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Mudjacking
You want to know whether the older, cheaper lifting method is still a reasonable choice.
Mudjacking — also called slabjacking or pressure grouting — lifts settled concrete by pumping a cementitious slurry through holes drilled in the slab. The mix is typically sand, cement and water, sometimes with soil or other additives depending on the contractor's formulation. It fills the void and raises the slab.
It predates foam injection by decades and is sometimes written off as outdated. That is unfair. It is a proven method that still does some jobs more economically than foam, and the reasons to prefer foam are specific rather than universal.
Where slurry still wins
Cost per unit of volume. Sand and cement are inexpensive; polyurethane is not. On a job with a large void under a substantial area, the material cost difference can be significant, and the finished elevation is the same either way.
Slurry is also a familiar, well-understood material. There is no proprietary chemistry involved, and any competent operator can explain exactly what is going under your slab.
The real drawbacks
Weight is the substantive one. A slurry fill adds meaningful mass to ground that has already demonstrated it struggles to support what is on it. On soft or poorly compacted soils this is a legitimate argument against.
Hole size is the visible one. Slurry needs larger holes than foam, and while they are patched, they stay identifiable up close. On a decorative patio or a front entry walkway this matters more than on a driveway apron.
Cure time is the practical one. Slurry needs longer before the area returns to full use, and a contractor should tell you how long for your job specifically.
What it shares with every lifting method
Like foam, slurry addresses elevation and not condition. It does not repair cracks, strengthen concrete, or stop the water that caused the settlement. A slab lifted over an unresolved drainage problem settles again, whichever material went underneath it.
It also depends on the slab moving as one piece. Concrete that has already broken apart lifts unevenly whatever is pumped beneath it, and can break further on the way up. That limit belongs to the physics of lifting rather than to any particular material, and a contractor who presents their method as an exception to it is overselling.
What to watch during the work
Lifting is one of the few trades where the quality of the work is visible while it happens rather than only afterwards. The slab should come up gradually and evenly, with the operator checking height as they go rather than pumping to a fixed volume and inspecting at the end.
Watch what happens at the joints between panels. A panel raised past its neighbours creates the same offset in the opposite direction, and correcting an overshoot is harder than approaching the target slowly. A crew that stops slightly low and asks whether you want more is generally being careful rather than unambitious.
Ask before they start what the plan is if a panel cracks mid-lift, because it does occasionally happen on older concrete, and the time to agree who carries that is beforehand.
When mudjacking is worth considering
- A large void under a substantial area, where material volume drives the price.
- Utility areas, garage aprons and driveways where patched holes are not an aesthetic concern.
- Ground that is firm enough that added weight is not the deciding issue.
- Budget-constrained jobs where the alternative is doing nothing.
When to prefer something else
- Soft, poorly compacted or otherwise marginal soils, where added weight is a genuine risk.
- Decorative or highly visible flatwork where larger patches will bother you.
- Areas that must return to service immediately.
- Slabs that are broken up, crumbling or otherwise past lifting.
Alternatives worth pricing
- Polyjacking, where weight, hole size or cure time is the deciding factor.
- Replacement, where the concrete itself has failed.
What moves the price
We do not publish national dollar figures. A single average applied across every site, method and market gives you a confident-looking benchmark that is wrong for your job in an unknown direction. What does transfer between jobs is the structure of the price:
- Volume of slurry required, which follows the size of the void.
- Number and size of holes.
- Access for the pump and mixing equipment.
- Minimum job charges on small areas.
Local quotes decide actual pricing. If you want to compare two of them properly, the quote comparison guide covers how.
What to ask a contractor
- What is in your mix, and how much weight does it add under this slab?
- How long before I can use the area normally?
- How many holes, what size, and how will they be patched?
- How do you control the lift so it comes up level rather than tilting?
- What does the warranty cover, and what does it exclude?
Common questions
Is mudjacking obsolete?
No. It is older, and foam has taken much of the residential market, but the method works and on volume-heavy jobs it can be the better value. It is fair to ask a contractor who only offers one method why they do not offer the other.
Will mudjacking make the slab settle again because of the weight?
It can contribute on soils that are genuinely marginal, which is the main technical argument for foam. On competent ground the added weight is usually not the deciding factor. A contractor who dismisses the question entirely, in either direction, is not engaging with it.
How long does mudjacking last?
As with any lifting method, it lasts as long as the ground underneath stays put. Where the cause was a one-off consolidation, that can be many years. Where water is still moving soil, it lasts until enough soil has moved again.
Work it out, or judge the quote
Related guides
Concrete leveling
Raising settled slabs back toward their original height instead of tearing them out.
Read more →Polyjacking (foam injection)
Polyurethane foam injection: light, fast-curing, small holes — and more expensive per unit of material.
Read more →Polyjacking vs mudjacking
Foam or slurry: the differences that matter and the ones that are marketing.
Read more →Sunken concrete
A slab that now sits lower than it should — almost always a ground problem, not a concrete problem.
Read more →What drives leveling cost
Why lifting is priced by the void rather than by the slab, and what makes two quotes differ.
Read more →