Serving Kansas and Missouri

 

Problem: Your concrete patio, porch, sidewalk, or driveway is settling and needs repair.

driveway-settling

Question: Do you tear it out and pour new or can it be mudjacked?

First, I have included an informative article, written by Steve VandeWater, that details for us why concrete cracks. I know there are a lot of you that know this stuff, but for those of us who don’t, let’s get better educated before moving on.

 

Now that we have some concrete knowledge under our belts, let’s diagnose the problem! Picture this: the driveway pictured above belongs to you (that’s embarrassing, you should call us to fix that ASAP!)

How do you fix it?

Concrete repair is a must, but what is the best direction to take? Tearing this entire driveway out to pour a new one would cost you upwards of $4,000 not to mention time. On average it would take a crew 1 day to tear out, 1 day to pour, and at least 5 days before you can drive on it. You’ll have a humongous dumpster on site along with heavy machinery taking up space. Also, you’ll want to get that downspout buried to run rainwater away from the drive or you’ll find yourself in the same situation in no time! So what we’re looking at here is a lot of money, a lot of time, and a bottle of Excedrin.

So what is mudjacking?

Mudjacking this drive would consist of drilling strategically placed 1 1/2” holes, pumping in a concretious, nonorganic material, lifting the concrete back to level, and then patching the holes. DONE! All of this would be less than half the cost of replacement and you could park on it in 24 hours.

 

I will caution you to check out the materials being pumped before choosing a contractor. You never want mud or sand to get pumped under your concrete. This will eventually wash out and need to be redone. You also don’t want polyurethane pumped under your concrete. See our “Facts about Polyjacking” page and give us a call to discuss what we pump.

 

I hope this was helpful and good luck!