Repairing a root lifted concrete slab

[Daniel Prince]

We have a concrete slab that has been lifted on one side by roots. The slab is against the back of the house. It is 123 inches by 31 inches. The 123 inch edge is lifted on the side away from the house. The lift is between one and two inches. (I can put pictures on imageshack if anyone want to see them.)

Is there an easy and cheap way to fix this slab without tearing it up? Thank you in advance for all replies.

-- Whenever I hear or think of the song "Great green gobs of greasy grimey gopher guts" I imagine my cat saying; "That sounds REALLY, REALLY good. I'll have some of that!"

[Joe]

Might depend on your time frame. Given a span of a year or more, treating the roots with enzymes/chemicals/water or whatever to hasten natural decay would allow the slab to settle back into place. Check with your County Ag Extension Dept. for ideas there. The alternative is what you would expect, dig it out and start over. But if the tree is a cedar related species, the roots and stumps of those types will last a generation or more, so option 1 might not work either. My plan would be to wash out as much fill as necessary with a garden hose so as to get a heavy chain around the root system and yank it out with a comealong attached to something secure like a nearby tree. Or call my buddy with a Ford F350 and see how much yard we could tear up yanking on it that way. Once removed, call the slab jackers and have them squirt some new support under the end. Easy and cheap may not give you much more than sore muscles and aggravation. Good luck.

Joe

[bob haller]

is the OP planning on killing or removing the tree?

[John Gilmer]

Tee hee!

He should have killed the tree LONG before it started putting good sized roots under his slab.

Good sized trees should be kept away from many man structures (foundations, shacks, buildings, walkways) simply because they destroy things while still growning and when they eventually die they cause the above to collapse by the root system rotting away and leaving voids and, of course, by falling over onto the shack, etc.)

A good rule of thumb is that when a tree is big enough so that it could serious damage a building were it to fall down, then cut it down yourself.

When you consider a replacement look for trees that tend to send down a single "tap root" rather than thick surface roots.

Get shade/privacy by using quick growing species but be ready with the chain saw when it's too big.

You can plant anything you want away from man made objects but be hard hearted close by.

[aemeijers]

Some of us prefer lots where the trees are older than the houses, and don't want a 75' clear zone all around the house. I hear what you're saying, mind you- my mother and grandmother way overplanted with the wrong species, way too close to the house, and me and my brothers ended up cutting a lot of them out 20 years later. But the trees here (the ones in back, at least) long predate the house, and no way I'm killing them on the off chance they'll fall this direction. Stuff happens, and I have insurance.

The management at my office building thinks like you. They had some

50-odd year old trees that were too close together, and getting dead branches due to shading. So cut cut every other one, and do some selective pruning? Nah, they clear-cut the whole row of healthy trees, and increased the sun load on the windows so bad we have to keep the blinds shut all day to avoid sweating. They claim they will replace them with 'appropriate' trees, but I'll believe it when I see it. At most, we'll get some bottle-brush pines that top out at 12 feet tall.

-- aem sends...

[Tony]

I twitched a bit when I read that rule of thumb also! I have about 20

75 foot oaks that are not getting cut simply because they are close enough to hit the house. There would be twice that many but I cleared some to build a garage, and some more where I filled in for some extra parking area. I still have enough trees to completely hide any neighbors houses in the summer, when the leaves fall then I can see one house but not easy. The locals here do anything to get rid of trees. They love bulldozing them down and burning them up!