Slab curl occurs when the surface of a concrete slab shrinks during the curing process. If the bottom of the slab does not shrink as much, the slab will curl up, causing the edges to no longer be in contact with the underlying ground. Slab curl repair can’t unbend the slabs, but can stabilize them to address the effects.
If in a retail environment, with no heavy loading, slab curl is usually not a problem–you may be able to hear or feel it while pushing a shopping cart around a grocery store, but it doesn’t affect the function of the floor.
In industrial or commercial settings with heavy traffic, such as fork lifts, when equipment drives over areas that are curled up, the concrete rocks. This rocking can cause joint deterioration, premature tire wear, or in severe cases, load losses, damage to inventory and racks, broken guidance wires, or other problems.
Slab Curl Repair Methods
You can’t stop slab curl. You can stabilize the slabs. CJGeo uses CJGrout-20SDB to stabilize curled slabs. 20SDB is formulated to be very mobile (spreads far through very tight voids) and provides greater bearing capacity than the underlying soils.
CJGrout-20SDB is injected along each side of an affected joint. The injection holes are 5/8″ diameter, and spaced about every two feet. During injection, multiple rotary lasers monitor the floor elevation. Grout injection stops once the floor moves a few hundredths of an inch. Grout communication to adjacent injection holes is another cutoff criteria.
Patching after the injection work is with rapid setting grout. Because CJGrout-20SDB cures very quickly, traffic can resume immediately. Full traffic right after grouting allows for the crew to ensure that the slabs have stopped moving.
Diamond grinding or polishing can reprofile floors after grouting is completed.
Speak With An Expert
Facing a challenge? Give us a shout or shoot us a text. Click the state marker for the location of the project for contact info for the appropriate rep.
