East Chicago Indiana Concrete Slabs – Garage Floor

A lot of owners think a heaved garage floor means the concrete was weak. After a thaw, the crack is what they see, so the mix gets the blame. On older blocks in East Chicago, Indiana, the ground under an unheated garage is usually what moved. Concrete Slabs in East Chicago sit on damp lakeshore soil, and that moisture freezes in winter.

We’ve pulled up garage floors where the slab was still hard. The soil under it was soft and wet. Because those garages aren’t heated, the ground beneath them can freeze in a cold stretch. When that moisture freezes, it can lift the slab. People often notice the heave once the ground thaws. The lift started while the soil was still frozen. Then the thaw softens the ground, and the floor stays cracked or high along one wall. A car door that used to clear the jamb may drag. The overhead door may sit off its track.

Older blocks in East Chicago have small detached garages, and the floors in them are often old. After a hard winter, we’ve walked into bays where one corner sat higher than the door track. The slab had a crack from the wall toward the middle. Water from a wet spring sat in the low spot. The garage had no heat, and the ground under the slab stayed damp.

A Sound Base for Concrete Slabs in East Chicago

So people call us about a new garage floor once the old one has lifted and cracked. We tear out the failed slab and check the soil under it. Then we put down a base that can carry a parked car. After that we pour the floor and pitch it so water can leave the bay. We cut control joints while the concrete is still green. On these older lots the job is usually a garage floor. That means concrete removal and a full tear out and replace.

Older garages in East Chicago often sit close to the house. We plan the truck path before we tear anything out. Because the garage is unheated, the new slab needs a base that drains. Otherwise that wet base can freeze again next winter. We’ve seen thin old pours with no stone under them. For example, some slabs were only a thin layer of concrete over soft fill. That floor will crack again if we pour on the same fill. So we haul the bad material out when the base won’t hold.

Tear-Out and New Concrete Slabs in East Chicago

When the old floor is out, we grade the base and compact it before any concrete shows up. Our crew has flagged soil that needed more stone. You can see finished garage floors in our Photo Gallery. Because we compact the base first, the slab has support when the ground thaws. Replacement floors sit with the rest of our concrete slabs work, including tear-outs on older garages.

We’re Cabe’s Concrete, a family owned and operated company. You can read how we work on our About Us page. We’ve been pouring slabs since 2006. We source the concrete so we know what is going in the truck. Then we place it and finish it so a tire can grip. So we pour Concrete Slabs in East Chicago to take a parked car. We also epoxy floors once the concrete is ready for a coating.

Where Concrete Slabs in East Chicago Fit Older Garages

Concrete Slabs in East Chicago have to work in a single-car bay as well as a wide one. A tight garage still needs the old floor out and a base under the new pour. We also replace the service walk beside the garage when that walk has cracked with the floor. Salt from the street can etch the surface. Owners have asked if salt caused the heave. So we look under the slab, and wet soil that froze is what lifted the floor.

After the floor has cured, a sealer can slow surface wear. The soil under the slab still has to be built right before we pour. Control joints give the new slab a straight place to crack as it shrinks. Then we set that joint while the concrete is still workable. We use a groover or a saw, depending on how fast the slab sets.