I love the ingenuity of preventing dust from making its way to the lungs! I am going to copy this anytime I drill and create dust. This should be standard safety practice for drilling and it is much more effective than an ordinary mask and definitely far more convenient.
I paid over $2,000 to carolina basement systems to raise cracked and sunk driveway pad and back sidewalk. They say that the foam they use is different because of the addition of a hardener that keeps the foam from compressing over time. The tech managed to raise the slab and even it out but when done, the driveway and sidewalk slope toward the house still and he said that it is by design..... yes, I have a basement and no, if I end up with water damage, I certainly will not use them to address it.
Its unfortunate you had this experience but many of the "foundation & crawl specialists" that add this service are not properly trained or have the experience. Lifting concrete is the only service I provide and would not have left the grade towards house/structure.
I don't want to assume or judge the company too hard based on one comment. *If* this was the case (incorrect grade done by the home builder), proper communication with the customer should have been done to explain what the end results will be. Customer expectations are the most important factor for a job to be "successful". A happy customer is a repeat customer.
I'd love to see a follow-up video on the state of this project a year from now. My guess is that over time the walk way will sink back down due to the foam collapsing.
See I was wondering if this was the same stuff people charge thousands to do. Thanks for this content. You literally saved people thousands of dollars for putting this on the tube. Much appreciated
Most used cement under pressure to lift the slabs meaning you need a pumper and the right cement obviously it can't have big aggregate if you're pumping it through a small hole for concrete I'd imagine that'd be at least an inch diameter what do I know I know nothing
@@chauvinemmons wish I could post pics. But I used this on my patio in front of my house and it worked too lift the corner that was sinking. This is a 10x12 ft solid old pad too.
My wife sent me a text the other day, a picture of a snake peeking it's head out of a the gap between the garage slab and the driveway. She won't even go in the garage now. She's thinks the garden snake will be in there to get her. I am concerned that somehow erosion has taken some soil away from the area under the driveway. So I've been thinking of how I could fill that area. Spray foam had not entered my mind. Maybe the evil TH-cam was listening to my thoughts again, but I ended up here and now I can't think of a better solution to my "snake problem". My wife is going to be elated. Thanks! As for this sidewalk, it could look better if you used one of those $25 circular pressure washer attachments. I bought one to clean the mildew-mold stuff from the north side of my house. But it also really worked great on my sidewalks and driveway.
This great stuff foam is great stuff if you plan on using it to insulate a big dog house be sure to put a roof on last and leave the top of the walls open or it with rip the screws through the wood and pop the walls apart its expansion is crazy and powerful
I really like seeing your organized approach.....planning and thinking ahead. Calm, organized, neat and clean. I like the music too. I'm wondering if there are different types of foam, namely that some might continue expanding even after you have 'pulled the plug'.
How do you prevent overshooting and it expanding to much? Anytime I’ve used gap filler foam for other applications the expansion seems unpredictable and varies.
🤔You would think that you would have to have a void underneath the concrete to fill up with the foam also the foam doesn’t begin to expand unless it begins to dry I think the only thing that’s missing from this experiment is all the snow on the ground :-)
Tried this it didn’t lift a thing. Not sure if my holes were too deep. I used the black can because I have a 2.75” slope away from my porch. Not sure if I have to look at it after 24 hours but all in all I had to go another route
The black label great stuff need to be exposed to air/moisture to cure. Using this like shown here won't allow it to harden. The best option for this is a two-part approach that hardens due to a chemical reaction and not be reliant on moisture or air exposure. Good luck getting your problem solved.
@@SoccerPhoto Thanks ended up jacking the slab on one side because the other side butts up to my porch. Then I redrilled the holes and sprayed the great stuff and it worked
Did you refill the drilled holes with concrete? And was the problem of the continued erosion resolved? Other words, you lifted the concrete but did you also solve the future issues of continued erosion?
I would thumbs up this video if the author would state how many seconds he set his timelapse for on the concrete-rise-timelapses part! Like is that one picture per 5 seconds or one picture per minute or what!?
That is what the string was used for. It shows you the lost points of the slab and provides a location to drill the holes. Lowest point equals more holes or at least a good starting point.
I got estimates from several companies between $3-6k to level up my driveway. A few sections sank causing the opposite corners to rise. I couldn’t afford to hire them. Do you think the can spray foam could raise a much larger slab? 8’x12’ roughly about 1” in the sunken corner thus lowering the high spots?
I'm looking at a similar repair. I think that you might need higher pressure (than spray cans) to force the foam under such a heavy load. Here is an interesting way to lift a heavy section with a bottle jack: th-cam.com/video/THHiby5TGWc/w-d-xo.html I am thinking about lifting first, then filling the void with foam. The trade-off is needing to repair the hole. You can possibly avoid the hole with two jacks and a longer support beam.
@@MLSgeek Thank you for this recommendation. I was thinking before along the line of jacking but couldn’t figure out how to make it work but this makes sense. I’ll take a few holes over the big trip hazard.
@@MrWatsonComeHere If it were me, I would simply drill further down with a longer concrete bit. More volume of foam will increase the pressure. Results may vary of course. You could hit a gas line or anything under the slab. Who knows? I would have utilities check it out before doing anything. It's a free check. They will flag your whole yard for buried stuff.
I priced this out with a commercial poly jacking company and they would have charged about $1K for what you did for under $100! It's definitely worth going this route to save a few bucks!
Only difference is we use a foam that won't degrade after one year and sets up faster with a better quality and will last much much longer depends on where you live and the type of climate.
@@johnstaton5524 Polyurethane is polyurethane. This won't break down. Concrete slab lifting foam is made from polyurethane. Are you sure you weren't referring to mud jacking? Using his method is cheap and will work. Will it last lifetimes? No, not in this instance because he simply didn't drill deep enough. If he had gone down a foot or so and done the same thing he did here, it would last long after the house was gone. Will it last a lifetime? Most likely. Regardless of the foam used, the longevity of it all depends on the soil conditions.
@@billthompson8182 At home Depot they advertise different foams like UV resistant, etc. They have at least one brand that is supposedly better than the one used in the video. Like you said they might all be the same though idk.
There are higher density foams for lifting concrete slabs, specifically made for that application. I wonder how long a cheap can of expanding foam insulation will last. Maybe not long after insects find it makes a great nesting place. Higher density foam is impenetrable, as it's rock hard when cured. Lower density foams can crumble away under pressure or shock. If you're going through all the trouble of lifting a slab, use the right foam.
@@ericr154 Well he was savvy enough to post this video. A simple internet search would have pointed him in the right direction on what to use. I did the same with a slab but used Secure Set Foam. I had some left over and used around and under some tall landscape lights I have that seemed to never stay plumb. Now they do!
Ridiculous, inane, sophomoric "music" earns a dislike for an otherwise worthy video Why not just narate? Or just have the audio recording of the process sounds would be infinitely better.
Pitiful, and so very American! It appears we just don't know how to make videos! Why the horrible intrusive music instead of talking to us and educating us? Best of luck, but this is a rather awful format!
Spraying toxic foam into the ground is absolutely unnecessary and bad for the environment. I'm showing this video to my local EPA reps I actually believe this guy will be receiving a major fine for this.
You do realize that most utility poles, bridge pillars, etc... that are in-ground installations now use some form of foam fill for the hole and NOT concrete right? I haven't seen a utility company backfill with concrete in 10 years, especially in austere locations where you would literally have to helicopter in tons of concrete!
The clam shell dust guard is one of the coolest things I've seen. I love it when people show their ingenuity with small little things like that.
Why? What did it actually do? Did it prevent getting dust in the grass?
@@ronniestanley75 come on man... he made a positive comment and you just had to say something contradictory?
Agreed! Am definitely copying this in the future.
Actually it’s genius cement has silica which cause cancer and he is preventing breathing it in.
Yea dude could patent that! 😊
WOW. I would have never thought it would work. Awesome.
Thanks for sharing.
I would have never thought this would work with plain old consumer grade spray foam!
I love the ingenuity of preventing dust from making its way to the lungs! I am going to copy this anytime I drill and create dust. This should be standard safety practice for drilling and it is much more effective than an ordinary mask and definitely far more convenient.
Thanks!
That was an incredible watch, a new level to thinking out off the box.
simple solution to what i feared was a complex problem. thank you so much for taking the time to help us.
Thanks!
The salad container is next level thinking!🧐
Man what a genius you are.
Simple yet effective!
Thanks.
Thanks!
I knew the expansion with this foam was significant after draught sealing a door frame; when it was done I couldn’t shut the door!
There's 2 kinds for gaps and doors and windows
I did that with new windows I installed ONCE todd. Had to dig it out, windows were stuck 😬. We try, we live, we learn.
I paid over $2,000 to carolina basement systems to raise cracked and sunk driveway pad and back sidewalk. They say that the foam they use is different because of the addition of a hardener that keeps the foam from compressing over time.
The tech managed to raise the slab and even it out but when done, the driveway and sidewalk slope toward the house still and he said that it is by design..... yes, I have a basement and no, if I end up with water damage, I certainly will not use them to address it.
I'm curious . Maybe they allow for some amount of settling 🤔
Its unfortunate you had this experience but many of the "foundation & crawl specialists" that add this service are not properly trained or have the experience. Lifting concrete is the only service I provide and would not have left the grade towards house/structure.
I don't want to assume or judge the company too hard based on one comment. *If* this was the case (incorrect grade done by the home builder), proper communication with the customer should have been done to explain what the end results will be. Customer expectations are the most important factor for a job to be "successful". A happy customer is a repeat customer.
Great story. I bet your grandkids can't wait for you to tell it again.
Great, I might be able to save my patio
Wow, had no idea this would actually work. Thank you.
No one seems to add durability follow-up videos. How has this held up after almost 18 months?
THIS!! 1 yr????????? 10 yrs??????????
I'd love to see a follow-up video on the state of this project a year from now. My guess is that over time the walk way will sink back down due to the foam collapsing.
This looks like a quick fix before you put the house up for sale.
The foam used for poly leveling is supposed to last for 1000 years. But I don't know how much different that is from what you get out of a spray can.
Doubt it. Foam is pretty strong when force is spread over a large area. The same method is used by professional slab jacking companies.
@@altratronic Every company i've seen do this professionally says 10 yrs.
See I was wondering if this was the same stuff people charge thousands to do. Thanks for this content. You literally saved people thousands of dollars for putting this on the tube. Much appreciated
Most used cement under pressure to lift the slabs meaning you need a pumper and the right cement obviously it can't have big aggregate if you're pumping it through a small hole for concrete I'd imagine that'd be at least an inch diameter what do I know I know nothing
@@chauvinemmons wish I could post pics. But I used this on my patio in front of my house and it worked too lift the corner that was sinking. This is a 10x12 ft solid old pad too.
@@chauvinemmons Use brick mortar cement? Should be able to pump it.
That was a great job and a great video I loved it👍🏻🇺🇸
Awesome, but how do you know how much foam and that it won't raise too high or above your level that you are trying to achieve?
My question also.
My wife sent me a text the other day, a picture of a snake peeking it's head out of a the gap between the garage slab and the driveway. She won't even go in the garage now. She's thinks the garden snake will be in there to get her. I am concerned that somehow erosion has taken some soil away from the area under the driveway. So I've been thinking of how I could fill that area. Spray foam had not entered my mind. Maybe the evil TH-cam was listening to my thoughts again, but I ended up here and now I can't think of a better solution to my "snake problem". My wife is going to be elated. Thanks!
As for this sidewalk, it could look better if you used one of those $25 circular pressure washer attachments. I bought one to clean the mildew-mold stuff from the north side of my house. But it also really worked great on my sidewalks and driveway.
I think the better solution is to figure out why water is getting there rather than blocking the flow
This great stuff foam is great stuff if you plan on using it to insulate a big dog house be sure to put a roof on last and leave the top of the walls open or it with rip the screws through the wood and pop the walls apart its expansion is crazy and powerful
Going to try this on my driveway.
Don't try on driveway!
Foam expands slowly. No way to prevent pad from going too high
There is a low expansion foam that I think caps around 1" expansion. I assume they go with that to keep it under control.
I really like seeing your organized approach.....planning and thinking ahead. Calm, organized, neat and clean.
I like the music too.
I'm wondering if there are different types of foam, namely that some might continue expanding even after you have 'pulled the plug'.
That was one long stretch, very cool results!
Thanks!
I think a pressure wash and skim coat of cement all would set you above the rest. Great visual of the project and process.
Thanks!
How do you prevent overshooting and it expanding to much? Anytime I’ve used gap filler foam for other applications the expansion seems unpredictable and varies.
As I say to my toddler “You’re doin it!!”
Good share .. thanks
This is amazing! what is the psi strength of the foam, i.e. could this work on a garage slab?
I am thinking the same thing
Anything with a small void under it. Not if you need 10 cubic feet than you would need a secure set kit that cost $479.00
@@IamDaytrader Question: If each can fills one cubic foot, why spend $479.00. You can buy a can of GE Big Gap foam for under $4 per can.
That foam can hold 6000 pounds per square foot.
I going to try this on a pool deck. How do you know when to stop putting in foam ?
If I add too much, the concrete may be lifted higher than I expected. How to control this?
Lift slowly
🤔You would think that you would have to have a void underneath the concrete to fill up with the foam also the foam doesn’t begin to expand unless it begins to dry I think the only thing that’s missing from this experiment is all the snow on the ground :-)
Wow 👍🏼that’s a real smart solution
Thanks!
How do you stop it from expanding more than you want
Tried this it didn’t lift a thing. Not sure if my holes were too deep. I used the black can because I have a 2.75” slope away from my porch. Not sure if I have to look at it after 24 hours but all in all I had to go another route
The black label great stuff need to be exposed to air/moisture to cure. Using this like shown here won't allow it to harden.
The best option for this is a two-part approach that hardens due to a chemical reaction and not be reliant on moisture or air exposure.
Good luck getting your problem solved.
@@SoccerPhoto Thanks ended up jacking the slab on one side because the other side butts up to my porch. Then I redrilled the holes and sprayed the great stuff and it worked
Did you refill the drilled holes with concrete?
And was the problem of the continued erosion resolved?
Other words, you lifted the concrete but did you also solve the future issues of continued erosion?
Thank you for asking. I didn't fill the holes with concrete. I saw them being mostly filled by back pressurized foam.
What size drill bit did you use to mate with the tubing on the can?
3/8
I'm at a loss? How does the foam expand, to do the lifting, without a void to fill, if you just drill holes for the fill tube?
The expansion rate is greater than the relief allowed by the hole
Out of curiosity, how's this "holding up" [pun intended] since you did this over a year ago?
Thank you for following up! It’s still holding up just fine.
Did the foam job last more than a year?
@@mrp2561 Yes, it did.
What brand of foam did u use?
I would thumbs up this video if the author would state how many seconds he set his timelapse for on the concrete-rise-timelapses part! Like is that one picture per 5 seconds or one picture per minute or what!?
Could this work on a porch slab
How do you keep from lifting too far?
@@friendnfamily9053
Not what I asked but, ok
I am surprised there was no need to lift the slab before filling underneath. The foam lifted the slab. Looks pretty easy and you had a large section.
This will never last. As soon as it soaks up moisture the foam will deflate. Need different foam for this…
What did you fill the holes with ??
Great video, I can't believe you only have 366 likes. GGEESSHH
Hi, I didn't fill the holes. They were mostly backfilled from backpressure of the foam.
How long before the foam dries out and and sinks again?
Still holding up just fine
Pretty cool
How did you know where to drill your holes? Is there a method to where to drill them?
That is what the string was used for. It shows you the lost points of the slab and provides a location to drill the holes. Lowest point equals more holes or at least a good starting point.
Don't you want your sidewalk to slope downwards towards your driveway?
It was sunk in the middle of 2 points so regardless it would puddle up in the middle
As long as you don’t have a large void in under the slab it would work.
How has this help up since you posted? Looking to do something similar
Cant visiually tell the difference😳
How long does that typically last for
It’s still holding up.
what is the cost per can? thanks for the great video!
$2.99/can back then.
@@friendnfamily9053 thank you. Why did you drill so deep？ looked like a 10" drill bit？
I got estimates from several companies between $3-6k to level up my driveway. A few sections sank causing the opposite corners to rise.
I couldn’t afford to hire them. Do you think the can spray foam could raise a much larger slab? 8’x12’ roughly about 1” in the sunken corner thus lowering the high spots?
I'm looking at a similar repair. I think that you might need higher pressure (than spray cans) to force the foam under such a heavy load.
Here is an interesting way to lift a heavy section with a bottle jack: th-cam.com/video/THHiby5TGWc/w-d-xo.html
I am thinking about lifting first, then filling the void with foam. The trade-off is needing to repair the hole. You can possibly avoid the hole with two jacks and a longer support beam.
@@MLSgeek Thank you for this recommendation. I was thinking before along the line of jacking but couldn’t figure out how to make it work but this makes sense. I’ll take a few holes over the big trip hazard.
@@MrWatsonComeHere If it were me, I would simply drill further down with a longer concrete bit. More volume of foam will increase the pressure. Results may vary of course. You could hit a gas line or anything under the slab. Who knows? I would have utilities check it out before doing anything. It's a free check. They will flag your whole yard for buried stuff.
@@billthompson8182 Thanks for that advice. I know there’s at least a few sprinkler lines under the slab but being cautious is a good thing.
how many cans of Spray Foam did you use?
Hi, for this job, I think I used 10 cans.
How long does this last though?
what size drill bit did you use? 3/16"?
Hi, yes it is 3/16" bit.
@@friendnfamily9053 Will a 1/4" bit work? I can't find a 12" long 3/16" masonry bit at the stores....but they do have 1/4". thoughts?
@@jgg204 I found long ones at Menards for a project I did. They were by MasterCraft, but bought like 20 of them.
@@jgg204 3/16" has better fit with the can tube.
I priced this out with a commercial poly jacking company and they would have charged about $1K for what you did for under $100! It's definitely worth going this route to save a few bucks!
$3.80 a can and he used 10 cans. $38 plus a drill.bit.
Only difference is we use a foam that won't degrade after one year and sets up faster with a better quality and will last much much longer depends on where you live and the type of climate.
@@johnstaton5524 $38?
@@johnstaton5524 Polyurethane is polyurethane. This won't break down. Concrete slab lifting foam is made from polyurethane. Are you sure you weren't referring to mud jacking?
Using his method is cheap and will work. Will it last lifetimes? No, not in this instance because he simply didn't drill deep enough. If he had gone down a foot or so and done the same thing he did here, it would last long after the house was gone. Will it last a lifetime? Most likely.
Regardless of the foam used, the longevity of it all depends on the soil conditions.
@@billthompson8182 At home Depot they advertise different foams like UV resistant, etc. They have at least one brand that is supposedly better than the one used in the video.
Like you said they might all be the same though idk.
May I ask how long your lift lasts?
Thanks for asking ! It still holds up today.
Or a pair of knee-high rubber boots:-)
One question: is the slab still up or has the foam gone soft?
Still holding up just fine.
U King
That's pretty cool but wouldn't it be easy to overlift and make it to high?
a little a time and watching for movement is how it goes.
Wonder why it does not expand in the can and blow the can up. Under concrete seems like the same conditions as in the can.
Wow.....what size drill u use to drill the concrete? N how many cans?
Hi, it's 3/16" bit, and use about 10 cans. Hope that helps!
Band aid at best, it will deteriorate over time. Cheap tho.
Was für eine bescheuerte Ausführung.
In Deutschland ein No go!
Goru
Lifting a sunken sidewalk with foam = Good! Soundtrack = Shit!
There are higher density foams for lifting concrete slabs, specifically made for that application. I wonder how long a cheap can of expanding foam insulation will last. Maybe not long after insects find it makes a great nesting place. Higher density foam is impenetrable, as it's rock hard when cured. Lower density foams can crumble away under pressure or shock. If you're going through all the trouble of lifting a slab, use the right foam.
Maybe he was unaware of this. I'd say he did a good job but your advice really puts it in a good perspective.
@@ericr154 Well he was savvy enough to post this video. A simple internet search would have pointed him in the right direction on what to use.
I did the same with a slab but used Secure Set Foam. I had some left over and used around and under some tall landscape lights I have that seemed to never stay plumb. Now they do!
I suppose worst case scenario, you're back to square one and out $50 and an afternoon of labor?
@@miki09876 Or more, depending on the project...
What brand is this high-density foam and where do you get it what's the name so I can Google it... thanks
And three days later he rose again... You had a dip before but now you have a hill.
Won't they just sink back down after a few years?
C'mon, drilling through a plastic cover!! That has to be the most sissy like thing I've seen
Ridiculous, inane, sophomoric "music" earns a dislike for an otherwise worthy video
Why not just narate?
Or just have the audio recording of the process sounds would be infinitely better.
or just turn off the sound
Pitiful, and so very American! It appears we just don't know how to make videos! Why the horrible intrusive music instead of talking to us and educating us? Best of luck, but this is a rather awful format!
Turn your volume down if you don’t like the music….
Spraying toxic foam into the ground is absolutely unnecessary and bad for the environment. I'm showing this video to my local EPA reps I actually believe this guy will be receiving a major fine for this.
I'm telling my mom.
You do realize that most utility poles, bridge pillars, etc... that are in-ground installations now use some form of foam fill for the hole and NOT concrete right? I haven't seen a utility company backfill with concrete in 10 years, especially in austere locations where you would literally have to helicopter in tons of concrete!
Did spray foam give you autism?
You're on your 15th COVID booster aren't you?
@@ivankrushensky Disgusting that your life is so bad you assume things about people you never met. Get a life 💪