Compare Your Options
Polyjacking vs Mudjacking vs Replacement
Three ways to deal with sunken concrete, priced against each other honestly, including what each one is genuinely better at.
Least expensive
Mudjacking
~40%
of the cost to replace the concrete
- Cheapest option up front
- Mixture is dealer's choice: dirt and concrete at whatever ratio that crew uses
- Two inch holes or larger, permanently visible
- 24 to 72 hours before you can use it
- Water permeable, so it can wash out and settle again
- Cannot lift a house slab
The cheapest number on this page, and the one most likely to be spent twice.
Best value
ReLevel Poly Lifting
70-85%
of the cost to replace the concrete
- Exact 1:1 ratio of resin and iso, measured by the rig on every single job
- Holes about 5/8 of an inch, roughly the size of a dime
- Most jobs take about an hour, and the concrete is usable as soon as we finish
- Closed cell and waterproof, so it will not wash out
- Fills the voids and compacts the soil that caused the settling
- Can lift a house slab, which neither other option can do
Honest downside: your concrete is level again, not new. Existing stains and cracks are still yours.
Most expensive
Tear Out & Repour
100%
the baseline every other price is measured against
- Genuinely looks brand new, which is the one thing lifting cannot do
- Demolition, hauling, forms, and new concrete
- Days of work and roughly a week of curing before full use
- Does nothing to the soil that caused the problem
- New slab on the same unstable ground can sink and crack again
- Not a realistic option for a settled house slab
Worth it when the concrete itself has failed. Rarely worth it when the concrete is fine and the dirt moved.
Side By Side
The details that decide it.
| Factor | Mudjacking | ReLevel Poly | Tear out & repour |
|---|---|---|---|
| Typical cost | About 40% of replacement | 70 to 85% of replacement | 100% (the baseline) |
| Material mixture | Dirt and concrete, no fixed ratio | Exact 1:1 resin to iso, metered | Standard concrete mix |
| Time on site | Half a day, then 24 to 72 hours to cure | About an hour, usable immediately | Days, then about a week to cure |
| Hole size | Two inches or more | About 5/8 inch | Not applicable |
| Fixes the soil that caused it | Partly, but can wash out | Yes, fills voids and compacts subgrade | No |
| Can lift a house slab | No | Yes | Not realistically |
| Concrete looks brand new | No | No | Yes |
| Risk of settling again | High if the slurry washes out | Low, foam is inert and waterproof | Real, the soil is unchanged |
The mixture is the whole argument
Polyurethane is two liquids, resin and iso, that have to meet at an exact 1:1 ratio at the right temperature. The rig meters that automatically on every injection. If the ratio drifts, the foam does not form correctly and the operator knows immediately.
Mudjacking slurry has no such standard. It is dirt and concrete mixed at whatever ratio that particular crew uses that particular day. Two mudjacking contractors can pump genuinely different materials under two identical driveways and both call it mudjacking. You have no practical way to know what went under your slab.
Why cheapest is not the same as least expensive
Mudjacking is the low number on the quote sheet, usually around 40 percent of what replacement costs. The reason it is cheaper is the reason it often has to be redone. A water-permeable slurry sitting in soil that moves water is a material working against its own environment, and when it washes out or compacts, the slab comes back down.
Paying 40 percent twice is more than paying 75 percent once. That is the honest arithmetic, and it is the argument we would rather make than pretend our number is the smallest.
Why not just tear it out and repour?
Replacement has one real advantage that nothing else on this page can match: the concrete genuinely looks brand new. If your slab is stained, spalling, or broken into pieces, that matters and we will say so.
What replacement does not do is fix the ground. A slab sinks because the soil under it consolidated, washed out, or was never compacted properly. Pouring fresh concrete onto that same soil gives you a new slab sitting on the identical problem, and settlement that took eight years to show up the first time will show up again. Lifting fills the voids and compacts the subgrade, which addresses the cause rather than the symptom.
Replacement also means demolition, hauling, forms, a pour, and roughly a week of curing before you can use the surface. Poly lifting is commonly about an hour on site, and the concrete is ready when we pack up.
House slabs are not a fair fight
For a settled slab-on-grade foundation, this comparison stops being close. Polyurethane can lift a house slab from underneath through small holes. Mudjacking cannot do that work. Replacement is not a realistic option for the slab under an occupied home at all. If that is what you are dealing with, poly is not the better choice, it is the only one of the three that applies.
Where mudjacking still makes sense
We would rather be straight with you than pretend one method wins every time. Mudjacking can be reasonable on very large low-stakes slabs where material cost per cubic foot dominates the decision, and there are contractors who do it carefully. For residential driveways, garage floors, patios, pool decks, sidewalks, and house slabs, the practical advantages of foam are large enough that it is what we install.
What about the holes?
More than cosmetic. A two-inch hole through a decorative or stamped surface is a permanent visible patch. A 5/8 inch hole is roughly the diameter of a pencil and, once patched, is genuinely hard to find afterward. On a stamped patio or a colored pool deck, that is the difference between a repair you notice every day and one you forget about.
Why This Matters
You cannot rent your way into this trade.
Anyone can buy bags of concrete and call themselves a repour contractor. Mudjacking equipment can be rented by the day. A polyurethane rig cannot.
Roughly $100,000 to start
The truck, the pump, the heated hose, the reactor, and the initial material. That is the price of admission before a single job gets quoted.
No rental counter carries it
Poly rigs are not rental equipment. Whoever shows up with one has committed real capital to doing this specific work.
The material is unforgiving
Resin and iso have to run at an exact 1:1 ratio and at temperature. The rig meters it. Guesswork produces foam that does not hold.
We are not saying that to knock anyone. We are saying it because when you get three quotes and one is dramatically cheaper, it is worth knowing what is behind each number.
Questions
What people ask before deciding.
How much does concrete leveling cost?
Most residential concrete leveling jobs land between $900 and $2,900, depending on how much slab has to be lifted and how far it has settled. A small sidewalk section or a single sunken driveway panel sits at the low end. A full garage floor or a large pool deck sits at the high end. It is almost always a fraction of tear-out and replacement, which typically runs three to five times more for the same area. We quote the exact number on site for free before any work starts.
Is concrete leveling cheaper than replacing the concrete?
Yes, substantially. Replacement means demolition, hauling away the old slab, new forms, new concrete, and a week of curing before you can use it. Leveling reuses the slab you already have, finishes in a few hours, and you can drive on it the same day. Replacement only makes sense when the concrete itself has failed structurally rather than simply settled.
How long does polyurethane concrete lifting last?
The foam itself does not break down, wash out, or lose volume. It is a closed-cell structural polyurethane that stays inert in the ground indefinitely. What matters is that we fill the voids and compact the loose soil that caused the settlement in the first place, which is why properly injected slabs generally stay put for decades. Ask about the written warranty when we quote your job.
Is polyjacking better than mudjacking?
For nearly every residential job, yes, and the mixture is the reason. Polyurethane is two liquids, resin and iso, that have to meet at an exact 1:1 ratio, and the rig meters that automatically on every injection. Mudjacking slurry is dirt and concrete mixed at whatever ratio that crew happens to use, so two mudjacking contractors can pump genuinely different materials under two identical driveways. Foam also uses 5/8 inch holes instead of two-inch holes, is ready to use immediately instead of in days, and is closed-cell and waterproof so it will not wash out. Mudjacking also cannot lift a house slab.
How long does the job take and when can I use it?
A typical residential job is about an hour on site, and the concrete is ready to use as soon as we pack up. The foam reaches most of its final strength within roughly fifteen minutes of injection, which is why you can park on a driveway the same visit. Mudjacking usually needs 24 to 72 hours before it will carry weight, and a full replacement needs about a week of curing.
Why not just tear it out and pour new concrete?
Replacement has one genuine advantage: the concrete looks brand new, which lifting cannot do. What it does not do is fix the ground. A slab sinks because the soil under it consolidated, washed out, or was never compacted properly, and pouring fresh concrete onto that same soil gives you a new slab sitting on the identical problem. Lifting fills the voids and compacts the subgrade, so it treats the cause. Replacement also costs the most and takes about a week of curing, where lifting is usually about an hour and usable immediately. If your concrete is badly broken or stained rather than simply settled, replacement may genuinely be the right call and we will tell you so.
Free Estimates
Find out what it costs. Free, no pressure.
We measure the settlement, mark the lift plan, and give you the number on the spot. If your concrete does not need lifting, we will tell you that instead.