We moved into a home that has a 20 year old vinyl pool with a concrete slab encircling it. On one side of the pool the slab ends at a small hill, and there has been some erosion leaving a small gap underneath (about 10 feet long, 1-2 inches thick). I have heard of mudjacking or foam injection by a contractor to resolve this type of issue, but I'm not sure if there is a way we can repair it ourselves instead. Has anyone else has this problem? Any advice on how to resolve it? Images attached.
CJadamec
TFP Expert
Has the concrete started tilting or cracking in the area where the void is? If it is still in good condition you don't really need to do anything drastic.
If not you could always just use a stick and pack damp sand into the void to fill the gap and help prevent any further damage.
Going forward you could try and take some erosion control measures to stop the problem from getting worse. Turning that area into a planter with a stone or timber boarder would go a long way to slow down or stop any further erosion. The plants and the mulch will slow down the water and hold the soil better in that area.
If not you could always just use a stick and pack damp sand into the void to fill the gap and help prevent any further damage.
Going forward you could try and take some erosion control measures to stop the problem from getting worse. Turning that area into a planter with a stone or timber boarder would go a long way to slow down or stop any further erosion. The plants and the mulch will slow down the water and hold the soil better in that area.
It doesn't appear from the pictures to have settled much if at all. Given that, I would get some good compact-able fill and pack it under the slab as Chuck mentioned. You could try using flowable grout, but if you use flowable grout you'll have to build some type of form to contain it and pour it slowly into the void. And you still take the chance that you don't get the voids completely filled.
I mildly discourage using just sand because it doesn't compact, and it's hard to contain where it isn't bound on all sides.
I mildly discourage using just sand because it doesn't compact, and it's hard to contain where it isn't bound on all sides.
Thank you both for the info. I'll start with some fill dirt and take it from there, I just wanted to make sure I was ahead of it before it gets worse. I'll have to think about how to best stop that hill from shifting any more, our plan was to cover it in rocks this summer.