Street Creep Scares Garage Stability
Challenge
Local homeowner, Matt, loves the home that he moved into just last year. But, he doesn't love the structural issues that came along with the beautiful property. These issues have been stressing Matt out and he knows they will just continue to get worse if he doesn't do something about it.
Matt's property has a large concrete driveway that leads down to the home. The problem is, this large slab of concrete is pushing against the home, causing damage to the structure of the garage. Additionally, the soil around Matt's home is consolidating which is resulting in sinking right at the garage entrance.
Initially, while our Service Design Specialist, Nick Wessling, was inspecting the property, he believed that the settlement was creating damage to the garage. After further analysis, he found that the issue was actually a variation of "Street Creep". You may be wondering what street creep is. Well, we can tell you!
What is Street Creep?
Street Creep, also known as driveway elongation, occurs during the hotter months of the year when concrete expands, resulting in excess pressure on the driveway and therefore, the foundation. Here are some signs that your property may be experiencing street creep: cracked concrete, foundation cracks, and your garage floor pulling away from the wall.
Solution
Luckily, Midwest took the stress of the concrete and street creep off of Matt's mind. We installed a CompressionGuard to create a true barrier between the driveway and the home. CompressionGuard fights back against Street Creep to protect against long-term damage to concrete driveways, garage slabs, and foundation walls. It is an engineered expansion joint that can bend with concrete movement during changes in the seasons. This is different from the fiberboard expansion joints used in most residential driveways.
We then used PolyLevel to lift and stabilize the driveway lip that enters the garage. It's possible that this will also steer damaging rainwater away from the foundation and will divert it to a nearby drainage ditch.
Matt is excited to take one more project off his list and no longer feels that stress! Are you feeling spooked out by Street Creep? Click here to get a free estimate!
Project Summary
Street Creep: CompressionGuard
