Concrete Sidewalk Repair & Leveling
This video shows a stamped concrete sidewalk being leveled using A-1's environmentally-friendly limestone grout mixture pumped beneath the concrete.
Why level your concrete sidewalk?
Keeping your concrete sidewalk or walkway intact and level preserves the look of your home or business and prevents liabilities due to falls and injuries.
If you’re considering repairing a cracked, sunken, or uneven sidewalk, this guide explains why leveling the concrete offers a far easier, and cost-effective solution than tearing it out and replacing it.
Sidewalk and Walkway Leveling Examples
Other than seeing our work in person, there’s no better way to get a sense of what the process can accomplish than to look at some before and after photos.
Sidewalks can be leveled without bothering the surrounding landscaping.
The plants along the sidewalk are perfectly intact.
Sidewalks can develop uneven sections anywhere along the walkway.
Notice the trip-hazard is gone, and the step to the stoop has been raised back to its original position.
The Basics of Concrete Sidewalk Repair
How does sidewalk concrete leveling work?
We have resources that discuss the concrete leveling process in depth, but the process of lifting concrete can be broken down into these three simplified steps:
- Strategic holes are drilled in the settled slabs.
- The holes are injected with a concrete leveling compound that fills the void under the concrete and lifts it up with even pressure.
- The drill holes are patched.
Why do concrete sidewalks settle?
Sunken concrete worsens with each season as the settled concrete slabs collect water. This results in soil erosion between and underneath the concrete slabs. Also, the freezing and thawing of one winter-summer cycle are enough to move and crack entire concrete sidewalk slabs.
Sidewalk Crack Repair
Sidewalk cracks come in all shapes and sizes, some of which are just eyesores, while others are major trip hazards. Many cracks can be fixed without needing to replace the sidewalk, either via caulking or leveling.
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Sidewalk Crack Caulking
The cracks in the concrete are caulked with long-lasting polymer caulk to prevent water from penetrating within and beneath the concrete. This lessens the impact of the freeze/thaw process and can help cut down on erosion beneath the slab.
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Concrete Sidewalk Leveling
In some cases, a crack may be causing part of a concrete slab to become uneven. Professional leveling can be used to pump under the lower portion of the slab, raising it up to be flush with the other side and closing the crack in the process.
Fixing a Raised Sidewalk
Professional concrete sidewalk leveling can fix raised sidewalk slabs in addition to settled or sunken ones. Most raised sidewalks can be fixed by raising the slabs on either side of the affected slab, avoiding the need for replacement. When carefully leveled by an experienced professional, this creates a gentle, even slope, saving you money and time.
Other times, an uneven sidewalk can resemble a teeter-totter. One side lifts up, while the other sinks down. This is another case where a professional sidewalk leveler, with the right tools and experience, can know exactly how to restore the area.
Cost of Sidewalk Repair vs. Sidewalk Replacement
Sidewalk repair requires less labor, time, and materials than replacement. On average, concrete leveling can save you up to 70% off the cost of concrete replacement.
We have detailed guides available that discuss the cost of concrete leveling in more detail, and that break down why concrete leveling is cheaper than replacement.
Professional Concrete Sidewalk Leveling vs. DIY
Unlike some repair projects that are simple and easy enough to do yourself, DIY concrete leveling is almost never recommended for a few reasons:
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It requires specialized, heavy-duty tools
High-quality concrete sidewalk leveling requires equipment and materials that simply aren’t what most home or business owners have laying around.
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It requires expertise and a specialized skill set informed by experience
Professionals must carefully inspect the sidewalk and place drill holes strategically. They must also fill the voids in a precise manner, in order to avoid lifting the slab too far, which can threaten the entire project and require replacement.
Concrete Sidewalk Leveling vs. Mud jacking
The terms “concrete sidewalk leveling” and “mud jacking” are often used interchangeably, but they’re actually two different processes.
Mud jacking typically uses one of a few different mixtures consisting of topsoil, water, and sand or cement and often requires far larger holes to be drilled (typically 3 inches in diameter).
A-1’s concrete sidewalk leveling process, by comparison, is a much faster and lower-impact process that uses a pulverized limestone slurry that offers far more compressive strength and only requires a 1-inch hole.
A-1 Concrete Leveling is the Easy Solution
Uneven sidewalk slabs present one of the bigger concrete nuisances, for both safety and aesthetic reasons. Fortunately, with A-1 Concrete Leveling, even multiple sections of problem sidewalk slabs in one location are typically a straightforward, one-day fix.
If you're interested in seeing what concrete leveling can do for your sinking sidewalk, don't hesitate to click the link below and request a free onsite cost estimate with one of the A-1 Concrete Leveling experts!
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A-1 gave me an arrival time, called prior to arrival, arrived in the time frame given and fixed my problem efficiently and in a short time. I am very satisfied with the service received.