Describe your cracks

Concrete cracking

Cracked concrete floor repair for slabs and drives

A crack in a solid floor, garage slab, drive or patio does not always mean the walls are moving. Find out what causes slab settlement, how a void under floor slab is diagnosed, and what cracked concrete floor repair involves.

Subsidence help

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Slab problems

Concrete cracking in Hampshire: floors and slabs

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Subsidence survey
A specialist inspects the slab, measures levels across the surface and checks whether the movement is confined to the floor or linked to the foundations.
Resin injection
Expanding resin pumped beneath a settled slab fills voids and can lift the concrete back toward its original level without breaking it out.
Screw piling
Where made ground or soft soil sits below the slab, a specialist drives steel screw piles down to firm strata to support the concrete.
Underpinning
If the slab movement traces back to shallow foundations, a specialist digs beneath them and pours new concrete to deepen the footing.

Why is my concrete floor cracking and sinking?

Solid floors rest on compacted fill or the ground itself. When that support washes out, compresses or dries, the slab loses contact with what holds it up. The concrete cracks, drops or tilts. Concrete cracking in Hampshire often follows this pattern rather than deep foundation failure.

  1. 1

    Gap under skirting boards

    A visible space between the bottom of the skirting and the floor surface suggests the slab has dropped away from the wall plate.

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  2. 2

    Cracks across a garage floor

    Lines running through a garage slab may point to fill settling beneath it, especially where vehicles add repeated load to the concrete.

    A picturesque aerial view of terraced houses amidst lush greenery in a Welsh valley.
  3. 3

    Drive sinking near the house

    Where a driveway dips close to the building, water may be washing fine material away from under the edge of the slab.

    Exterior of residential building with brick wall with black doors and windows located on terrace with metal barrier and green plants
  4. 4

    Patio tilting toward the wall

    A concrete patio dropped level toward the house often means the ground beneath it has compacted or drained unevenly over time.

    a house with a tower in the background
  5. 5

    Doors catching on the floor

    A door that suddenly drags on a solid floor can indicate the slab has tilted or risen locally because of pressure changes below.

    Three construction vehicles parked in a field

Who does what when a slab needs attention

Most of the work happens outside your daily routine. You describe what you have seen, and the specialist handles the investigation, the method choice and the physical repair of the concrete.

What you do

  1. Describe where the cracking or drop is and when you first saw it
  2. Clear furniture from the affected area

What a specialist does

  1. Survey the slab levels and inspect the surrounding ground conditions
  2. Locate voids beneath the concrete slab
  3. Recommend a repair method based on what the survey finds
  4. Carry out the chosen slab settlement repair, such as resin injection or piling
  5. Re-check levels after the work to confirm the slab is stable

How a specialist reads a cracked slab

The order matters because a slab problem can mimic a foundation problem, and treating the wrong one wastes time. Each check narrows down the actual cause before any repair starts.

  1. Level survey across the slab

    The specialist takes readings at set points to map exactly where the concrete has dropped and by how much, separating local settlement from general tilt.

  2. Inspection of nearby walls

    Checking the walls above the slab tells the specialist whether the movement stops at the floor line or continues upward into the structure.

  3. Drain test around the area

    A leaking drain can wash soil from under a slab. Testing the pipes rules out water loss as the reason for the void under floor slab.

  4. Trial hole or borehole

    Digging a small hole beside the slab reveals what the concrete sits on, showing whether the fill is loose, wet or missing entirely.

  5. Review of ground history

    Old maps and records show if the home was built on filled land, a former pond or made ground that compresses over decades.

If the evidence points to both slab and foundation movement, the specialist addresses the deeper cause first.

Questions about slab and floor repairs

Homeowners dealing with a cracked driveway sinking or a dropped kitchen floor tend to ask the same things. Here is what a specialist considers.

Slab issue or foundation problem?
A specialist compares crack patterns and level readings. If walls remain straight while the floor drops, the problem usually sits in the slab or its fill rather than the footings.
Kitchen floor dropping near the wall
Water escaping from a sink waste or an outside drain often softens the ground right against the house, letting the edge of the slab settle downward.
Filling a void without lifting the floor
Resin injection expands into empty space beneath the concrete. The specialist controls the volume so the void fills and supports the slab without necessarily raising it further.
Cracked drive by the garage
A drive section sinking near the building rarely threatens the house if the garage walls sit on their own foundations. A specialist confirms this by checking for wall movement.
Levelling versus relaying the slab
Where the concrete is sound but tilted, resin injection or screw piling can bring it back to level. Breaking out and relaying is only needed if the slab itself has shattered.
Time, disruption and insurance
Most slab repairs take a day or two, and you can stay in the home. Insurance may cover sudden events like a burst pipe, but gradual wear is usually excluded. A subsidence survey is always required before work begins.

Areas covered for slab repair in Hampshire

Specialist firms handle concrete cracking in Hampshire across the county. Whether the problem is a garage floor crack repair in Fareham or a sunken patio in Basingstoke, the same diagnostic approach applies to every site.

If your town is not listed, send an enquiry to check if a specialist covers your part of Hampshire.

Ask about the cracking in your floor

Send the details of what you have noticed. A specialist reviews the description and advises whether a survey is needed. There is no obligation to proceed with any repair.

  • No cost to enquire
  • No obligation to proceed
  • Read by a specialist

One independent subsidence specialist receives what you send here, and that firm may pay us at the point your enquiry is passed on. You owe this website nothing, quotations elsewhere are entirely yours to seek, and our privacy notice explains further what becomes of your details.

Or write to hello@hampshiresubsidence.co.uk