Our team at Beyond Group is passionate about what we do, and we love our customers!
Some of them have been with us for a long time, and others, a short time, like Airdrie Daycare. This daycare holds a special place at Beyond because some of our staff entrust Airdrie Daycare with their most precious belongings: their children.
Beyond Lifting Project Manager, Adam Dickinson, has his children enrolled there, and as a concrete guy, it was hard not to notice a severe tripping hazard on the sidewalk along the face of the building where concrete settled.
“It was a pretty nasty [hazard]," said Adam. “So, I was like, one of these days, I'm going to reach out and see if they're interested in having that fixed.”
Turns out, Adam didn’t have to wait long. A few months later the daycare sent out an email acknowledging that the uneven concrete was a growing concern and that they planned to get it fixed.
“I had no idea what their plans were for dealing with it. I didn’t know their budget, but they probably would have had someone just grind it down, which only temporarily solves the problem,” said Adam.
So, he decided to reach out to offer help and the daycare accepted.
“It wasn't a big project by any means. It's something that we could do in a day for them and make sure that it was done in one of the best ways possible as far as longevity goes - and turnaround time. And even better, we would do it for no charge,” said Adam.
Adam’s assessment of the concrete was that it was pitching towards the foundation of the building, and he noticed that it actually caused two tripping hazards: A big one in the front of the building, and another smaller one nearby.
“In order to fix this, we needed to raise the entire front side because it had settled and it presented itself as trip hazard symptoms,” said Adam.
Further compounding the issue was water from the downspouts that was pooling at the site and running back towards the foundation. When the weather turned colder, the pooling water turned into a thick build-up of ice, which then created a slipping hazard.
The tripping hazard wasn’t an isolated problem; an issue like that is usually due to concrete shifting or settling with the ground which raises a corner or side of a slab in an unsafe way.
The team at Beyond Lifting proposed to lift the concrete to re-level the slab and ultimately restore the grade to the entire era of concrete walkway in front of the building, which would correct the slope and fix the trip hazard.
And that is what was done. The job took one day on a weekend to complete so as to not interrupt the daycare’s operations.
The joints between trip hazards and the joint between the walkway and building were also sealed to prevent any kind of water from reintroducing itself to that area.
Additionally, the bottom threshold at the doorway was also fixed as it had a considerable gap where people would catch their toes and had to step up a bit more than normal to enter the doorway.
“It was a bit of a step to go in from that concrete pad into the door, so after we raised it far as it could go, it basically was at its original elevation,” said Adam.
Workers then patched the gap with an industrial strength hydraulic material to act as a transition piece under the threshold out to the slab.
“It's more of a gradual step into it, which is nice, so people won't trip onto it,” said Adam.
"we would do it for no charge"
It’s no secret that kids don’t always look where they’re going, so a few kiddos did fall before the area was repaired.
“A personal friend of ours, his kid also that goes to that daycare tripped and had a pretty bad fall,” recalled Adam. "It just happened, you know. It was unfortunate in the timing that they had their bad fall before we were able to fix it.”
Preschool teacher, Chaiti Akhter, expressed gratitude for Beyond on behalf of all the staff at Airdrie Daycare.
“We are grateful for Beyond because they helped us repair a spot at the daycare where it was causing some incidents... By repairing that, they ensured the safety for our building, not just children, but adults and staff too,” she said.
“Repairs like these are very important for any establishment, especially in childcare because the parents can trust us and trust the company or the daycare in general with the care of their children and there won't be incidents that happen where the child can get hurt.”
The daycare parents were pleased with the sidewalk results as well. “We've had multiple parents come up to us and say that it's great that we had the pavement repaired ... because it causes less of a safety issue for the children and everybody around them,” said Chaiti.
Chaiti added that it’s been a relief for staff and parents alike to not have to worry about the hazards anymore. “You're just here to come and pick up your child or drop off the child, make sure that they have a great day, and then you can go about your day,” she said. As a daycare parent himself, Adam sees the site nearly every day, and of course, checks it out to ensure the area has remained safe. “It's part of our great routine customer service,” Adam joked. “We'll inspect your product every day.”
If you have uneven or hazardous concrete, whether a walkway or driveway, or have questions about concrete lifting, give our team a call today and we’ll be happy to discuss how we can help!
