# Tree roots lifting slab foundation inside house



## animalwatcher

To late, I realized my front yard tree roots have buckled my slab foundation up in my living room several inches. The tile is still intact, but I feel like I'm skiing down hill when I walk over the raise.

I have no idea how something like this can be repaired.  The tree has been cut down.  

Do the roots ever go away, or is a jack hammer in my dining room in my distant future?

I can live with it for a while, but know one day it will have to be fixed.

Does the fix entail, that jack-hammer, digging up the roots and pouring the slab on that part again?

It is a slab foundation, smack on the ground. 

I live in the Los Angeles area.

Thanks for advice and suggestions.


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## BridgeMan

Sometime in the next century or two, the roots may rot and compress under the house's weight.  If you don't want to wait that long, start looking for jackhammers to rent, and redoing the foundation.  Hard work if you do it yourself, and big bucks if you pay someone else to do it.


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## inspectorD

Cut it out is the way to go. 
Call a concrete saw cut company to remove the damaged area with a wet saw, no dust and they vacumn the water slurrie, way easier and cheaper than a jackhammer. They even dispose of the material. Then hire a concrete company to come in and attach the floor to your existing floor. It will shrink so make sure you have the expansion happen where there will be a tile joint line.
Then tile the floor after  the concrete sets up, I would wait a month myself to let it get most of the moisture out.

You will also need to run a dehumidifier while the concrete cures.


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## animalwatcher

Inspector D, thanks.  That sounds like the way to go. I guess as long as I can live with it I will.   Don't have the money now to fix it.  

That gives me a way to move once I can fix it. Thanks for your reply.


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## BridgeMan

Inspector D, would you care to elaborate on exactly how a "wet saw" can remove a concrete slab?  The dozens of wet saws I've observed in operation over the years simply delineate areas of concrete or asphalt that are to be removed, and then other methods of removal are utilized, such as jackhammers, hoe-rams, or even hydrodemolition (extremely high-pressure water through a nozzle, either manually operated or robotic).


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## inspectorD

BridgeMan said:


> Inspector D, would you care to elaborate on exactly how a "wet saw" can remove a concrete slab?  The dozens of wet saws I've observed in operation over the years simply delineate areas of concrete or asphalt that are to be removed, and then other methods of removal are utilized, such as jackhammers, hoe-rams, or even hydrodemolition (extremely high-pressure water through a nozzle, either manually operated or robotic).



My company does this all the time for environmental oil spills in residential homes. We cut, pry and remove with heavy duty handtrucks, or electric loaders. You have to have seen this done in your line of work.
3 months ago we removed an oil contaminated basement which had a 300 gallon spill. All the basement 40x 80 and garage slabs  26x30 got cut into 3x3 peices. Of course,Minimal jackhammerring was used, but this is way faster and less work. Most was prybar from the bottom, and a lever tool. Then stood up, and strapped. Cut pieces you can handle, My company took 3 days to cut and remove it all with 4 guy's. The monster suction truck to remove the 3 feet of soil under the slab took 2 weeks. Ugly mess. and over 200,000 to get a clean bill from the LEP. 
You can call a company in to do this, or Rent a machine. Just remember to add water.
[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9B73nSByOaw&feature=player_embedded[/ame]


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## BridgeMan

So in other words, the wet saw is not actually doing the removal as you implied earlier.  It's only used to cut the concrete into manageable pieces to be removed by other means.  Nifty process, but a tad pricey.  No wonder home owners insurance premiums are so stinkin' high.  Thanx for the info.

And no, I've not seen this done in my line of work.  Typical large scale bridge deck or pavement slab removals are delineated by longitudinal, full-depth sawcuts, then transverse at 20' or 25', followed by a pick with a crane of the sections for placement on a lowboy and haul-away.  Smaller removals typically done with a hoe ram, or hydro-demolition.  Tiny removals are done with 90-lb. hammers.


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