You’ve got a sunken or uneven concrete issue around your home or business – but can it even be fixed with mud jacking?? Homeowners like you might be wondering if your particular concrete problem can be solved with this method of slab jacking.
If only someone would show you some real examples of typical issues and how they were fixed . . . a before and after gallery of sorts . . . you’re in luck because we’ve got that exact thing!
At Anchor Foundation Repair, we’ve been raising sunken concrete in the Brazos Valley for decades and can certainly show you some typical problems that we’ve repaired with mud jacking. We’re pulling all these examples straight from our records, and I’m not sure what could be more authentic than that.
In this article, we’ll show you a collection of our mud jacking project before-and-afters, explaining the scope and cost of each. This will give you an idea of what kinds of things can be fixed along with potential prices so you can decide if mud jacking sounds like it might work for your sunken concrete issue.
(We’ll also throw in a couple of examples of things that mudjacking can’t fix for good measure.)
What Problems Can Mud Jacking Fix?
In a general sense, mud jacking is perfect for outdoor concrete flatwork that has sunken from its original position but is otherwise in good shape. In other words, the surface is overall in decent condition, just out of alignment.
Flatwork includes exterior surfaces like sidewalks, driveways, patios, pool decks, or even individual concrete street panels or parking lot sections. These are the kinds of concrete pieces that *don’t usually* have buildings built on top of them. They are poured flat and do not have any footings or deeper support to them.
The typical signs that you have sunken concrete are tripping hazards, pooling or trapped water that doesn’t flow away, and misalignments between concrete panels.
Mud jacking can be used to lift concrete but also to fill voids under these types of flatwork even when they haven’t sunken yet. You might be able to see a void under your flatwork via an exposed hole, or it might just sound hollow or be showing signs of erosion along the perimeter. Don’t worry, we’ll show you examples next!
Before & After Typical Mud Jacking Examples
Often, homes and businesses have more than one instance of sunken concrete around the property. When one piece of concrete experiences settlement and sinking, it’s highly likely that nearby flatwork panels will also be impacted by the same soil or poor drainage conditions that caused the problem.
In this article though, we will show you one problem at a time, even if it’s from the same address. In some cases, we won’t be able to show every issue on a property either, there’s just too much and you will get bored . . . trust me . . .
Also, sorry that some pictures were not quite taken from the same angle/position. Our guys are great at mud jacking, but not always great at snapping pics.
Raising Sidewalk Panels to Eliminate Tripping Hazards
Yikes! This front walk had a big tripping hazard right as you step onto the front porch – not attractive for the main entrance to your home and definitely not safe for your visiting guests. Let’s hope nobody actually tripped before we got it fixed with mud jacking.
Total Cost = Approximately $700 (also worked on driveway and filled void on back patio $1,500 total for the property)
Lifting a Driveway Back Into Alignment with the Garage Entry
Trying to drive your car into your garage with a big sunken misalignment like this is tricky. Gunning your gas pedal to get over this jump is an accident waiting to happen. It’s not great for your tires either. You could trip over something like this when on foot as well. No bueno but mud jacking will easily fix this up.
Total Cost: Approximately $1,660 (we also did some patchwork for corner pop on the slab)
Side Note: Part of what likely caused this issue was that gutter spout dumping water right next to the driveway. Looks like the downspout was also improved with a buried downspout extension to carry the water farther away. A smart drainage move to possibly prevent this from happening again!
Elevating Driveway to Be Flush With the Roadway
This driveway panel was more than a few inches down from the transition to the roadway. It was very clear what had sunken! Unfortunately, the homeowner had tripped over this while getting the mail and had been driving over it for years in their car. After a little less than a day’s work, it was all better with mud jacking.
Total Cost: Approximately $1,740
Side Note: Whenever a surface has a pebbled finish like this, we do try to match it back up when patching the mud jacking holes. Though we can’t guarantee a flawlessly perfect match, we do pretty good. Plus, after a while, it all blends back in and no one will notice anyhow.
Returning a Patio To Its Original Position
This large patio had several sunken and misaligned panels at different levels, plus a major tripping hazard between the patio and the covered porch area. A full day of mud jacking got it all lined back up and looking spiffy. Way better for the next backyard bbq!
Total Cost = Approximately $2,600
Fixing Pool Deck Gaps and Hazards
Total Cost = Approximately $800
Pool deck problems are never in short supply so here’s a few examples. One in close proximity to the pool and the other where the pool deck meets the regular porch. Both unsightly, and both quite unsafe for barefoot swimmers. Working around a pool requires more care and attention, so make sure you hire someone with experience in this environment.
Total Cost = Approximately $1,400
Side Note: These specialized deck surfaces may be more visually impacted by the patched mud jacking holes. Every repair method has its pros and cons, and mud jacking is no exception. Not every surface can be matched back flawlessly. But a slightly imperfect pool deck appearance is better than a broken toe or an injured kid, know what I mean?
Filling a Void Under a Patio
This patio wasn’t too sunken and luckily not cracked or damaged yet. However, a bunch of dirt had washed out from underneath it, and not just along the edge. You may notice that concrete like this sounds hollow or just funny/different when you walk on it.
To prevent this surface from cracking, settling more, and generally getting worse, it’s best to fill the void under this flatwork with mud jacking to preserve its good condition while it’s still in one piece. The beauty of mud jacking is that it can both lift and fill voids in one process.
Total Cost = approximately $600 (did front porch and side of driveway too on same property, total bill $1,500)
Filling a Void Under a Driveway
This was a fairly long stretch of driveway with the dirt coming out from under it in a major way. After a while, something like this could crack and/or settle into the lower areas and make this very nice long driveway look janky and not function well as a driving surface.
After an even longer while, a cracked driveway could begin to tilt, and settle into the void, creating a dip where even more water can collect and further erode what’s underneath. Good thing the void under this driveway got filled in before any damage could occur.
For this job, we even cut the grass out and put it back on top of that dirt before we left.
Total Cost = $1,790
Side Note: Our void filling technique is very similar to traditional mud jacking, only the slurry mixture is a different consistency because we’re only filling the space, not lifting the concrete.
School Staff Entrance With Complex Issues
This looks like a simple fix, but with a long span of concrete approximately 80 feet by 20 feet added a great deal of work and material to this lift. On top of that, other parts of the building and concrete poured on top of older concrete pads complicated the work.
A couple of days of mud jacking eliminated this serious tripping hazard to keep school employees safe and rainfall drainage flowing in the proper direction.
Total Cost = Approximately $8,000
Commerical Property With Multiple Trip Hazards
Businesses in particular need to worry about the liability of tripping hazards around their property. With many people coming in and out who are unfamiliar with the location, the chances of someone getting hurt go up substantially, and the chances of getting sued go up too.
This establishment had a number of sidewalks, curbs, and surrounding walkways with many instances of sunken concrete issues. We spent about three days doing TLC on all the problematic spots (more than we could picture!) to make them safe for this busy office.
Total Cost = Approximately $6,960
Side Note: Preserving concrete by raising it with mud jacking is far more economical and less intrusive than replacing it all. Can you imagine trying to keep your business open and going through the process of replacing concrete flatwork? Not very good for foot traffic . . . .
Sunken Parking Lot Panels
Two large parking lot panels came together and were both inches down and sinking towards each other (look for the yellow string in each photo for a reference point). This created a car-damaging dip that caused problems for vehicles trying to drive across the path. Good thing we were able to mud jack them back into place so you can get your undisclosed brand of chicken fingers without ruining your ride!
Total Cost = Approximately $2,700
Some Flatwork Issues Mud Jacking Won’t Fix
Even though mud jacking is pretty great at preserving sunken concrete in good condition, there are some situations that don’t mesh well with this kind of repair. This should not be a huge surprise–it’s concrete that’s in bad condition.
If your concrete is in really bad shape i.e. close to the end of its life or has significant problems, replacing the surface is your only course of action.
The reason we can’t raise concrete in poor condition is that during the mud jacking process when the slurry mix used to raise the surface is injected, it comes out of the excessive cracks and flaws in a deteriorated piece of concrete. If you’ve got a piece of concrete that has more holes than swiss cheese, it just ain’t gonna work.
Mud jacking also won’t work when concrete panels have been pushed UP by tree roots or soil heave (rare around here). Mud jacking only works to RAISE concrete, not lower it.
Much More About Mud Jacking to Raise Your Sunken Concrete
You’ve seen just about every example we can think of when it comes to typical mud jacking projects. Did you see something close to what your concrete problem looks like??
At Anchor Foundation Repair, we’ve been mud jacking concrete surfaces in the Brazos Valley for almost as long as we’ve been repairing foundations. We know what surfaces are good candidates for this repair method and which are not.
If you still want to know more details about mud jacking, whether it’s more about the process, more about cost, or more about pros, cons, and even alternatives, well . . . we’ve got the guide for you. Check out Everything Homeowners Need to Know About Mud Jacking: A Complete Guide.
