Why is My Porch Sinking?
Porch Leaning to One Side
If your porch top is leaning or sloping , it’s most likely because it has a failing foundation. So what causes a failing foundation? At AMC911, we find more often than not the major cause of a leaning porch is because it was built with some type of fill that has organic material in it that begins to rot. We see a lot of new construction homes that are built improperly. The house goes up first and the mason lays the wall for the porch and it becomes a giant trash field for the construction workers while the rest of the main home goes up. Anything from lunch bags to plastic bottles to spare wood and bricks gets thrown into the pit of the porch wall. All of the debris should be removed from this area prior to the porch being filled in and the dirt should be tamped down. Unfortunately as you’ve guessed it, that doesn’t happen 9 times out of 10. We see it in new construction all of the time. The trash gets covered by dirt, and mixed in with the porch infill. Over time, the debris will break down and decay causing soil movement.
Cracks in Porch
When concrete loses moisture, cracks will form. This is the most common cause of cracking in porch tops. Porch tops are concrete pads that sit on top of sand or dirt usually. Moisture is contained in the soil beneath your porch, so just like your home’s foundation is susceptible to settlement, so is your porch foundation. Furthermore, porches are open to the elements typically, meaning wet weather will likely cause shrinkage cracks over time as the concrete porch top as water evaporates.
Brick Steps Separating from Porch
Piering Solutions for Porches by AMC911
Polyfoam Porch Top Lifting by AMC911
Concrete porch tops can be rejuvenated with the injection of polyfoam. Polyfoam or polyurethane injection is a crack sealer and also used to provide moderate lift for sinking porch top slabs. The only downside to polyfoam injection is that the solution will not provide a permanent solution to settlement like deep driven push piers will.
Porch Foundation Restoration & Rejuvenation by AMC911
We offer not only structural repair solutions for settling porches, but also solutions that will lend your home a more refreshed and rejuvenated look. Your porch is sometimes the first thing people see when they step foot onto your property. You wouldn’t trust an amateur to perform a face lift on you, would you? Don’t trust anyone other than AMC911 for your masonry repair. We lean on decades of foundation repair and masonry experience, so we guarantee real craftsmanship.