Why do you recommend sealing the joints and cracks on my driveway, sidewalk, patio, and garage

We highly recommend sealing the cracks and joints in these areas because you want to keep the substrate under your concrete dry. If water is draining through the cracks and joints in your concrete, then it is moving dirt along with it causing erosion to take place. It’s only a matter of time before your concrete will settle and crack as its base is washed away with water. If we seal the cracks and joints then water will not run under your concrete and it will last a long long time!

Does the concrete ever crack during the lifting process?

Yes it does. It doesn’t happen very often because of our experience as well our proven process. During our inspection process we look for areas of concern as well as small hairline cracks and we try to do our best at informing our customers of conditions that may arise as we move forward with our lifting process.

What is the difference between Mudjacking and Polyurethane Foam lifting?

Both of these processes have proven to be effective in certain areas of our industry. 1. Most success comes from our trained technicians. We have been trained by the leaders in our industry with the latest technology as well as practices. 2. It is our experience that we have better results from using polyurethane foam and our customers are much happier with the overall results. The injection holes that we drill into the concrete are smaller than the size of a dime or 3/8 of an inch where the injections holes from mudjacking are about the size of a golf ball. We have customers that were pleased with the lifting portion of mudjacking, but they were never completely happy because of the holes left behind. After we patch our injections holes you can hardly see them. 3. Foam is lighter than concrete therefore the chances of resettling are greater with the weight of mudjacking grout. 4. Sometimes foam can be more expensive than mudjacking but not always.

How long does your process take and how long before we can drive on it?

Usually our process is complete within one day but most often within hours depending on how much work we are doing for you. Our high density polyurethane foam is ready for foot traffic immediately and it is ready for cars in 15 minutes.

What causes concrete to settle?

There are a few different reasons but the top three are: 1. Lack of compaction. 2. Water drainage or erosion. 3. Decomposing organic matter. Part of our onsite inspection process is determining what is causing the settling. Once we determine what is causing the settling then we can make an appropriate recommendation for solving the issue. Sometimes it’s simply injecting our high density polyurethane foam in between the ground and the concrete to lift the concrete and sometimes its injecting our foam far beneath the surface into a void that is causing the issue with our deep soil injection system.

What do you use to lift the concrete and is it safe for the environment?

We use a two component high strength high density polyurethane foam that is certified by Truesdail Labs to be safe for contact with drinking water. Different foams we use have different strengths but the foam we use most commonly will hold 7200 pounds per square foot. It is extremely strong and it will not breakdown or deteriorate over time.

Can you fix unlevel concrete if a root from a nearby tree has caused the unevenness?

There are times that we can lift an adjacent piece of concrete to eliminate the trip hazard but 90% of the time we cannot fix the issue with lifting concrete. Most of the time we can grind off the trip hazard edge.

I have some cracks in my uneven driveway. Can you level my driveway with your process?

That’s a tricky question. Sometimes we can and sometimes we can’t. We would like to see pictures to be able to make a determination. Usually if there are two or three cracks in one panel and the pieces are bigger pieces then chances are we can help. If the panel is broken into many pieces, then you need to start looking into getting it replaced.

How much does it cost?

We try to price our services to be a third of the cost of replacement. Most of the time our process will be less expensive than replacement but occasionally we look at jobs that we recommend replacement because the cost of our materials are getting to close to the cost of replacement. We charge according to the amount of material we use. When we come out to give a free estimate try our very best to do a thorough inspection to determine how far your concrete has settled and the possible void underneath that will need to be filled to prevent future settling.

What areas do you service?

We service the entire Treasure Valley. We are not opposed to traveling to areas outside of the Valley if we feel we can make one or days’ worth of work there or if the job is big enough to justify the travel and time.

Do you have a minimum charge?

Yes we do. $200-600 depending on the time of the year. During our busy season our minimum is more because our schedule is full. During slow times we can lower our minimum to stay busy.

Do you have a warranty?

Yes. Our warranty is a five year warranty on any lifting job as long as the cause of the settled concrete is remedied. For example: If the settling was caused by a downspout draining water under a sidewalk the down spout would need to be rerouted away from the cement to prevent further erosion. Another example would be if the driveway settled because the joints were not sealed and water is draining under the driveway. The joints would need to be professionally sealed to prevent water from eroding the substrate under the driveway. If any settling happens within the five years we will return free of charge and lift it again!

Are you better than your competitors?

That’s a funny! The answer is YES! With extensive training, state of the art equipment and the superior polymers we have every tool to be better. It really comes down to technicians that care enough to keep trying when one thing doesn’t work. I’m confident that there are others in our industry with high integrity and awesome work ethic and I don’t doubt that they can do a great job. We take great care to hire trainable people that have certain personality traits that fit our industry. This is not an easy trade and it takes special people with certain characteristics to do it well and I know that we are not the only company that has the skills but I know that our technicians at Polyflow Concrete Lifting care enough to try to do their very best every time!