Why Concrete Cracks & Sinks | TerraFirma Concrete Solutions

WHY DO ConcretE SLABS crack, Sink, & Settle UNDER HOMES, Sidewalks, and PATIOS?

Concrete is strong and versatile. It can be poured, shaped, and made into just about anything–but it’s not indestructible. When you see cracked concrete, broken slabs, or a sunken driveway on your property – there could be several factors at play.
TerraFirma can diagnose and fix your concrete concerns.

tf cheap building crack

Poorly compacted soil – When your home was built, the movement of soil around the building site results in poor compaction. Even when the replaced soil is compacted well, it’s never as stable as the original soil. Over time, this can cause voids to form and slabs to settle.

tf dry soil crack

Dry soil – During dry conditions or even just during periods of warm weather and low precipitation, the soil under your concrete will dry out and shrink, creating voids. The concrete above eventually cracks and sinks into these empty spaces.

tf water cracks crack

Flooding – Wet, soft soil caused by flooding is just too weak to support the concrete above it. In the worst case, the soil erodes and washes away completely, leaving behind large voids that cannot support the weight of the concrete above.

tf rainwater crack

Rainwater or gutter runoff – Runoff from gutters or downspouts can cause soil erosion around the perimeter of your home. As soil erodes, it can create voids beneath concrete surfaces such as driveways, walkways, or patios, causing them to sink or become uneven.

tf rotting crack

Rotting tree roots – Decaying tree roots can create voids or channels in the soil. This can exacerbate existing foundation issues and contribute to soil erosion around concrete surfaces, leading to further settlement or instability.

tf clogged crack

Clogged gutters – Prolonged exposure to water from overflowing or clogged gutters can saturate the soil around your home’s foundation, causing it to expand and exert pressure against the concrete.

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Concrete Repair Estimate

Schedule your free
Concrete Repair Estimate

TERRAFIRMA IN ACTION

We’re big fans of lifting & leveling to repair concrete, rather than replacing.
Did you know it’s typically about half the cost to repair rather than replace?
Read on for our concrete repair pro-tips and galleries of our slab repair work.

Sidewalks & Driveways REPAIRED

Don’t take our word for it – see what our clients have to say.
From Roseburg to Eugene, Portland to Seattle, our Concrete Repair work speaks for itself

Superb service! Excellent work. We asked them to lift (if possible), support and seal our driveway to stop some puddling, along with placing a new walkway to our front door. The concrete work was very nice, beyond complaint. The driveway was a question mark to start with, but they did well. Upon leaving, they invited us to call if we needed more adjustment. We did, and found them to be immediately responsive and very pleasant. Upon leaving again, they repeated their invitation to call again. All personel overall were very pleasant and responsive. (I am not financially or personally affiliated with Terra Firma in any way!)
Had Seth Cunningham out this week for an estimate in Thurston County. We appreciated how thorough he was during the inspection and in creating the proposal.Seth was prompt, easy to work with and very professional! Unfortunately, full encapsulation of our crawl space was a little out of our budget as new homeowners, but if you are looking for any foundation or crawl space work done on your house we would definitely recommend having TerraFirma out to look at your place! I got the impression they are a top-of-the-line company that would take care of the homeowners they do business with. I would absolutely recommend them to friends and family... Also plan to call them out if I have any concrete or foundation issues in the future.
Very professional organization. It was from the estimate process to completion. If anyone has a concrete leveling project I recommend this company 100%.
We chose TerraFirma to fix problems in our crawl space. We have a perimeter foundation with a post-and-pier system beneath the house. TerraFirma installed steel jacks where wooden posts had split. They also removed waterlogged tarps, soil, and insulation under our floor, then installed a waterproofing system that included a perimeter drain, two sump pumps, a dehumidifier, and a 120-mil encapsulation liner system. They also took care of all the coordination that was needed with an electrical contractor who had to come in and add circuits for the pumps (and do a few other things). The work took 6 long days of work by three TerraFirma crew members, each of whom were very diligent, communicated well, and did a good job cleaning up at the end of each day. (The team was Antonio who was the foreman, plus Jonathan and Riko.) I had lots of questions during the work that each of them answered well and to my satisfaction; they clearly were all very knowledgeable (not just the foreman). Also, the project manager (Jonah) did a great job addressing the many questions I had during the weeks before the crew showed up. This wasn't cheap work, but I felt we got good value and good service and now don't have to work around (and worry about) moisture and mold problems in the crawl space. We also had another crew from TerraFirma do some concrete leveling work, and I was really impressed at how well they addressed one particularly challenging slab that needed a major lift. I am a scientific consultant and in the client-service business, so I am pretty particular in my expectations of a contractor. TerraFirma met those expectations really well; I highly recommend this firm.
Our house is nearly 100 years old, with crumbly concrete and bowing walls in the basement and lots of "do it yourself" work done on it. We love it. But it is a challenge. "Nothing in this house is square and everything is out of round." Terra Firma installed Everbrace steel walls and pillars to stabilize the foundation. Heather, Rocky, John and Anthony were all great workers, from customer relations to brute labor and skillful application. They were on time, polite, informative, and on task. Our house will stand another 100 years thanks to them.Pat S.
I had a narrow but long concrete path that had heaved over the years and was cracked in a couple of places. Terra Firm leveled it perfectly and filled the cracks and gaps beautifully. Now I have a level path that I plan to expand with pavers on both sides. Huge cost savings, as my other option was to rip out the concrete and do a total reboot. Great people and a fair price for the work done. They were all done in one day and came back promptly to redo one gap between pads that wasn't just perfect.I highly recommend the Terra Firma experience. Bryna and Ken were a pleasure to work with.
Our problem was that our front yard had settled, taking parts of our huge concrete front porch and sidewalk down with it. We watched the cracks in the porch get wider every year, and the sidewalk sloped down and away from the house.TerraFirma evaluated our situation and explained what was happening around our house. Then they gave a very detailed explanation of how they would make the repairs - even what they could and could not do - complete with a video demonstration.The young man who showed up to do the work was very courteous and professional. It was fascinating watching portions of our porch and sidewalk being raised up, leveled, and the gaps coming together.We are very pleased with the end result and have recommended TerraFirma to others.
The work was done in two days. The problems with the very heavy concrete problems was addressed, and it does look much better which is appreciated. Jeramie was good, worked so hard. Jason did the review before it all started, very easy to work with. It does look much better, it was worth the expensive costs. Thank you!
Highly recommend this company. Needed a concrete pad and they were terrific. Matt and his crew were efficient, professional and did a great job. Plus they...
From making an appointment till the end of the project, we were well informed. I was a little concerned about the drilling holes on the concrete to fill the void but they are almost invisible.
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CONCRETE REPAIR Homeowner Questions

HOW MUCH DOES IT COST TO LIFT CONCRETE WITH FOAM?

Is concrete crack repair long-lasting?

My concrete seems to have moved up during the winter months, is this a problem?

Is concrete repair more cost-effective than concrete replacement?

Can you repair cracked concrete after going through concrete leveling?

My concrete seems to have settled over the winter. What should I do?