A Wide Range of Concrete Leveling Methods & Products

Instead of attempting to raise a sunken slab, the slab is partially or completely demolished and then replaced with new concrete.

Concrete replacement has the disadvantage of taking a long time. Placing forms, installing proper reinforcement, pouring the concrete, and waiting for the new material to harden and cure can take several days or more.

This is sometimes used to "skim-coat" sunken concrete as an alternative to slab raising. The settled slab is left in place, and fresh grout or (in some cases) concrete is placed over the old surface. Problems with grout re-leveling include poor adhesion to the old concrete (which can cause the new material to crack or delaminate), unattractive appearance and added weight that can cause further settlement.

Whether it's called mudjacking, slab jacking or grout pumping, this method involves pumping a slurry of liquid grout (which can include dirt, Portland cement and sand) under a sunken slab to force it upwards by hydraulic pressure. Large holes are drilled in a sunken slab to provide clearance for the pumping nozzle. Care must be taken to prevent messy spillage through gaps and cracks. Once mudjacking is complete, the surface shouldn't see heavy use until the grout mixture has hardened. It should be noted that the slurry used in mudjacking is heavy and can actually cause future settlement when pumped into poorly compacted soil.

PolyLevel is a two-part polyurethane foam engineered to expand immediately upon injection beneath a settled slab. Injection holes are much smaller than those required for mud jacking. PolyLevel expands to many times its original volume, forcing the sunken concrete back to its original level. Within a matter of minutes, the expanded foam hardens and reaches 90% or more of its final strength. This makes it possible for the restored surface to regain full functionality right away.