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Slab Floor Cracks: What Causes Them & How To Fix Them

It is easy to dismiss floor cracks as a cosmetic issue because, well, they don't look great. Cracks in your floor slab, however, can signal much deeper issues and cause much larger problems than simply how they look.

What Causes Slab Floors to Crack?

First, when we are talking about floor cracks, we aren't talking about repairing a tile that cracked when something is dropped on it. While sometimes cracks in the floor slab can cause cracking in any flooring placed above it, we are more concerned in this article with cracks in the slab floors in either slab or basement foundations.

While some floor cracks are the result of the natural aging process of your home, others can be caused by shifting and settling of the foundation. These cracks can indicate a major foundation problem in your home.

Floor cracks can form in several different ways. Some of the common causes of floor cracks in Southern California are:

  • Floor Crack Repair in San Diego, CAShrinkage: During very hot weather, if the concrete was poorly mixed, the slab in your home may start to shrink because of moisture loss. When this happens, the resulting stress that the concrete is under causes cracks to form in it. These cracks often form in newer concrete and are common around objects towards the center of the slab such as pipes, drains, columns, etc.
  • Expansion: Concrete expansion, due to warm weather or even freezing of the water in the concrete can also lead to cracks. As the concrete expands, it pushes on whatever is adjacent to it, causing pressure cracks and chipping concrete.
  • Settlement: Foundation settlement can also lead to cracks when the areas of the foundation that are not supported from underneath start to sink. Foundation settlement may be the result of soil shrinkage, erosion, poor compaction or even sinkhole formation.
  • Shifting: During very wet seasons when there is a lot of moisture in the ground, the excess water pressure in the soil can push on the foundation and cause it to shift and crack. This can result in not only floor cracks, but also wall cracks, bowing and leaning walls, and other foundation problems.

Settlement and shifting are the primary causes of many foundation problems in your home. If you see these issues, look for other signs of a foundation problem, such as sticking windows and doors, sloping floors, and chipping or flaking foundations.

What Problems Can Floor Cracks Cause?

Floor cracks can cause a number of problems beyond simply being, well, a crack in your floor.

  • Water intrusion: Unless you have a leaky roof, the easiest way for water to enter your home is through cracks in either foundation slabs or underground foundation walls. This problem is especially bad in areas with high water tables.
  • Structural weakening: The more cracks that appear in your foundation slab, the more susceptible to additional damage it becomes as the concrete breaks down.
  • Pest entry point: Want to know how insects from underground are finding their way into your home? One possible way is through cracks in your slab floor.
  • Radon problems: While the San Diego area isn't as prone to radon issues as other parts of the state and country, cracks in the slab floor are among the ways that the harmful gas can make its way from below the surface into your home.
  • Damage to your flooring: As was stated earlier, if any flooring is placed over the slab floor, the cracks can cause damage to the floors, especially if they are cracks caused by settlement, shifting or heaving where there are sometimes elevation changes on either side of the crack.

    • Floor Crack Repair Options in Orange County and Southern California

    If you do notice slab floor cracks in your home, it is time to have a professional look at the issue. At Foundations on the Level, we attack the problem in two ways.

    First, if the cracks are caused by foundation problems, we fix the underlying cause. In most cases this will mean leveling and stabilizing your foundation through the use of foundation underpinning products such as helical piers and push piers. These not only solve the immediate foundation problems but also prevent them from recurring by anchoring the foundation in a load-bearing strata of soil.

    Second, we fix the crack itself with products including Roklin Epoxy and carbon fiber staples. This prevents issues such as water intrusion and strengthens the area around the cracks.

    Our underpinning products for repairing settling foundations come the the reliable foundation repair product supplier, ECP (Earth Contact Products). This allows us to make sure that your foundation is lifted properly and any floor cracks are closed. We put our best into other solutions that we use as well, such as pressure jacking to fill voids beneath your foundation, epoxy injections to seal cracks, and carbon fiber repair to strengthen concrete.

    Experiencing Floor Cracks in San Diego or Orange County? Contact Foundations on the Level

    Contact us today to learn how we can help you with your floor cracks in the Orange County and San Diego County areas in Southern California.

    Contact us for your free foundation report and C.A.D. plan or call here 760-889-8150