Does your garage floor seem lower than it should be? Does the level clearly fall below the step to your house or the connection to your driveway? Are there huge cracks or dips that create trip hazards?
You're not imagining things. These signs indicate that your garage floor is sinking. Not only should your garage floor be shored up and repaired, but it could also indicate that your home's entire foundation might be at risk. A sinking garage floor always calls for professional services, from repair to proactive garage foundation maintenance.
Let's talk about how to identify and fix a garage floor that is falling.
Signs of a Sinking Garage Floor
How do you know if your garage floor is sinking or if it just seems low? Your garage floor is an unprotected foundation slab settled into the dirt. It is entirely possible that a garage floor can sink - many do. You can identify if your garage floor is dropping with the following signs:
- Garage floor lower than the step to the house, driveway, or front walk
- The garage floor is clearly lower than its original height
- Low places on the floor
- Unlevel floor or sections
- Water collecting in floor depressions
- Cracks with uneven sides
- Deep cracks
Common Causes of a Sinking Garage Floor
Whatever the reason for a sinking garage door, the risk is not just to your garage floor. It can also indicate your home's foundation might be at risk. A sinking garage floor should be evaluated for a proper solution as soon as possible, paired with an inspection and repair plan of your home's entire foundation system.
A garage floor can sink for the same reasons that a foundation sinks: The ground below the garage floor has moved. Improper site work preparation for foundation placement and/or garage slab placement, lack of compaction, and organics left in the soli (IE, tree stumps, construction debris) can result in garage slab and foundation settlement. Some other common causes are water or drought, in which soil moisture changes, as well as the volume and location of the soil below. Dryness can cause soil to contract, while moisture can cause it to wash away. Clay-rich soil is expansive, so it will first swell with water and then contract, leaving a vacant space below the garage floor where it can fall into the depression.
Symptoms Indicating Foundation Issues
How do you know if your garage or home is having foundation issues? Foundation problems have a distinct signature. It's not just that your garage floor is lower. Most foundations take damage in an uneven way because the soil below doesn't maintain an even level. This leads to the foundation and other elements of your home that may cause settlement.
- Garage foundation slab may have cracks, shifting, uneven or unlevel trip hazards
- Diagonal cracks in your garage walls, doors, and window frames
- Garage doors off track or inoperable
- Driveway to garage interface is unlevel or uneven.
- Uneven floors and door jams
- Uneven door and window frames
Repairing a Sunken Garage Floor
There are several ways to repair a sunken garage floor, depending on the type of damage and the cause. Each one addresses a different environmental way to attempt to correct the horizontal alignment of the garage floor and provide support where the earth has settled. If your garage or basement floor may be a warning sign regarding the health of your home's foundation, we may have cost effective solutions available.
Contact Ram Jack New England for All Your Foundation Needs
Whether you need help repairing your sinking garage floor or professional foundation repair services for your home, you can rely on Ram Jack New England. We'll help restore your home to a safe and even level and prepare for the future based on the conditions of your soil and foundation design.
Contact us today for all your New England foundation services.