Merrillville Indiana Concrete Patios on Wet Clay

People often blame a bad mix when a backyard patio cracks. We have pulled up slabs where the concrete still looked sound and the soil under them had shifted. On flat Merrillville lots, clay holds water long after the rain stops. That wet ground is why we see cracks in Concrete Patios in Merrillville.

But the surface can look dry by the weekend. Under the slab the clay can still be soft. Because the lot is flat, rain has little slope, so it sits and soaks in. After a wet spring, people have called us about cracks they didn’t see in the fall. A corner rocks underfoot, or a joint opens along the house.

Builders graded a lot of these yards nearly level. There’s no slope to carry water toward the side yard. So the water stays on the clay, and the clay stays wet. We have seen patios with a dark band along the low edge where water sat for days. That band shows where the slab stayed damp. The concrete above it often has a crack running back toward the house.

Clay swells when it takes on water, and it shrinks when it dries. When the wet soil also freezes, ice in the ground can lift the slab a little. After the thaw, that lift drops, and you see the crack. But people have told us the patio was fine for years. Then one spring the middle dipped, and water pooled by the sliding door.

Concrete Patios in Merrillville After a Wet Spring

Wet clay heaves and then settles under the slab. That movement cracks the patio after a wet spring. So we deal with the water first. We look at where the yard holds water, and we check how the old patio pitched. When the old slab has moved, a patch rarely holds. Then tear out and replace is the fix we use for Concrete Patios in Merrillville.

We break out the failed concrete and haul it off. On a backyard patio it’s usually a full concrete removal, then a new pour. After the old slab is gone, we can see the clay. If it’s soft, we dig the mud out and put down compacted stone. The new pour shouldn’t sit on soft mud. For example, a patio that rocked at one corner often had a void there once we lifted the pieces.

Base Prep for Concrete Patios in Merrillville

We put down a stone base, because the slab needs something tighter than wet clay. We compact it in lifts so it stays tight. Then we set the forms with a slight pitch away from the house, so rain runs off the slab. When a service walk meets the patio, we set that grade in the same plan.

Concrete Patios in Merrillville need that pitch and that stone even on a small pad by a sliding door. A bigger slab for a table and a grill needs the same base work. The hours change with the size.

We write the quote out line by line. The concrete price stays at material cost. We don’t inflate it to make a few extra dollars. Our hours sit on the labor line. Backyard concrete patio work on that sheet can include the tear-out and the new pour. Cabe’s Concrete is a family owned and operated company, and we have been pouring concrete since 2006.

Colored concrete or a stamp can go on the new slab if you want that look. We work from your ideas, and we source products we know will hold up outside. Our photo gallery shows broom finish next to stamped patios.

We have poured Concrete Patios in Merrillville where the backyard held water well into spring. We pull the failed slab and fix the base before we pitch the new concrete. So joints give the slab a straight line to relieve stress as the seasons change.

We often replace upper walks on the same visit, because the old walk settled along with the patio. We form the new walk to match the patio pitch. When a service walk runs to the side yard and sits on that clay, it gets the same base.