The owner of a home in Montana contacted Yellowstone Structural, a geotechnical specialty contractor, about a distressing issue: one side of their house was starting to settle into the soil. This 1970s-era home did not have the proper drainage systems in place, allowing rainwater to accumulate and erode away at the soil underneath. Poor compaction of soil during the construction process was another likely cause of instability. This property owner needed a permanent solution quickly before the exterior, interior, and even the roof of the home were damaged beyond repair.

Powerful Polymer

The contractor chose to perform deep soil stabilization with Alchemy-Spetec’s AP Lift 430. This high-strength structural polymer is ideal for challenging soil compaction and void-fill jobs. AP Lift 430 also meets NSF/ANSI/CAN 61 standards for contact with drinking water, an important quality for any material to be installed around a residential dwelling. 

Painless Procedure

Contractors performing the Deep Lock® soil stabilization process strengthen the soil at all levels with minimal imposition or downtime to the property owner. In this case, the crew installed a pair of injection tubes every three feet along the footing of the house on the side that was beginning to sink. Next, they stabilized the supporting soil with AP Lift 430, injecting the structural polymer to depths of eight feet, and then four feet at each injection point until full compaction was achieved.

Rapid Result

Two technicians completed this job within six hours. They permanently stabilized the soil underneath the sinking side of the house with minimal equipment and no collateral damage to the structure or surrounding property.

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A property owner in Montana contacted geotech contractor Yellowstone Structural regarding a garage that was recently converted into a bedroom. The garage lacked effective rainwater drainage, thoroughly compacted supporting soil, and a proper foundation with a footing like the rest of the house. For these reasons, it had sunken several inches. Alarmingly, the “new bedroom” was now beginning to break away from the rest of the house. The property owner found cracks in the siding and wanted to make sure there would be no further movement.

Powerful Polymer

The technicians planning this deep soil stabilization job chose AP Lift 430, a widely used favorite in the industry. This multi-use structural polymer is ideal for compacting soil, filling voids, and lifting slabs and structures.

Painless Procedure

Without the option of a structural polymer repair plan, a contractor would likely have had to dig around the garage, add a new foundation underneath, and then use helical piers to keep it in place. This would require the demolition of decking and surrounding structures. Heavy equipment (which often causes additional concrete surface and lawn damage) would be needed to get all of this done.

Fortunately, contractors like Yellowstone Structural can achieve soil stabilization and compaction on projects like this with the smallest footprint and the least amount of heavy equipment required. These technicians chose to implement the Deep Lock® process to stabilize the soil at all levels with minimal imposition or downtime to the property owner. First, the crew identified the exact parameters of all the unstable soil. Next, they installed a pair of injection tubes every three feet along the footing of the house in the affected area. This job required 17 of these dual-tube injection points. Next, they created a high-strength durable polyurethane footer with AP Lift 430, injecting the structural polymer to depths of both eight and four feet at each injection point. The technicians performed these injections until significant backpressure was reached to confirm full soil compaction.

Rapid Result

This highly efficient “surgical strike” style job was executed by a crew of two within eight hours. No heavy equipment or messy excavation was needed. The structural polymer was cured in place within 30 minutes of injection. Water won’t erode it; insects cannot eat or bore into it. The property owner’s new bedroom is now sitting on stable soil.

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Recently Atlanta-based contractor Sitemix was called in for a highly urgent remedial project at a nearby university apartment building. A plumbing break quickly evolved into a bigger issue than just fixing some pipes. The breach resulted in large voids under the foundation slab that compromised the integrity of the entire structure. Sitemix answered the call and was immediately up to the challenge. 

Powerful Polymer

Alchemy-Spetec’s AP Lift 430 was chosen for the job due to its high density, high expansion rate, high yield, and cure strength. This two-component, high-strength, high-density, hydro-insensitive structural polyurethane foam is ideal for void fill and structural stabilization and void fill in situations like the one described above. AP Lift 430 weighs 2.75 – 3.25 pounds per cubic foot.

Painless Procedure

The structural polymer was injected through the slab to fill the voids and compact any compromised soil.

Rapid Result

The project was completed in a half day while most of the occupants were in class. The GC was ecstatic to have this emergency resolved quickly and painlessly.

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It's that time of year again. As temperatures drop, take a moment to review this previously posted article packed with cold-weather tips.

In this blog post, we will share some tips for stabilizing soil in cold weather. The two main points to remember are – to make sure the ground isn’t frozen and to condition your material and equipment properly.

Do Not Attempt Soil Stabilization Work When the Ground is Frozen

If you’re considering soil stabilization in cold weather, the first step is to make sure that the water table isn’t frozen. Iced earth is not permeable enough for the proper mixing of resin and soil. If you attempt to proceed with frozen soil, you’ll just be wasting your material. Best to wait it out in that case.

Properly Condition Equipment and Materials

For optimal results, it’s best to store any materials and equipment that are to be used in a heated environment overnight. It’s best to keep your AP Soil 600 above 60 degrees at all times. This is key because cold material reacts slower and gets thicker. The methods you use to condition your material on the job site will depend on the type of vehicle you’re using.

If you have an insulated rig, it should stay around 40 degrees warmer than outside temperatures. Most foam rigs have built-in electric heaters that require an extension cord to a power outlet at the job site or at your facility for overnight storage. Alternatively, you could buy an electric radiator heater. Other available heating devices include drum band heaters and heated drum mats (be careful not to scorch the polymers by turning band heaters up too high). For a more DIY approach, you could build a hot box around the material storage area in your rig.

If you’re using pails and a smaller vehicle, use an enclosed vehicle, like a box truck, enclosed trailer, or pickup truck with a camper top or bed cover. Keep as much material and equipment inside the vehicle as possible when working. Use a portable heater to maintain a warm temperature. You can also use electric pail heaters to keep your resin ready for action.

Using a combination of the methods described above, you should be able to keep your materials warm enough. In extreme cases when the material gets a bit too cold and thick, you may want to use AP Cat 600 to speed up the reaction time.

Conclusion

As long as the ground isn’t frozen, you should be able to stabilize soil in cold weather.  Just make sure your materials and equipment are conditioned properly.  If you have any further questions, please contact us at 404-618-0438.

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The ideal polyurethane foam for filling voids under a driveway, AP Lift 430 works in a variety of wet, dry, or harsh conditions, can support up to 7,200 lbs per square foot, and will cure to 90% full strength in 15 minutes. This two-component, high-strength, high-density, hydro-insensitive structural polymer weighs 2.75 – 3.25 pounds per cubic foot. When injected, polyurethane will conform to the shape of the void more accurately than other materials such as cement grout. And, unlike cement, it won't sink over time.

Watch the video below for a real-time example of polyurethane void fill with AP Lift 430. The structural stability of this driveway is under threat due to a very wide void ranging from one to two feet deep. Since the supporting soil on one side of the slab has entirely eroded away, it was possible to capture this process very clearly on video.

Watch the process closely and then call 404-618-0438 to be connected to your technical support representative for any follow-up questions. Alchemy-Spetec offers the most experienced tech support team in the industry. Contact us today for assistance on your next job!

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Unstable soil deep underneath private commercial property or public infrastructure can settle causing extensive and expensive damage. Poor compaction, water erosion, broken pipes, and organic material in this deep soil can make serious settling more likely.

How can you prevent settling and get long-term protection? Introducing the Deep Lock process. Alchemy-Spetec offers a unique combination of high-quality structural polymers along with the equipment and training needed to address deep soil issues. Now you can achieve soil stabilization and compaction on large projects faster without heavy excavation equipment, extended downtime, and risk of collateral property damage.

For a detailed explanation of the process, watch the animated video below...

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Soil testing equipment is extremely helpful for planning slab lifting and soil stabilization work. Contractors use ground penetrating radar systems and dynamic cone penetrometers to get a sense of soil conditions before they drill their first hole into a slab or push their first injection pipe into the ground.

Deep Look™ Ground Penetrating Radar

The Deep Look™ wireless ground penetrating radar collects data from hundreds of thousands of pulse reflections each second to help contractors identify objects below ground. The triple-frequency antenna design provides higher-resolution imaging than conventional GRP systems.

Dynamic Cone Penetrometer

The Pagini DPM30 dynamic cone penetrometer is ideal for testing soil strength and density at various depths. The fact that it is exceptionally small means it can be used on sites that are inaccessible to normal machines. A hydraulic pump raises and drops a weight onto a measuring rod, pushing it into the ground. To measure soil strength, the operator counts the number of blows it takes to drive the steel rod in 10-centimeter increments. Good soil requires 10+ blows to drive the rod 10 centimeters. Anything less is typically indicative of weak soil conditions.

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This post is part of the Alchemy-Spetec Contractor Lens series, featuring views, news & case studies written by our customers. This article, written by John Knieper of SiteMix Pressure Grouting LLC, provides an overview of a repair job on a detention pond wall footer. If you're an Alchemy-Spetec customer and you'd like to discuss writing content for our blog, please send an email to marketing@alchemy-spetec.com today!

A general contractor working with a homeowners association reached out to SiteMix Pressure Grouting, LLC about a detention pond wall that was leaking along the footer in several places. A detention pond is designed to collect rainwater and then let it drain slowly in a controlled manner. But in this case, water was washing out quickly in an uncontrolled manner in multiple spots under the footing.

Powerful Polymers

To rapidly address the problem the technicians at SiteMix chose AP Fill 720 soil repair material. This single component, closed cell, hydrophobic, water-reactive, solvent and phthalate-free, low viscosity polyurethane foam has a high expansion rate and is ideal for filling voids. In this case, AP Fill 720 was the perfect choice for filling the soil voids underneath the footer created by water erosion.

Painless Procedures

First, the crew injected AP Fill 720 along 150 feet of the wall, installing approximately one gallon underneath the footing every two feet. Next, they installed another 75 gallons spot treating larger voids.

Rapid Results

The job was completed in only 2 days. The detention pond wall was ready for use immediately upon completion of the work. The general contractor and the homeowners association manager were very happy with the results.

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Causes of Unstable Soil

Poor compaction, water erosion, broken pipes, and organic material in the soil can all lead to the settling of a foundation or a roadway. Traditional methods of soil stabilization can strengthen the soil directly under concrete and structures, but they do not address instability at deeper levels. Other methods of addressing deep soil issues require heavy equipment, extended downtime, and collateral property damage. These situations create problems for property owners as well as opportunities for the elite contractors that know how to fix them.

Deep Soil Stabilization

Introducing the Deep Lock process! Alchemy-Spetec offers a unique combination of high-quality structural polymers (AP Deep Lift 420, AP Lift 430, AP Lift 440 & AP Lift 475) along with the equipment and training needed to address deep soil issues. Now you can achieve soil stabilization and compaction on large projects with the smallest footprint and least amount of heavy equipment required. The Deep Lock process is powerful, painless, and rapid. Deep Lock gets to the root of the problems in the soil, it stabilizes the soil at all levels and accomplishes this with minimal imposition or downtime to the property owner.

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The Polyurethane Soil Stabilization Process

Weak soil under any structure or slab increases the risk of settling and structural damage. Excavating next to a building can weaken the soil that supports the foundation, potentially causing structural damage. Eroding soil can create sinkholes under roads and damage existing infrastructure. In some cases, this erosion is caused by water leaking into pipes and manholes and carrying soil with it. Regardless of the cause, loose soil will result in structural damage over time.

Contractors use Alchemy-Spetec soil stabilization polymers to fill voids and solidify the soil, thus preventing additional structural damage. These polymers are also used to reinforce excavation areas next to existing buildings. The contractor drives pipes in a grid pattern and injects soil stabilization resins to strengthen the soil and protect nearby structures. 

Polyurethane Soil Stabilization Case Studies

• Deep Soil Stabilization at Shopping Center
• Gravel Wall Stabilization
• Deep Soil Stabilization with Polyurethane
• Soil Stabilization at Busy Intersection
• Stabilizing a Foundation to Save a Valuable Two-Story House
• Deep Soil Stabilization at Residential Property
• Protecting a Building Foundation Next to an Excavation Site

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