Concrete Leveling
Fix sunken or uneven concrete quickly and affordably without tearing out and replacing the entire slab.
Why Concrete Settles and What You Can Do About It
Concrete slabs settle when the soil underneath compresses or washes away. This happens for several reasons. Water erosion gradually removes soil from under your concrete, especially near downspouts or areas with poor drainage. Soil that was not properly compacted during original installation compresses over time under the weight of the concrete. Tree roots can also disturb soil, and in some cases the original fill material was just poor quality that was never going to provide stable support.
The result is uneven concrete that creates trip hazards, pools water, or just looks bad. Sunken sections of your driveway might scrape your car. Settled walkways create lips where sections meet, waiting to catch someone's foot. Tilted patio slabs direct water toward your foundation instead of away from it. These problems get worse over time as water continues to erode soil through the gaps and cracks that settling creates.
Traditional solutions meant tearing out the settled concrete and starting over. This process is expensive, disruptive, and slow. You lose use of the area for days or weeks, deal with heavy equipment and disposal trucks, and pay for materials and labor to completely replace concrete that is otherwise fine. Concrete leveling offers a better alternative. We raise the existing slab back to its proper position without removal or replacement. The work typically takes hours instead of days, costs 50 to 70 percent less than replacement, and lets you use the area again almost immediately. For many homeowners in Amherst dealing with settled concrete, leveling provides the practical solution they need.
How Concrete Leveling Works
We use two proven methods for lifting settled concrete: polyurethane foam injection and traditional mudjacking. Both work on the same principle of pumping material under the slab to fill voids and lift the concrete. The method we recommend depends on your specific situation, but both produce excellent results when applied correctly.
Key differences between leveling methods:
- •Polyurethane foam is lightweight, cures in minutes, uses small injection holes
- •Mudjacking uses cement slurry, takes longer to cure, requires larger holes
- •Both methods are permanent solutions when done properly
- •Foam works better in tight spaces and for precision lifting
- •Mudjacking costs less and works great for large areas
The polyurethane foam process starts with drilling small holes through the settled slab, typically about the size of a penny. We inject expanding foam through these holes, which flows into voids under the slab and expands to fill the space. As it expands, it gently lifts the concrete. We monitor the lift with laser levels to ensure precision. The foam cures in about 15 minutes, and we can patch the holes to match your concrete color. You can walk on the surface immediately and drive on it within hours.
Mudjacking involves drilling larger holes, usually about 2 inches across, and pumping a cement-based slurry under the slab. This mixture fills voids and lifts the concrete as we pump. The process takes longer than foam injection because the slurry needs time to set. However, mudjacking works extremely well for large areas and costs significantly less than foam for bigger jobs. The holes get patched with concrete, and you can typically use the area within 24 hours.
When to Level vs Replace Your Concrete
Leveling works best when your concrete is structurally sound but has settled unevenly. If the slab itself is not cracked into multiple pieces and the concrete quality remains good, leveling makes perfect sense. We regularly lift and level driveways, sidewalks, patios, garage floors, and even pool decks that have settled over time. The concrete might be 20, 30, or even 50 years old, but if it is in decent shape aside from the settling, leveling extends its life for many more years.
Replacement makes more sense when concrete is severely damaged, broken into many pieces, or has deteriorated from age and weather. If your settled slab also shows extensive cracking, major spalling, or structural damage, the money spent on leveling might not provide good long-term value. Sometimes the settling reveals that the original installation was inadequate, with insufficient thickness or no proper base. In these cases, leveling might temporarily fix the symptom but not address the underlying problem.
We provide honest assessments of whether leveling or replacement makes more sense for your situation. Sometimes we level part of a driveway and replace other sections that are too damaged to save. Our goal is to give you the most cost-effective solution that solves your problem long-term. If leveling will work, we recommend it because it saves you money and hassle. If replacement is the better answer, we tell you that too.
Common Questions About Concrete Leveling
When properly done, concrete leveling is a permanent solution. The foam or slurry fills the voids under your slab and provides stable support that prevents future settling in that area. The leveled concrete should last as long as the original slab would have lasted if it had never settled. That said, if the conditions that caused the original settling continue, like ongoing water erosion or poor drainage, you might see settling in other areas over time. We address drainage issues when we see them to help prevent future problems, but the leveling work itself is permanent.
Yes, we can level concrete with cracks as long as the slab is not broken into many separate pieces. Minor cracking is normal and does not prevent successful leveling. In fact, leveling often brings cracked sections back together and reduces the width of cracks by removing the stress that settling created. If cracks are extensive or the slab is badly broken up, we might recommend other solutions. We evaluate every situation individually and let you know what will work best. In many cases, we can level the concrete and then seal any remaining cracks for a complete repair.
Leveling typically costs 50 to 70 percent less than complete replacement. The exact savings depend on the size of the area and accessibility, but you avoid the costs of demolition, disposal, new materials, and extensive labor. You also save time since leveling takes hours instead of days or weeks. For a settled driveway section that might cost several thousand dollars to replace, leveling might cost a third of that amount. Plus you keep your existing concrete, which often matches the rest of your property better than new concrete would. The cost effectiveness of leveling makes it an easy decision when your concrete is otherwise in good condition.