Concrete Problem Signs
Is your hazardous concrete becoming more of a concern? Cracking, flaking, and uneven concrete garage floors, driveways, sidewalks, and patios are just a few problem signs to look out for; browse more below.
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Sinking Concrete Slab
If you have a sinking concrete slab in your home, you’ll want to tackle it as soon as you can. Here's what you need to know about sinking concrete slabs.
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Concrete Pitting, Flaking, and Staining
Cosmetic problems in your concrete surfaces may not seem like a huge problem, but they can indicate serious issues at work.
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Uneven Driveway or Sidewalk
An uneven driveway or sidewalk can be unsightly and a hazard. Check out the problem signs that’ll allow you to catch (and fix) this issue early!
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Unlevel Steps
If you find yourself tripping on the outdoor steps, you may need a concrete lift. Check out the problem signs that will help you catch the issue early.
While concrete can sustain damage for a variety of reasons, sunken concrete slabs around your home are generally caused by a weak soil base or erosion. Indiana Foundation Service uses PolyRenewal™ polyurethane foam injections to lift the sunken slabs back to their original position. Our method is simple, long-lasting, and much less expensive than other alternatives.
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Award-Winning Service









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I bought this home a couple years ago and had been concerned about my crawl space. There were some issues with the foundation and both needed to be addressed. Eric D and Tyler L were both very thorough and made sure to answer all of my questions…
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Eric D. and Tyler L. were courteous, diligent, and thorough. Our basement is as dry as the Atacama.
View review Read Lillian Martin's review for Indiana Foundation Service -
Doug C did a foundation inspection for me today. He was on time, very knowledgeable and professional. I greatly appreciated the way he explained the inspection process to me. Thank you so much!
View review Read Ronda Wyatt's review for Indiana Foundation Service -
We couldn’t be happier with the work Dakota & Zach completed today in our crawl space. They certainly knew what they were doing they were professional, personable & did a great cleanup afterwards. Jan & Jim
View review Read Jan Riggs's review for Indiana Foundation Service -
Eric D and his crew, Steven H and Chris K were assigned to my job. They were very courteous as well as conscious of my property. Eric kept me informed of what was happening and asked if I had any questions several times throughout the process. I…
View review Read Mary Allio's review for Indiana Foundation Service -
Steve and Dylan B came out to raise a part of our sinking driveway. They introduced themselves, told me what they were going to do, did the job, and then went over with me what they had done. Very professional young men. Would use this company…
View review Read Judith Burke's review for Indiana Foundation Service -
Indiana Foundation Service’s team was amazing in repairing my foundation. They were very friendly, timely and professional and made sure to clean up everything. Thank you to the whole team who assisted! Alex L Anthony W Harley R Eric D Andrew P
View review Read Dawn H's review for Indiana Foundation Service -
I’ve used this company twice at two different homes I’ve owned. At the first, they leveled a sinking concrete patio and side walk for me. On the second, they came out to fix the foundation that was beginning to sink under our garage. Both were…
View review Read Lynne Mcclain's review for Indiana Foundation Service -
Had a great experience with Indiana Foundation Services. Nick Bennett fixed our walkway and patio. He was very professional, friendly and took his time to make sure the job was done correctly. Would highly recommend lifting your pavement than…
View review Read Tiffany Chiado's review for Indiana Foundation Service -
Dakota and Zach n did a wonderful job explaining what and how they were completing the job. Very professional and very knowledgeable. Denise Upland, IN
View review Read Denise Bowser's review for Indiana Foundation Service -
Very happy with the service provided. From initial inspection to job completion, everything was done in a timely manner. We were given plenty of notice prior to the work starting, and the crew of Mike T Andrew P Jeffrey S and Chris K were…
View review Read Chris Swales's review for Indiana Foundation Service -
We contacted a local construction company asking general questions about an issue with sagging floors and they referred us to Indiana Foundation, saying they were the best in the area for our issue. The initial consultation setup was extremely…
View review Read Christine M's review for Indiana Foundation Service -
Dylan Combs and Chris Thompson worked nonstop from the time they arrived at our residence. They were courteous and answered all of the questions that we had for them. We were pleased with their professionalism. Today we got a follow up from the…
View review Read Kay Bolinger's review for Indiana Foundation Service -
I had Eric Davis, Steven Hollin, and Brandon W. come to install piers to stabilize the foundation on my nearly 100 year old house. They were professional, respectful to the landscaping they had to remove, and gave suggestions on how to maintain the…
View review Read Alicia Walker's review for Indiana Foundation Service -
Cody Fargo. Eddie Critser. They did a great job ,very professional. Very informative to me on how the job is done. Would recommend them to others.
View review Read Louie Kopernak's review for Indiana Foundation Service -
I Contacted IFS mainly for a second opinion and concerns I had for my crawlspace and foundation and had Connor Avera come out and take a look. He was able to confirm my DIY ongoing repairs were sufficient and were correct. We also went through other…
View review Read Aaron Ferrise's review for Indiana Foundation Service -
Andrew P. and Jeff S. were professional at all times. Showed up when I asked and worked late to be sure the job was done correctly and the site restored appropriately. Fully recommend.
View review Read Eric Pridemore's review for Indiana Foundation Service -
Charlie came out to do my foundation inspection and was very friendly, personable, polite, and took the time to explain everything to me and made sure that I understood it all. He showed up on time, answered all my questions and really put me at…
View review Read Rhonda Hammersmith's review for Indiana Foundation Service -
Steven T and Dylan B were professional, punctual and personable and we are happy with the job they did.
View review Read Randy Atkins's review for Indiana Foundation Service -
The process was great. First contact with Arron to the inspection/estimate visit from Connor was excellent. The crew who did the digging were amazing. Alex Andrew and Harley R were fantastic, on time, clean, respectful and answered all my…
View review Read Michael England's review for Indiana Foundation Service
Concrete Lifting Solutions
Here’s the good news – yes, these problems can be fixed! And the experts at Indiana Foundation Service can help you.
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Driveway Lifting
Replacing your driveway can become a pain for homeowners, so it’s important to have an inspection if you notice any problem signs.
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Pool Deck Repair
Over time, your concrete pool decks will begin to sink and crack. This can be extremely dangerous for your family and create tripping hazards.
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Concrete Patio Repair
The longer you neglect your patio’s damages, the worse they will get and the more they will cost to fix.
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Concrete Floor Repair
You may be able to cover up a cracked concrete floor with a carpet, but that will never solve your problems concerning cracked floors. Thankfully, concrete floor repair has never been easier. Therefore, don’t ignore the problem signs and allow them get worse.
Is Concrete Lifting the Right Solution for Me?
As a midwestern state, Indiana is no stranger to freezing cold winters. This will have an effect on your concrete. As it soaks up precipitation through rain or snow, the water within your concrete will freeze, then expand, causing cracks and fissures. Soil erosion also plays a huge role in concrete damage, as the lack of support can create voids that cause your concrete to sink and become uneven.
The good news is there’s a fix for your broken, uneven concrete that isn’t just a bandage. Since 1993, our experts at Indiana Foundation Service have been proud to provide you with a permanent, lightweight solution. Our certified field inspectors will perform a whole-home analysis of your property to determine the root cause of your concrete issues. We ensure to only provide a plan of repairs that you absolutely need. Choose us to elevate your home’s exterior and schedule your free inspection today.
FAQs
Every area has different potential problems. This is especially true when it comes to problems like sinking concrete, which can have many different reasons for their proliferation. In Indiana, these are two of the things that can cause sinking concrete issues most frequently.
- Snow
Because Indiana sometimes experiences snow, you need to be aware of any problems that can happen due to snow. Freezing is an especially important one. If water gets into minuscule cracks in a concrete slab, then freezes, it can expand those cracks, causing your concrete cracks to get much more prominent and much more worrying.
Another problem has to do with the way the snow will melt. When the snow melts, it tends to do so relatively slowly. That thin trickle of water coming from the melting snow is more likely to run underneath your concrete slab and cause soil washout.
- Clay Soils
Indiana sometimes struggles with clay soils. Although it’s not as common to see sandy soils in Indiana as it may be in more beachy areas, clay soils continue to be a problem in some areas of the state. If your home is on clay soil, you might need to talk to an expert about how to mitigate issues with shifting, sinking, and even cracks in your concrete.
Clay soils are expansive soils, which means they tend to expand more when they come into contact with water. If any of your concrete slabs rest on clay soils, you might need to put defensive features into place to make sure the expanding and contracting nature of the clay soil won’t impact the health of your concrete slab.
Seeing cracking and sinking concrete slabs on your property and around town is common. So common, in fact, that you might not think twice about the consequences of these problems or the need for repair.
However, sunken concrete impacts your home in many ways. Not only do they make your home look bad, but they are safety hazards. Slabs that have sunken and are uneven are tripping hazards for anyone walking or driving over them.
If the sinking concrete in question is part of your basement or slab floor, it also presents foundation concerns. Foundation damage also threatens the safety of your home and loved ones, so having these uneven slabs professionally inspected and repaired is crucial.
Many homeowners ask this question in hopes of saving funds in the long run. Others simply prefer the DIY approach, giving them weekend projects to work on and new skills to learn along the way. However, DIY often backfires when it comes to serious jobs like concrete lifting.
- DIY
When choosing the DIY approach, it’s important to understand its implications and what it entails. Some have gone with a DIY way to fix unlevel steps through the use of wooden planks in the right spots. Of course, in some way, this could help and alleviate the unlevel steps, bringing them back up if they’ve sunk into the ground.
Unfortunately, this would not work long-term, since wood is too pliable and prone to moving with the soil around it. The result would be either having to keep adding planks or calling into a professional service to remove the DIY fix and start again. Likewise, the steps may grow more uneven and lead to injury, since the concrete wasn’t properly leveled and secured the first time.
- Professionals
Hiring professionals from the start can prove fruitful and productive. Though it sounds like a pricey endeavor to have professionals come out for unlevel steps, they bring with them the right tools and a wealth of knowledge. From the get-go, experts will know how to tackle the problem and make sure it doesn’t get repeated.
The benefits of using a professional will far outweigh the costs associated with them. The expert who comes out to your home will know exactly how to identify the root issues, the subtle problem signs, and can recommend a solution that’s worked (and lasted) in practice. For example, the PolyRenewalTM technique uses very strong polyurethane foam that holds up the concrete, so it doesn’t sink again.
Concrete sinking is a complicated process that doesn’t have just one cause. However, there are two main reasons that you might run into when it comes to understanding the reasons for concrete sinking.
- Soil Washout and Water
Water, in general, can be very damaging to concrete, but one of the greater issues can be soil washout. Essentially, with soil washout, water runs underneath the slab of concrete and picks up tiny particles of the soil, carrying them out from underneath the concrete slab. Over time, this can lead to a significant lack of soil underneath a concrete slab, making it unstable and tilted.
In general, if water gets into the soil underneath the concrete, it’s also possible for the water to cause it to expand. This is especially the case with clay-type soils. Then, when the water seeps out again, it’ll retract, causing the concrete to sink back into its original position. This push-and-pull process with the soil can be immensely harmful to the concrete slab and eventually result in the concrete slab sinking.
- Problems with Preparing the Soil
It’s also possible for the problem to arise simply from not preparing the soil appropriately. When a construction crew gets ready to build a home, they tamp down the soil in preparation. However, if they aren’t able to tamp down the soil enough, they may end up leaving some amount of sinking for the concrete after they pour it.
Homes often weigh many tons, which is why this tamping down process is so important. If there’s any amount of soil that isn’t appropriately compressed, the home’s weight will slowly compress the soil on its own. That compression can end up causing serious issues, including sinking concrete slabs.
If you have noticed unevenness or sinking in sections of your concrete flooring, it’s best to act quickly. The likely causes of these issues are many and none of them are benign. From environmental factors to fundamental defects in the structure of your property, they are all serious and require expert intervention.
Foundation Problems
The most common cause of sinking and cracking in an interior concrete floor is damage to a property’s foundation. This kind of damage can also cause pitting and spalling because of the immense pressure that it puts concrete under—a network of stress fractures can weaken concrete to the point that it starts to deteriorate at an incredibly fast rate.
The most common foundational issues that you might encounter in Indianapolis, Indiana, homes include settlement and subsidence. Both of these issues have their root in problem soils beneath the property and both can cause widespread damage to the rest of your property. Settlement is most likely to occur in periods of drought when the soil under a property can shrink or become dry and loose. Subsidence, by contrast, is far more likely to result from periods of heavy rainfall when the soil becomes soft and marshy. Either way, specialist concrete lifting services are the best response.
Defects and Damage
If you have exterior concrete surfaces that are starting to flake, spall, and even sink, then the most likely causes are damage as a result of exposure to harsh environmental conditions and chemicals or defects in the concrete itself. Concrete defects are not overly common, but when one property in a certain area has issues with them it is likely that others will too.
An outlier issue is something like soil washout or erosion that removes the soil from around and under a structure gradually, leaving it without support. This will often cause concrete surfaces to dip and sink under their own weight, thereby cracking and crumbling in many places. The weight of cars on a driveway will only make this worse. This is why it is best to act quickly; if you leave concrete damage to get too bad there is a chance that replacement will be your only option and this is far more expensive than repair.
While we understand that DIY is an attractive prospect, we urge you not to try to lift and repair damaged concrete alone. There are simply too many things that could go wrong, causing injury to you and damage to the property itself.
DIY Often Goes Wrong
The main issue with trying to lift sunken concrete alone is that this is a form of structural repair. This means that if you make a mistake, even a small one, the consequences will be huge. Success is dependent not only on your ability to properly assess the damage and diagnose the underlying problems but on having the right tools and products to do the job.
The products and tools used to lift, repair, and secure damaged concrete that has started to sink or crack are specialized. In the wrong hands, they can be very dangerous. As well as the chance of injuring yourself, you run the risk of damaging your home. If you do enough damage, you could end up having to replace the concrete entirely.
Professionals Can Cost Less Overall
Structural repairs are expensive. You could be forgiven for thinking that DIY will save you money, but this is really not the case. As well as the possibility of a botched DIY job adding expenses, there are hidden costs to trying to do this alone. First, repair products like polyurethane foam and foundation piers are so specialized that they may not be sold in hardware stores.
There is also the matter of getting and using the appropriate equipment. Lifting a single, sunken concrete slab is one feat, but foundation issues are another entirely. These processes require heavy excavation equipment and hydraulic lifting tools to actually make repairs possible. When you calculate the costs that come with hiring the equipment and buying tools, DIY can actually cost more.
Why Concrete Lifting Is Needed
Creates A Safer Environment
Concrete lifting is one of the best things you can do to create a safer environment for all who enter your home. For young children and elderly adults, unexpected slopes or bulging cracks in concrete can create a tripping hazard. Fixing your concrete can give you and your family comfort knowing that the walkways around your home are safe.
Improves Curb Appeal and Market Value
Your driveway, sidewalk, and patio give visitors the first impression of your home. Even a small slope or crack on the concrete outside of your home can do a number on curb appeal. Having your concrete lifted can be a small thing that makes a huge difference, especially if you’re in the process of selling your home. Depending on the scale of the cracks found in your concrete, having them repaired could improve the market value of your home as you sell it or have it appraised.
PolyRenewal™ Will Outlast Other Concrete Solutions
PolyRenewal™ foam is hydrophobic, meaning that it can stand the test of time and wet Indiana weather. Its lightweight ensures that it won’t weigh down your porch, walkway, or patio over time. PolyRenewal™ also doesn’t absorb water, so you don’t have to worry about it expanding and contracting.
Common Concrete Lifting Dos & Don’ts
What to Do
- Schedule Your Concrete Lifting Services in the Fall or Summer
Since most concrete issues tend to crop up in the winter due to freezing and expanding moisture content, the best time to have your concrete repaired is during warmer weather, like the summer or fall. To avoid complications with your concrete lifting investment, we typically only perform PolyRenewal™ in optimal, and warmer, weather conditions.
- Opt For PolyRenewal™ Injections
Sunken concrete in your driveway, walkway, patio or concrete steps is unsightly and creates tripping hazards. The good news is, settling concrete has a simple solution. PolyRenewal™ polyurethane foam injections are a concrete lifting solution that only requires penny-sized holes drilled into your concrete. We’ll fill the voids beneath your concrete with lightweight polyurethane foam that hardens in under an hour. You’ll be able to walk on your concrete the same day.
- Pay Attention to Your Foundation
When you’re suffering from foundation problems like cracking walls, drywall nail pops, uneven floors, and more, it’s likely that you’re suffering from concrete issues as well. Since foundation issues are sparked by the same things that cause concrete damage, these two areas of your home will likely begin acting up at the same time.
What Not to Do
- Slab Jacking, Also Known as Mudjacking
Slab jacking, sometimes called mudjacking, used to be the industry standard for lifting up unruly concrete. However, in recent years, the messy nature of mudjacking has become outdated. Since mudjacking includes injecting a heavyweight mud slurry into the voids beneath your concrete, it can weigh it down over time, recreating your problem after a few years pass.
- DIYing Your Concrete Repair
While concrete repair may seem like an easy enough home improvement project, many concrete solutions found on YouTube or sold in stores tend to be bandages covering up problems caused by Mother Nature. PolyRenewal™ foam injections are a permanent solution due to their ability to directly repair the support system beneath the concrete without weighing it down.
- Complete Concrete Replacement When It’s Not Needed
Since most concrete issues are formed from weather or soil conditions, completely repouring your concrete may leave you with the same problems you started with. If your concrete cracked from poor support, soil erosion, or too much heavy weight on top, your new concrete will suffer from the same issues over time, and you will end up having to pay for multiple solutions instead of one permanent one.
Find your service area



Lafayette, IN
Foundation and water management problems are common in Lafayette and cause various damage, but local pros can help. IFS has world-class solutions that protect your most important asset.



Kokomo, IN
Homes in Kokomo commonly experience water and foundation damage. Don't fret. The pros at Indiana Foundation Service have the best products to repair your home permanently.



Bloomington, IN
Foundation damage and cracked concrete can wreak havoc on your home. The experts at Indiana Foundation Service know how to protect your home permanently.



Terre Haute, IN
From wet basements to cracked foundations and beyond, our team at Indiana Foundation Service has seen and repaired them all. Let us help.



Indianapolis, IN
Wet basements, moldy crawl spaces, cracking foundations and concrete are common in Indianapolis homes, but they are destructive. Indiana Foundation Service has the best solutions to keep your home safe, dry, and stable.