Concrete Jacking in Kansas City
Concrete jacking lifts a sunken slab back to level instead of replacing it. In Kansas City, PolyJacks injects high-density polyurethane foam through dime-sized holes; the foam fills the voids underneath and raises driveways, walks and patios, usually usable within hours. It costs far less than tearing out and repouring the concrete.
What Is Concrete Jacking?
Concrete jacking is the process of lifting a sunken concrete slab back to level by pumping material into the empty space underneath it — instead of demolishing the slab and pouring a new one. You'll also hear it called slab jacking, slabjacking, concrete lifting, or concrete raising; they all describe the same basic idea. A slab sinks because the soil beneath it settled or washed away and left a void. Concrete jacking fills that void from below and floats the slab back up to where it started.
It's an umbrella term, not a single technique. There are two main families of concrete jacking, and they differ by what gets pumped underneath: expanding polyurethane foam (the modern method, called polyjacking) and a wet cement-and-soil slurry (the older method, called mudjacking). PolyJacks does the foam version across the Kansas City metro. The rest of this page walks through how concrete jacking works, when it beats replacement, and how to tell which method your slab needs.
Concrete Jacking vs. Tearing the Slab Out
The reason concrete jacking exists is simple: a slab that has sunk is usually still a perfectly good piece of concrete. It didn't crumble — the ground under it moved. Replacing it means renting a breaker, hauling out the rubble, forming, pouring, and then waiting the better part of a month for the new concrete to fully cure before it carries a full load. Concrete jacking skips all of that. We work through a handful of dime-sized holes, lift the existing slab in place, patch the holes, and you're using the surface within hours.
That difference in disruption is the whole point. There's no torn-up yard, no week of caution tape, no ripping out landscaping to get equipment in. As long as the slab is structurally sound and hasn't shattered into loose pieces, lifting it is faster, cleaner, and easier on the property than replacement — which is why concrete jacking has become the default fix for settled residential and commercial slabs.
The Two Methods: Foam Jacking vs. Mudjacking
Foam concrete jacking — polyjacking — injects a two-part polyurethane that expands 30 to 40 times its liquid volume the moment it's mixed. It fills the void, compresses loose soil, and lifts the slab, then cures into a closed-cell, waterproof material within minutes. Because it's light, it doesn't add much weight to the already-weak soil that let the slab sink in the first place. See our full breakdown of how polyjacking works.
Mudjacking, the traditional method, pumps a heavy slurry of cement, sand, and soil through larger holes to push the slab up. It works, and it's been used for decades, but the slurry is heavy, the holes are bigger, it isn't waterproof, and it can settle again over time. We lay out the trade-offs in detail on our polyjacking vs. mudjacking and mudjacking in Kansas City pages. PolyJacks chose foam because Kansas City's shifting clay soil punishes anything heavy you set on top of it.
Why Kansas City Slabs Sink and Need Jacking
Concrete jacking is common in the Kansas City metro for one main reason: the soil. Much of the region sits on clay that swells when it gets wet and shrinks when it dries out, so the ground under your driveway, patio, or sidewalk is constantly expanding and contracting with the seasons. Add dozens of freeze-thaw cycles every winter and roughly 40 inches of rain a year arriving in uneven bursts, and voids open up under slabs that were poured on grade with no deep footings.
Poor drainage speeds it up — a downspout dumping water at the edge of a slab, or fill dirt that was never properly compacted when the house was built, will hollow out the soil faster. Once the void is there, the slab has nothing to rest on and it drops. For a deeper look at the causes, see why concrete sinks in Kansas City.
What Concrete Jacking Can Lift
If it's a slab-on-grade surface that settled while staying in one piece, concrete jacking can usually raise it. The most common jobs we take across the metro:
- Driveways that dropped at the street or the garage apron
- Sidewalks and walkways with a trip-hazard lip between panels
- Patios that pool water or pitch back toward the house
- Garage floors that dip near the overhead door
- Pool decks that sank around the coping
- Porches, stoops, and concrete steps that pulled away from the house
- Commercial floors, loading areas, and ADA trip hazards
What concrete jacking can't fix is concrete that has broken into separate, unstable pieces, or a slab still sinking because of an active plumbing leak or a root pushing up from below. In those cases we'll say so during the estimate rather than pump foam under a slab that won't hold.
Concrete Jacking Near Me: Serving the Kansas City Metro
When you search for concrete jacking near me from anywhere in the Kansas City metro, PolyJacks covers it. We're based in Spring Hill and work both sides of the state line — Johnson, Wyandotte, Jackson, Clay, and Platte counties, roughly 35 suburbs within about 50 miles. Overland Park, Olathe, Lee's Summit, Shawnee, Lenexa, Blue Springs, and the rest of the metro are all regular stops.
Most concrete jacking jobs are done in two to four hours. You can walk on the lifted slab in 15 to 30 minutes and drive on it in one to two hours — no waiting a month like a replacement. We just ask that heavy vehicles stay off for 48 hours while the soil settles back around the foam. Every job starts with a free on-site estimate.
Is Concrete Jacking Right for Your Slab?
The honest answer is: usually, but not always — and the only way to know for sure is to look at the slab. If your concrete is intact but has sunk, cracked at the seams from settling, or sits lower than it used to, it's very likely a good candidate for foam jacking. If it's shattered, or if something like a leak or a tree root is still actively moving it, lifting won't be the right call until that's addressed, and we'll tell you straight.
The estimate is free, there's no obligation, and if foam isn't the right fix we'll point you in a better direction. Call or text (913) 713-7794, or book a free estimate and we'll come take a look. Curious what a job runs? Our concrete leveling cost page explains how pricing works without the runaround.
How polyjacking works — 90 seconds
Our team walks you through the three-step process: dime-sized holes, high-density polyurethane foam that fills every void and compresses the soil beneath your slab, and use within hours with no heavy trucks. Call (913) 713-7794 or book a free estimate below.
Frequently asked
Is concrete jacking the same as mudjacking?
Not exactly. Concrete jacking is the umbrella term for lifting a sunken slab by injecting material underneath it. Mudjacking is one method of doing that — pumping a heavy cement slurry. Polyjacking, which uses lightweight expanding foam, is the other. PolyJacks does the foam version. Both raise the slab; foam is lighter, waterproof, and uses smaller holes.
How much does concrete jacking cost in Kansas City?
It depends on the size of the slab and how much foam the void takes to fill, so we quote it only after a free on-site look — no guessing sight unseen. What we can tell you is that concrete jacking costs a fraction of tearing out and replacing the same slab, and the estimate is always free. See our cost page for how we price a job.
Is there concrete jacking near me in the Kansas City area?
Yes. PolyJacks provides concrete jacking throughout the KC metro on both sides of the state line, from our base in Spring Hill. Most jobs finish in a few hours and the slab is usable within hours. Call (913) 713-7794 or book a free estimate to get on the schedule.
How long does concrete jacking last?
Foam concrete jacking is designed to be permanent under normal conditions — the cured polyurethane is waterproof, inert, and doesn't break down or wash out the way soil does. The main thing that can undo any lift is unmanaged water, so keeping gutters clear and grading water away from the slab is what protects it long term.
Get your free concrete leveling estimate
No obligation — and if foam isn't the right fix, we'll tell you straight.
Book your free estimate
Pick a time that works for you — free on-site inspection, no obligation. Prefer to talk? Call (913) 713-7794.