Concrete leveling and lifting in Wichita

Sunken concrete can usually be raised back into place

When a slab drops, the concrete itself is often fine. What failed is the soil underneath it, which washed out, compacted or shrank and left a gap. Concrete leveling fills that gap from below and uses the pressure of the fill to lift the slab back up.

The crew drills a few small holes through the sunken section, pumps material underneath, and watches the slab rise until it lines up with the concrete around it. Then the holes are patched. A typical residential job, like two driveway panels or a run of sidewalk, is finished in a few hours.

Why concrete sinks around Wichita

Slabs rarely drop for one reason. Usually a few of these are working together, and knowing which ones apply to your house tells you whether the fix will last. For the local soil and weather data behind these, see why concrete sinks in Wichita.

• Loose fill next to the house. When a house is built, the dirt pushed back against the foundation is rarely compacted as well as undisturbed ground. Driveways, patios and steps poured on top of it settle for years.
• Water running under the slab. A downspout that empties at the edge of a driveway, or a sprinkler head that soaks a sidewalk joint, carries soil away a little at a time until the slab has nothing to rest on.
• Clay that swells and shrinks. Where the soil holds a lot of clay, it swells when it is wet and shrinks when it dries out. A wet spring followed by a dry summer opens gaps under slabs that were fine the year before.
• Freeze and thaw. Water that gets under a slab expands when it freezes and leaves voids behind when it melts. Winter is when a lot of the damage starts, even though people notice it in spring.
• Tree roots. Roots can push a slab up. That is a different problem from settling, and leveling cannot lower a slab that has been lifted.

Mudjacking or foam?

There are two ways to fill the gap. Mudjacking pumps a cement slurry under the slab. It is the older method, it costs less, and it works well on driveways and sidewalks with room for slightly larger holes. Foam lifting, also called polyjacking, injects an expanding polyurethane through smaller holes. It weighs far less, sets quickly, and costs more.

Neither is right for every job. The contractor will recommend one after seeing the slab, and it is fair to ask them to price both.

When leveling is the wrong call

Leveling works on slabs that are still in reasonably few pieces. It is the wrong fix in a few situations, and a good contractor will say so at the estimate instead of selling you a lift that will not hold.

• The slab is broken into many small pieces or crumbling at the surface.
• The slab was pushed up by roots or heaving soil. Leveling only raises concrete.
• Water is still pouring under it from a downspout or a leak. Fix the water first, or the gap comes back.
• The height difference is tiny and the real issue is a cracked or spalled surface.

Where we work

Wichita and the towns around it in Sedgwick, Butler and Harvey counties. If you are a little outside the list below, call anyway and ask.

• Wichita
• Derby
• Andover
• Haysville
• Maize
• Park City
• Bel Aire
• Valley Center
• Goddard
• Mulvane
• Augusta
• El Dorado
• Newton