Cracks can appear in walls and floors of buildings as a result of foundation settlement caused by weakening of the ground below the building. In order to remove such cracks it is necessary to first and foremost eliminate the reason that caused them, i.e. to reinforce the ground and raise the foundation to the design height. The easiest way to do that is to use URETEK’s geopolymer injection technology.
Floor subsidence was discovered in an apartment building in a new residential quarter in Tartu. Engineers found up to 20 mm cracks in the walls of the building and subsidence of floors to the extent of up to 40 mm. That was caused by poorly compacted backfill and buried construction waste. Problem concerned six apartments on the first floor and URETEK team was asked to find the solution that would be least disturbing for the residents.
In total, more than 500 square metres of floor area was processed, and soil was stabilised at the depth ranging from 0.4 to 2 metres. URETEK soil stabilisation works lasted three business days and residents did not have to move out for the time when works were performed.
URETEK Baltic OÜ restored load-bearing capacity of soil and lifted the floors back to their former position. Client chose the offer by URETEK Baltic, because the residents of the building wanted quick and convenient solution to the problem.
Due to poor compaction of soil under the floor of the house, cracks occurred in floor slabs and when inspecting the edge of the foundation it appeared that floor slab had sunken by up to 30 mm.
URETEK technology was used to stabilise floor slab and lift it to its former position. In case of traditional method, it would have been impossible to lift the floor without moving people out and breaking up the floor, but it took URETEK only four hours to complete the task.
Rain gutters were filled with stones, which caused the water to flow under the house. Over time, water found its way under the foundation and carried away soil, causing subsidence of foundation and cracks in walls.
URETEK technology was used to fill voids and stabilise foundation. In case of traditional method, stabilisation of the foundation would have required its excavation, but URETEK team completed the work with only 3.5 hours.
