation wall isn’t in its original spot. This could affect the outcome of the lift if we aren’t aware, as we assume going into the repair that all walls are where they were originally intended to be.
If you have had foundation repairs done in the past, it’s important to inform your concrete leveling expert during your estimate, as it will help make sure your concrete leveling repair goes smoothly.
Summary
Here at A-1 Concrete Leveling, we do our best to avoid any sort of damage to your property, and we can avoid it more accurately if we know the things mentioned in this article are there.
By telling us about hidden obstacles, we can better predict and control the outcome you’re looking for.
With this being said, it’s also important to mention that we are not responsible for incidental or unforeseen circumstances during concrete leveling repairs. If something does happen during a repair, it’s possible that we don’t know if it was broken before the repair took place.
All in all, open communication with your concrete leveling team during the estimate and repair can be invaluable. We are here to help you make good decisions when it comes to your concrete, and try to get the best possible outcome that you’ll be happy with for years to come.
Want to know more about the concrete leveling process? Check out these articles from our Concrete Academy:
Sarah Etler joined A-1 Concrete Leveling after receiving her Bachelor of Arts degree in English from Northern Kentucky University. As A-1's Content Marketing Manager, she works closely with industry experts to produce content that will best answer questions related to concrete repair and maintenance practices. Sarah loves living a life full of discovery and is excited every day to see what new things she can learn and share with those around her.
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