Raising A Concrete Sidewalk

[@williebell3742]

I was skeptical when I watched this. I used a steel beam from our farm and two floor jacks. The c-clamp wouldn’t fit on one side of the sidewalk so I had to borrow a big clamp from a machine shop in town. I bent the piece of steel a little from the weight of the sidewalk. It’s very old and about 6” on one side and 4 on the other. Thanks for making this.

[@evetsdn]

To save a little time and money ,you can just wrap the chain around the 2x4s instead of buying drilling and installing those I-bolts.

[@fishon8406]

For those using this good idea, the only thing I would suggest doing is turning the beam on it's edge. these 2x4s were bowing unnecessarily. Just use a 4x6 on edge or two 2x4s on edge bolted together to hold them together. then put the eye bolt through from top to bottom so the eye bolt is hanging below the beam. Good idea for lifting these sidewalks. We have about 3000 of them that need this work done in our small town. Thanks.

[@beaujoe69]

A 3 tons farmers jack is $60

[@concrete981]

@@beaujoe69 where do you buy the eye bolts. and how many pounds are they rated.

[@sambrusco672]

@@beaujoe69 you can use a scissor jack for cars - you probably already have more than one in your family. You will be using TWO of them, and they are intended to lift a car. 🚨🚨🚨NEVER STICK YOUR HAND UNDER THE SLAB, in case something slips or snaps!!🚨🚨🚨

[@sambrusco672]

It looks like you did this in 2019. It is now June 2022. How is it? If it settled, it’s because you used the rigid foam board and not GREAT STUFF. The board must have left gaps and the earth shifted around under the slab.

[@gergemall]

❤

[@CarlottaART]

Excellent! Thank you!

[@BruteEngine]

Looks good! How is the repair holding up? I am probably going to have to do this to part of my patio in the springtime

[@bill830pc8]

It would have been nice to see how you filled it in. When I see videos like this it makes me believe that it wasn’t that easy

[@Edwardjonez]

I like your setup the first thing I thought when I saw it was I would use an impact on those scissor jacks

[@concrete981]

why not wrap the chain around the 2" x 4". how many pounds should eye bolts be able to handle. what about teetering (stability) with the boards on top of the scissor jacks or floor jacks.

[@gergemall]

Nice work. Thx

[@splash5974]

Good job! Do you have an update on how its holding up so far?

[@davidvelasquez1668]

Good idea great job

[@rep4666]

any movement yet,,,mine has tilted to one side ill just pry it with a bar or jack but am looking at the foam to set it on,,is that the 2 inch

[@bigpun4780]

How did you keep the c-clamps from breaking off the corners of the slab?

[@onewaymichael12]

brilliant!

[@concrete981]

where did you get the eye bolts. and how many pounds are they rated. scissor jacks? too unstable for me.

[@mlbarber]

The repair looks the same as it did the day I repaired it. Looks like the winter did not have any effect on it.

[@terryhalloran6506]

Backer rod and caulk in the expansion joint. This will allow for movement and keep the water out.

[@JohnDoe-ld8nr]

How's it holding up now that it's been 4 years?

[@IAMMythra]

Should have raised it a bit higher to guarantee it wouldn't settle lower again, but great idea on raising it.

[@CaseyGovero]

I did something similar only rather than the extravagant setup, I literally just took a long pole and a log. Dug the corners up, use the pole and log as a lever to lift while the other guy shoves large rocks underneath.

[@sambrusco672]

🚨🚨🚨NEVER STICK YOUR HAND UNDER THE SLAB, in case something slips or snaps!!🚨🚨🚨

[@CaseyGovero]

@@sambrusco672 lol. Yep. Should be obvious but that’s good advice. You use a hammer or pole to shove the rocks in too.

[@The_Handyman_Can]

@@sambrusco672 🤦‍♂️🤦‍♂️🤦‍♂️

[@bryanhauschild4376]

I can’t believe those eye bolts handled that.

[@metroplexchl]

What about using Great Stuff foam instead of the sheet foam? Just curious....very cool video

[@bryceg5709]

Skip that - you want to cram a bunch of sand or gravel. The pink foam is good if you are doing a new pour of say an insulated slab - where you pack out a base of sand/gravel, then lay that on top and then pour it. However there is no way to get that stuff in there supported evenly. What you can do is cram sand up under it and use the end of a 1x1 to pack/press slightly moistened sand into it. Pour some sand and pack, pour some more and pack. Once the hole is basically fully filled get out your sledge and swing it down in the whole you cut to pack that sand even tighter. Then proceed to fill in the hole around it and pack down. The foam will work fine until it doesn't and because you haven't repacked the cavity water will run down around that foam and flush the supporting soils.

[@sambrusco672]

@@bryceg5709 I haven’t seen any reports of Great Stuff or rigid foam board failing. Have you tried it and it didn’t work for you? Both will support >25 psi (3600 psf) that’s less than any passenger vehicle and the concrete rolling over it. The other big advantage of Great Stuff is that it expands, so you don’t need to get out the sledge hammer.

[@Scottcrating1]

What was the foam for? Why would you not just back fill the hole with concrete under the slab?

[@mlbarber]

It's what I had on hand and so far it seems to work fine.

[@user-gk3lu1gg9t]

How did you removed the C-Clamps when you released the board? Do they come out easily?

[@sambrusco672]

You let down the jacks a little at a time (both simultaneously), then there will be no tension on the C-clamps. The C-clamps are tightened around the concrete slab.

[@willruelle9799]

Use fast drying hydraulic cement instead of foam under slab

[@gregandmellissastephens166]

After you raise it, use spray polyurethane and let it fully fill the space instead of the pieces of foam.

[@gregandmellissastephens166]

You can easily cut off the excess polyurethane after it cures.

[@sambrusco672]

I agree! With that said, I have a LOT of rigid foam scraps that I will use as loose fill, THEN I’ll use Great Stuff to fill the gaps and bind it all together. Great Stuff gets expensive real fast! 🚨🚨🚨NEVER STICK YOUR HAND UNDER THE SLAB, in case something slips or snaps!!🚨🚨🚨

[@jefflloyd394]

Thanks

[@davidthecardcollector]

Why didn't you fill under it with packing sand?

[@Nancy-xg9nc]

Tip your hat to John Cantwell...2012. But nice job!

[@ke0nc]

Absolutely correct. This guy needs to give credit where credit is due.

[@concrete981]

@@ke0nc hack job john.

[@kylegriffin5583]

Copied this from another video and reposted, great idea from the original video

[@Thegoodguy1516]

😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂

[@Val2073]

Can be easily done with a bottle jack. No need for the extravagant setup.

[@joshuamcnew1200]

Caulk...

[@The_Handyman_Can]

At least pay credit to the original video you saw doing this exact technique from way back in 2012!

[@gustavmiller9749]

People who installed that sidewalk didn't add dowels? Lol

[@thomashodis5740]

You dont put dowels in sidewalk. That's why there are tooling lines every 4 or 5 feet. Sidewalks are above the frost line and are always susceptible to the movement from freezing and thawing. Sometimes sidewalk will get mesh installed pre pour but not usually. If you put dowels in 4" of concrete that's on ground that freezes and thaws multiple times a winter it's going to be busted to shit after one season sir.