What to Expect on the Day of Your Concrete Leveling Job
Most people have never watched concrete leveling done before they schedule it. Here's exactly what happens from arrival to completion.
Before the Job: Preparation
There's not much you need to do. For driveway work, move vehicles out. For patio or pool deck work, move furniture and planters away from the areas being lifted. For garage floor work, move vehicles and clear space around the settled areas.
We don't need special access to utilities, and we don't need you to be home for the work itself — though many homeowners prefer to be there so they can watch and ask questions. We're fine either way.
Arrival and Walk-Through
When the crew arrives, we do a brief walk-through of the job — confirming the scope, noting anything that's changed since the estimate, and making sure we're aligned on what's being addressed. If you're home, this is a good time to point out anything you want us to pay particular attention to.
Setup
Equipment is positioned near the work area. For mudjacking, this means parking the pump truck near the slab — we need access to run hoses from the truck to the injection points. For poly foam, equipment is more compact and portable.
Drilling
We drill injection holes through the settled slab — typically 1.5–2 inches in diameter. Drilling takes a few minutes per hole. You'll hear the drill and see dust, which we manage as we work. Injection point placement is planned to reach the void beneath the slab efficiently.
On decorative or stamped surfaces, we place holes in pattern elements or joint lines to minimize the visibility of patches.
Injection
Mudjacking: You'll hear the pump running and see slurry (gray-brown material) being pumped through hoses into the holes. As material fills the void and pressure builds, the slab begins to rise. We watch the surface carefully — monitoring for cracks, watching the rate of lift, and checking grade with a level.
Poly foam: The process is quieter. Foam components mix at the injection tip and expand beneath the slab within seconds. We inject small quantities, check lift, and continue as needed. The foam makes a low hissing sound as it expands.
Both methods: once the slab reaches grade, we stop. The goal is level — not higher than the adjacent surfaces.
Patching
After injection, we patch each drill hole with cement. This takes a few minutes per hole. We clean the surrounding surface of any material that came up around the holes.
Cleanup and Review
We clean the work area, put away equipment, and walk you through the results — showing you what was done, what grade was achieved, and what to watch for over the next few days. If there's anything that didn't perform exactly as expected (rare, but it happens), we'll tell you then.
After the Job: Return-to-Use Timing
- Mudjacking: Foot traffic is generally fine within a few hours. Vehicle traffic: wait 24 hours.
- Poly foam: Foot traffic in 15–30 minutes. Vehicles within an hour.
Patched holes are fully cured within 24–48 hours depending on conditions.
Total Time
Most residential jobs — a driveway, a stretch of sidewalk, a patio — take 2–4 hours from arrival to departure. A single sidewalk panel can be done in under an hour. Large multi-area jobs or commercial work may take a full day.