Pricing
What Does Mudjacking Cost in Iowa?
Less than you expect, and a fraction of replacement. Here is what sets the price, how it compares, and why we can promise that if it doesn't move, you don't pay.
Mudjacking cost in Iowa runs a fraction of what replacing the same concrete would. Nationally, lifting is priced at roughly $3 to $6 per square foot against $8 to $18 to tear out and pour new; our lifts typically come in a little under that national range, around $2.50 to $5 per square foot, and most single-slab residential jobs land between a few hundred dollars and about $2,000. Every job gets a free estimate in person, because the honest number depends on the slab in front of us, not a table. What follows is how that number is arrived at, so the estimate makes sense when you see it.
The short version: you pay for how far the concrete has to rise and how much void is under it, not for how big it looks.
What sets the price
How far it has dropped. A slab an inch low needs far less material than one four inches low; the mixture pumped in is the main cost. How much void is under it. Water that has washed soil out from beneath a slab leaves a cavity that has to be filled before the slab will rise at all. How many slabs. A single sidewalk square is a small job; a two-car driveway with three settled sections is a morning. Access. A back patio behind a fence gate takes longer to reach with the pump hose than a front walk. Thickness and load. A garage floor that will carry vehicles is lifted more slowly and filled more completely than a walkway.
What does not set the price: the age of the concrete, the color, or whether it has hairline cracks. Those are fine.
Mudjacking vs replacing the concrete
Replacement means breaking up the slab, hauling it away, building forms, pouring new concrete, waiting days for it to cure, and living with a slab that does not match the ones beside it. Nationally that runs $8 to $18 per square foot before landscaping repairs. Lifting reuses the slab you already paid for, takes hours instead of days, disturbs nothing beside it, and is walkable the same day. When the slabs are whole, lifting is the better answer on cost and on disruption. When a slab is broken into small pieces or crumbling, replacement is the right call, and we will tell you so.
Mudjacking vs polyjacking (foam)
Polyurethane foam lifting uses smaller holes and cures in minutes, and it is priced accordingly — typically $5 to $25 per square foot, two to four times the cost of mudjacking for the same slab. Foam is a chemical product; our mixture is water and sand or soil, the same material the slab sat on, and it is safe beside lawns, gardens and pools. Foam makes sense for a few situations, such as a slab that must carry traffic within the hour or one where the drilled holes must be as small as possible. For driveways, patios, walks, steps and garage floors around a home, mudjacking does the same lift for less, with the same guarantee.
How the guarantee works
If the concrete we lift doesn't move, you don't pay for that lift. That is possible because the mixture fills the entire void under the slab rather than propping it at points, so there is nothing left to settle into. It is not a warranty against the ground — a new downspout emptying at the corner or a broken water line can undermine any slab — and we will point out anything we see that puts the slab at risk. Ask us to put the guarantee in writing on your estimate.
Cost questions
How much does it cost to lift a driveway?
It depends on how many slabs have dropped and how far. Our lifts typically run about $2.50 to $5 per square foot — a little under the national range — and a typical residential driveway job lands between a few hundred dollars and about $2,000. Your estimate is free and quotes the actual slabs.
Is the estimate really free?
Yes. We come to the property, look at the concrete and the ground around it, and give you a written price with no obligation. If lifting is not the right fix, we say so.
Do you charge by the square foot?
No. Square-foot rates are a way of comparing methods, not a way to price a job. We price the lift: how far, how much void, how many slabs, how hard to reach.
How long does a lift last?
As long as the ground under it stays put. The voids that let the slab drop are filled, so the usual cause is gone. If water finds a new way under it years later, a re-lift is a small job — and if a lift we did moves, you don't pay for it.
Can you mudjack in winter in Iowa?
Not once the ground is frozen; the mixture needs to flow under the slab and the ground needs to accept it. Our season runs from spring thaw through late fall. Book early in spring — it fills fast.
Do you charge extra to travel?
We travel to every job — our work has run from Des Moines to Okoboji. Tell us where the job is when you ask for the estimate and the estimate will say exactly what is included, so there are no surprises on the day.