Concrete raising is an efficient process that restores concrete to its original height. Concrete is usually raised when it has settled adversely, causing difficulties. These problems may include the presence of a tripping hazard for individuals using a sidewalk, or the potential for water damage, if moisture is running toward the foundation of a home or moving beneath the floor of a garage.
As opposed to concrete replacement, concrete raising produces little-to-no waste and offers the following additional environmental benefits.
1. Fewer fuel emissions – Raising concrete is less polluting than replacing it because the former requires much less equipment than the latter does. Raising does not require multiple vehicles, including ready-mix trucks and compaction equipment, to visit the job site. This cuts fuel emissions dramatically.
2. Better air quality - Raising concrete releases less dust into the air than replacing the material does. While concrete replacement often involves using a jack hammer and breaking concrete slabs into smaller pieces for removal, raising only involves drilling a few small holes per slab. Replacing also entails much more saw cutting than raising does, if concrete raising necessitates any. Additionally, remodelers can help to maintain healthy indoor and outdoor air by using a guard on the drill, which will contain most dust particulates released.
3. No need for disposal and fewer lastinghazardous materials - Concrete raising avoids the environmental disadvantages of hauling concrete to a recycling plant or to a landfill. Recycling plants consume energy and resources, producing fuel emissions and other air pollutants. Landfills are also unfortunate places to deposit concrete because the product is not biodegradable. Because potential contaminants are trapped in concrete pores, or tiny holes, within the material, landfills treat concrete as hazardous waste. The most environmentally friendly way to manage concrete is by raising it.
4. Absence of waste – Unlike concrete replacement, concrete raising does not create extra waste. Replacing concrete entails surrounding newly-poured concrete with borders, or pieces to shape and contain it. Unfortunately, these borders form small trenches around the concrete, disrupting the landscape. When contractors later remove the pieces, they fill the trenches with soil and with seed. In contrast, concrete raising allows the adjacent landscape to remain intact, and uses neither borders for the new concrete, nor additional seed and soil. This minimizes both resource consumption and the fuel emissions that would otherwise be used for producing and transporting the above items to the job site.
5. Usage of fewer resources – Concrete raising utilizes less cement than concrete replacement, and, unlike concrete replacing, is not required by local building codes to utilize wire mesh, rods, or fibers. Producing any of these materials uses additional energy and resources, negatively affecting the environment. The absence of fibers, rods or wire mesh in concrete raising is another green reason to choose this process instead of replacement.
Carefully consider whether to raise or replace concrete. When you are deciding between the two processes, keep these five points in mind, and make the environmentally responsible choice to raise concrete instead of to replace it.
About CRC Concrete Raising
CRC Concrete Raising has been raising settled concrete since 1947. As a member of NARI chapters throughout the United States, CRC is the most recognized name in the concrete raising business today. It has begun franchising its business on a national scale, and, with state-of-the-art equipment and years of on-the-job experience, why not find out for yourself why CRC says, “We Raise Concrete, You Save Money!”®.