Flexible Polyurethane Sealant Stops Water Before It Wrecks the Slab.

A typical driveway expansion joint renewal. 60 to 100 linear feet. Customized Repair Estimate after on-site inspection reflects your scope.

Ask about the written warranty terms that apply to your project; the sealant is void of coverage if the crack reopens because the slab or wall is actively settling, since that's a settlement problem requiring foam lift or structural repair, not a second sealant job.

Water enters the gap, freezes, and pries the slab apart from the inside. In Lincoln, Omaha, and St. Joseph, that cycle runs 50+ times a winter. A hairline crack under 1/10 inch, left unsealed through two winters, typically grows into a 1/2-inch crack with spalled edges. Past the point where sealing alone fixes it. Contact Epp Foundation Repair for a free, on-site Customized Repair Estimate.

Polyurethane stays flexible across the full temperature range our region sees (-20°F to 105°F) and tolerates the 50+ freeze-thaw cycles per winter that NE/IA concrete handles. Epoxy is rigid. It bonds well, but it can't move, so the freeze-thaw cycle splits the bond within two seasons. Silicone is flexible but doesn't take paint and has weaker adhesion to concrete. For exterior horizontal joints in our climate, self-leveling polyurethane is the material that lasts. Epoxy still has a role on structural crack injection where you want the slab to behave monolithically. Epp uses epoxy injection on foundation walls, polyurethane on slab joints.

Visual inspection covers most cases. Cured hairline cracks with weathered, blunt edges are usually stable; cracks with fresh, sharp edges or visible widening over the last year are active. When stability is uncertain, Epp installs a crack monitor. A small plate that measures movement to 1/100th of an inch, and returns in 4 to 6 weeks to re-read. If the crack hasn't moved, it gets sealed. If it has, the underlying cause (settlement, expansive clay, structural movement) gets addressed first.

Yes, and it's the right sequence. Foam injection lifts the slab and stops the settlement; sealing then waterproofs the repaired joints and any stable cracks so water can't restart the cycle. Epp commonly schedules sealing as the final step on slab lift jobs, 7 to 14 days after the lift to confirm elevation has held. Ask about the warranty that applies to each portion of the combined repair.