What is Mudjacking and How Does it Work?

If you’re a home or business owner, chances are you’ve had to learn to deal with cracked and sinking concrete. At first, cracks in concrete can seem minor, especially if they’re in a frequently used walkway or on a driveway. Unfortunately, ignoring early signs of damaged concrete can result in costly repairs, which is why it’s better to fix cracked or sunken pavement before the cracks literally expand into problems that can set you back hundreds if not thousands of dollars. 

You may be wondering, though: are there cheaper alternatives to complete concrete replacement? Can I repair my concrete sidewalk without having to tear up the entire slab? The answer to both of these questions, luckily, is yes! Mudjacking is a cost effective, time efficient, and overall cleaner solution to making repairs to cracked and sunken slab concrete.

What is mudjacking and what is mudjacking used for?

We’ll be the first to admit that mudjacking is an odd term. It doesn’t seem to tell you much about what the service actually entails. As we said earlier, mudjacking is a cost-effective solution to concrete repair. When a stretch of concrete like a sidewalk, driveway, or garage floor begins to crack, you can mudjack the concrete rather than tear out and replace the entire slab. A mudjacker will drill holes into the concrete on either side of a crack, pour a solution into the holes, and prop up the sagging area of the concrete. By fixing the problem from beneath the concrete, you won’t have to tear out and completely replace the entire slab.

What does this process really look like? 

Most garage floors are made of concrete—although concrete is durable, time inevitably makes it weaker and cracks almost always form. At first, a crack in your concrete shouldn’t cause you to worry; but, if you ignore the crack, it will get bigger, and you may eventually need to pull out the entire slab, re-level the foundation, and pour out a whole new floor. Replacing a garage floor takes time, the margin of error is very slim, and the project is almost always very messy (working with concrete isn’t usually pretty!). When we are contracted to mudjack a garage floor, we follow this process:

1. We begin by examining the entirety of the project. We will assess the severity and depth of the cracks in the floor and take note of which areas are beginning to sag; we then take inventory of which areas require a full mudjacking service (tiny cracks do not need to be mudjacked—they can be sealed with concrete or another sealant). These cracks are usually spaces where the concrete sinks on one or both sides.      
2. Once we know which cracks and sunken areas are causing the problems in your garage, we then drill a pattern of holes through the slab on either side of the crack. These holes usually end up measuring 1.5 to 2 inches in diameter. 
3. After we safely drill holes into the concrete, we insert a hardening mixture directly into the holes. This mixture primarily consists of concrete and soil. As we slowly add the mixtures into the holes, we level out the concrete to make sure it is nice and flat. 
4. The solution of concrete and soil, as it fills the holes, will fill in the space beneath the concrete slab; as this happens, the sunken portion of the garage floor will begin to rise. We will continue to pour the solution until the floor is flush and uniform. 
5. Once the holes have been filled, and once your garage floor is looking nice and level, we use concrete to cap the holes and fill in the crack to make a seal. By the time we’re done, your concrete garage floor will look brand new! 

What should I do if I need to mudjack my concrete?

Now that you know about the process and benefits of mudjacking, you might be thinking it’s time to get out in front of the problem and look for a mudjacking service. We at Level Headed Mudjackers take pride in our approach, and we are confident that we can provide you with the appropriate solutions for your concrete problems. Our customers have nothing but great things to say about us, and, recently, the Better Business Bureau gave us an A+ rating for our services. Reach out and contact us today for a free quote from a friendly expert. We hope to hear from you soon!