Skip to content

Mudjacking cost

Mudjacking — pumping a cement slurry under a sunken slab to lift it — costs $3 – $6 per square foot, or roughly $700 – $2,100 for a typical section. Polyurethane foam does the same job for $5 – $25 per square foot, and the price difference buys real advantages worth understanding before you choose.

Mudjacking $3 – 6 Per square foot lifted
Typical slab section $700 – 2,100 Driveway panel, patio, walkway
Polyurethane foam $5 – 25 Per square foot lifted
By Dana Keller, 14 years estimating structural repair Reviewed by Marcus Oyelaran, PE · Last updated July 30, 2026

What mudjacking costs

Mudjacking costs $3 – $6 per square foot, which puts a typical sunken driveway panel or patio section at $700 – $2,100. A whole driveway runs $3,000 – $6,000. Most jobs finish in a few hours.

The method is straightforward: a crew drills holes about the size of a coin through the slab, pumps a cement and soil slurry underneath until hydraulic pressure raises the concrete back to grade, then patches the holes. You keep the existing concrete, its color and its finish, and you drive on it again in a day or two.

The main alternative, polyurethane foam jacking, does the same job for $5 – $25 per square foot. The price difference buys real advantages, and which one suits your slab comes down to what the soil underneath is doing.

Mudjacking cost by what you are lifting

Mudjacking costs by slab type, US national, 2026
What is being lifted Typical range Unit What drives it
Sidewalk or walkway section $300 – $900 per section Small area, easy access, quick setup
Driveway panel $700 – $2,100 per section Panel size and how far it dropped
Whole driveway $3,000 – $6,000 per driveway Number of panels and total square footage
Patio slab $700 – $2,100 per section Area, void depth, slurry volume
Garage floor $1,200 – $3,500 per bay Interior access, dust control, cure time
Pool deck $1,500 – $4,500 per deck Coping, tile edges and careful lift control
Interior basement floor section $900 – $2,800 per section Flooring removal and replacement
Steps or stoop $400 – $1,200 per unit Weight concentration and rebuild risk

Source: Compiled from 2025–2026 concrete lifting contractor pricing datasets at $3–$6 per square foot, converted to typical per-section totals for standard residential slab dimensions. Includes drilling, slurry, lift and hole patching. · Last reviewed July 30, 2026 · Reference data · How we compile these figures

Two things move a quote inside these bands. The first is void depth — a slab that dropped 1/2 inch takes far less material than one that dropped 3 inches, and slurry is sold by volume. The second is minimum charges: almost every company has one, typically $400 – $800, so lifting a single small square costs close to the same as lifting three. Bundling all your sunken flatwork into one visit is the easiest saving available in this category.

Mudjacking or polyurethane foam

Mudjacking compared with polyurethane foam jacking, US national, 2026
Factor Mudjacking Measured as Polyurethane foam
Cost per square foot $3 – 6 mudjacking Foam runs $5 – 25 per sq ft
Injection hole size 1 – 2 in. mudjacking Foam uses holes around 5/8 in.
Material weight added 100 lb/cu ft mudjacking Foam adds roughly 2 – 4 lb/cu ft
Cure time before use 24 – 48 hrs mudjacking Foam is walk-on in about 15 minutes
Typical service life 5 – 10 yrs mudjacking Foam commonly 10+ yrs; both depend on the soil
Best fit $700 – 2,100 mudjacking Stable soil, detached flatwork, budget priority

Source: Method comparison using published installer specifications for cement slurry and two-part polyurethane systems, with 2026 installed pricing for each. Service life figures assume stable subgrade after lifting. · Last reviewed July 30, 2026 · Reference data · How we compile these figures

Weight is the deciding factor more often than price. Cement slurry weighs roughly 100 pounds per cubic foot, so filling a large void adds load to soil that already demonstrated it could not carry what was there. Foam weighs a small fraction of that, cures in minutes, uses smaller holes and shrugs off water.

Put plainly: for a detached driveway, patio or sidewalk over soil that is stable, mudjacking is entirely adequate and cheaper. For a slab attached to the house, for weak or saturated soil, or where you need the surface back in service the same afternoon, foam is usually the sounder purchase even at three or four times the unit price.

Lifting or replacing the concrete

Lifting typically costs a third to half of replacement and finishes in hours rather than days, with no cure time for new concrete and no mismatched color patch in the middle of your driveway. For a slab that is structurally sound and simply sitting too low, that math is hard to argue with.

Replacement wins when the concrete itself has failed as a material: crumbling edges, widespread spalling, cracks that have broken a panel into several loose pieces, or rebar corrosion pushing the surface apart. Nothing lifts a slab that comes apart under pressure. A contractor who recommends replacement on a badly deteriorated slab is giving you accurate advice rather than upselling.

One caveat worth naming: neither lifting nor replacing addresses the reason the void formed. Mudjacking fills a space; it does not stop erosion, a leaking downspout discharge or a broken drain line from creating the next one. Ask what caused the settling and fix that alongside the lift.

When to skip mudjacking entirely

A sunken slab is often less urgent than it looks, and several versions of this problem call for no contractor.

  • A drop under about 1/2 inch with no trip hazard. Cosmetically uneven flatwork carries no structural meaning for your house. Watching it for a season costs nothing.
  • A single trip-hazard lip. Concrete grinding levels a raised edge for $100 – $300 and takes under an hour. It solves the safety problem without lifting anything.
  • Settling that is still active. Lifting a slab over soil that is currently washing out means paying twice. Find the water source first — a downspout discharging beside the driveway or a leaking irrigation line explains a great many sunken slabs, and rerouting it costs $100 – $600.
  • Cracks in a basement or garage floor with the faces still flush. Slab-on-grade floors rest on the ground rather than carrying the house. Thin wandering cracks are shrinkage, and they need nothing.

Mudjacking also has nothing to do with foundation settlement. If your house is dropping rather than your flatwork, the repair is underpinning at $1,250 – $3,100 per pier, and it starts with a structural engineer at $450 – $600 rather than a concrete lifting crew.

Hiring, warranties and what to ask

This is a small enough job that two quotes are usually enough. Ask each company four things: the price per square foot and the minimum charge, how much lift they expect to achieve, how the holes will be patched, and what the warranty covers.

Warranties in concrete lifting are typically 2 – 5 years for mudjacking and 5 – 10 years for foam, and they normally cover the lift rather than the soil. That distinction is fair, and it is also the reason to spend twenty minutes finding the water that created the void. Take dated photos before the crew arrives and after they leave, and measure the height difference with a straightedge so you can verify what you paid for.

Timing helps too. Concrete lifting is seasonal work in most of the country, and quotes tend to be softest in late fall once the summer backlog clears. Since a sunken driveway panel is a comfort and safety issue rather than a structural one, waiting six weeks for a better price carries little risk. Ask whether the company carries liability insurance and confirm the number with the insurer directly — it takes one phone call and it is the standard due diligence for any contractor working on your property.

Where to go next

Frequently asked questions

Traditional mudjacking runs $3–$6 per square foot, so a sunken driveway section or patio typically costs $700–$2,100. A whole driveway can reach $3,000–$6,000. Most jobs are completed in a few hours through holes about the size of a coin.

Foam costs more ($5–$25 per sq ft) but weighs a fraction of cement slurry, so it does not add load to soil that already failed. It cures in minutes rather than hours, uses smaller holes, and is waterproof. Mudjacking is cheaper and perfectly adequate for stable soil under a driveway or patio. For a slab attached to the house, foam is usually the sounder choice.

Typically 5–10 years, sometimes far longer. It lasts as long as the soil underneath stays stable — mudjacking fills a void, it does not fix what created the void. If erosion or a plumbing leak caused the settling, address that or the slab sinks again.

Usually yes. Lifting costs roughly a third to half of replacement, is done in hours rather than days, and the concrete keeps its existing color and finish. Replacement wins when the slab itself is crumbling, badly cracked or spalled — you cannot lift concrete that is failing as a material.

Foundation repair — more cost guides

Foundation repair cost Most homeowners pay $2,300 – $7,100 for foundation repair, with a national average around $4,850. Cost calculator Estimate what your foundation repair should cost before a contractor names a price. Foundation crack repair cost Sealing a non-structural foundation crack costs $350 – $900 with epoxy or polyurethane injection. Foundation settlement repair cost Repairing genuine foundation settlement costs $5,000 – $30,000, and the figure is set almost entirely by how many piers the affected footing needs. Underpinning cost Underpinning is priced per pier: $1,250 – $2,400 for steel push piers and $1,400 – $3,100 for helical piers. House leveling cost Leveling a pier and beam house costs $3,500 – $12,000; leveling a slab home runs $10,000 – $30,000 because it requires underpinning rather than shimming.

Citing this page

These figures are free to quote. If they were useful, a link back helps other homeowners find independent cost data — and lets anyone check the number against its source.

Plain text foundationsage, "Mudjacking cost," reviewed July 30, 2026. https://www.foundationsage.com/mudjacking-cost/
HTML <a href="https://www.foundationsage.com/mudjacking-cost/">Mudjacking cost</a> — foundationsage, reviewed July 30, 2026

Our figures, methodology and review dates are set out in full on how we compile these costs. Corrections are welcome — if a number here differs from what you were actually quoted, that is data we want.

These are estimates, not quotes. Figures reflect 2026 US market data reviewed on July 30, 2026. Actual prices vary with soil, access, local labor rates and the scope a licensed contractor defines after inspecting your property. foundationsage doesn’t perform, schedule or warranty repair work.