Washout occurs when water has damaged the foundations of your property, washing away the soil that supports the foundations.
The resulting space, or “void”, leaves your foundations vulnerable to shifting or sinking. This can potentially lead to property damage as it compromises the load-bearing capacity of the ground supporting your house.
Commonly seen damage may include:
- Cracked walls, ceilings, and floors
- Slumping or uneven floors
- Doors and windows jamming
- Skirting boards and/or cornices coming out of alignment
The most effective way to fix a washout beneath your house is to fill in the void with a replacement material and improve the load-bearing capacity of the ground
Options for fixing washout beneath a house
There are multiple options when it comes to selecting a replacement material for repairing washout under your house. The two most common filler materials are concrete slurry or sand-cement grout, and resin injection.
Both have positives and negatives, in cost, ease of application, and effectiveness. At Resinject, we believe that resin injection is the superior choice for fixing washout under your foundation – as we increase the load-bearing capacity of the ground, unlike other options.
Concrete slurry or cement grout
Though using concrete slurry or sand-cement grout is an option, it may not be the best solution for repairing washout beneath your house. This is because though generally cost-effective, it comes with some major drawbacks which include:
- The time taken for concrete to cure (approximately two to three weeks).
- Cement may experience shrinkage when drying and breaks down over time.
- Primarily only fills the space without increasing volume/pressure to consolidate the ground.
- Void penetration may not be as extensive which leads to persistent voids.
- Requires larger diameter boreholes to be drilled through the foundation.
- Concrete does not increase the load-bearing capacity of the ground.
Resin injection is generally considered the superior choice in fixing washout beneath your house as well as foundation repairs in general. Though using resin injection may come at a slightly higher cost and require the aid of an experienced professional, the benefits vastly outweigh the alternative.
These benefits include:
- Extensive void penetration up to meters away from the injection point.
- Treated areas are immediately ready to use.
- No shrinkage of the filler material.
- Expands as it sets which applies pressure to the area around it, consolidating the ground.
- Smaller diameter drill holes.
At Resinject, we believe that our specially tailored solutions present the best result when it comes to repairing washout under your house. Our innovative resins are all Australian made, to the highest Australian standards, and our helpful and experienced team ensure the process is fast, simple, and effective.
How Resinject can fix washout beneath a house
Depending on your particular situation, we might approach repairing the washout under your house in a few different ways. Two of the most common ways we repair washout under a house or building is either through void filling or slab jacking. The ultimate goal is to increase the load-bearing capacity of the ground supporting your house.
For more complex or serious repairs of under building washout, we may also suggest deep injection stabilisation; however, this treatment is usually reserved for lower strength ground that requires heavy point loads or cycling loading. This treatment is not usually needed for repairing washout under a domestic building.
VOID FILLING
There are two main factors to consider when addressing voided areas: filling the void itself, and strengthening, or consolidating the ground around the foundation.
When repairing washout under a house with resin injection, the following steps will be taken:
1. The level of the floor or foundation will be measured to find the position of the void.
2. A pattern of holes will be drilled either through the foundation or through an adjacent area into the voided area, being careful to minimise damage and maintain structural integrity.
3. Resinject’s Polyurethane Resin (shown as the blue) will be injected into the void, filling it completely.
4. The resin will expand and rapidly set, replacing any missing soil or material, and apply pressure to the surrounding area, consolidating it (as shown by the transparent white area).
SLAB-JACKING
Like void filling, the ground under a large concrete slab may also experience washout, leading to the slab cracking or settling. There is no down time, the treatment area is ready to use straight away.
The process for slab jacking is similar to void filling, however, the holes will be drilled directly into the slab and our RSJ170 Resin product will be injected into the void. The area can be utilised almost immediately.
The void will be filled, and once the resin has set and expanded, the area will immediately be available to be trafficked.
Why choose Resinject?
When choosing Resinject to repair washout under your house, you can rest assured that you will have the backing of Australia’s market leader in foundation repair.
Our solutions offer a low-cost alternative to many conventional methods of foundation repair, while also being fast, effective, and efficient.
Our wide range of Australian made products means that no matter what your situation, our resin injection solutions can be tailored to meet your unique needs.
If you are interested in repairing washout underneath your house, contact one of our friendly and helpful team today!
