Mudjacking cost per square foot

Mudjacking costs $3 to $8 per square foot of slab being lifted, measured on the concrete area rather than the floor area of the house. A 600-square-foot driveway at that rate runs $1,800 to $4,800; a 1,500-square-foot slab runs $4,500 to $12,000. Those figures cover the slurry, the drilling, and the pumping, and they do not cover inspection, patching, or any structural repair the slab was hiding.

Mudjacking is a slab-lifting method that pumps a cement, sand, and water slurry through small holes drilled in settled concrete, filling the voids underneath and raising the slab back toward its original grade.

What the Square-Foot Rate Includes

The rate is built from material, hole drilling, pumping equipment, and labor. Slurry is inexpensive per cubic foot compared with polyurethane foam, so the material line is small and the labor and equipment lines carry most of the price. A crew working around a finished basement, a furnace, or a low ceiling spends more time per square foot than one lifting an open driveway.

The holes matter too: slurry goes through holes 1 to 2 inches across, spaced a few feet apart, and each one has to be patched afterward. Patching is sometimes inside the square-foot rate and sometimes a separate line, which is one reason two quotes for the same slab can differ.

The Numbers Behind the Estimate

• $3 to $8 per square foot for mudjacking.
• $5 to $15 per square foot for polyurethane foam lifting.
• $3 to $12 per square foot across all slab lifting methods.
• 5 to 15 years of typical service life before re-settlement becomes possible.
• $700 to $2,500 per helical pier and $1,000 to $3,000 per push pier if lifting is not enough.
• $400 to $1,500 for an engineer inspection.
• 1 to 2 weeks of inspection lead time and 1 to 3 weeks for permits.
• 1/16 inch for a cosmetic crack, 1/8 inch for a crack worth monitoring, and 2 inches of wall movement for anything structural.

These are planning ranges. A per-square-foot price is only meaningful once you know the area being lifted.

Working Out Your Own Square Footage

Measure the slab, not the house. A 20-foot by 30-foot driveway is 600 square feet; at $3 the job is $1,800 and at $8 it is $4,800. A 30-foot by 50-foot slab is 1,500 square feet, and the arithmetic gives $4,500 to $12,000. A single-car garage slab at 20 feet by 20 feet is 400 square feet, or $1,200 to $3,200.

Small jobs break the arithmetic because of minimum charges. A 250-square-foot patio quoted at a $1,400 minimum works out to $1,400 ÷ 250 = $5.60 per square foot even though the rate on a larger job would be lower. Ask for the minimum charge separately.

Multiple slabs are summed before pricing: a 600-square-foot driveway and a 400-square-foot garage apron are 1,000 square feet, or $3,000 to $8,000 at the published rate, though a crew may discount the second slab.

Mudjacking vs Polyurethane Foam

Both columns are estimates. The weight difference matters on soft soil: slurry adds load to the same soil that failed, while foam adds very little. The cost difference matters on a budget: at the top of the foam range, a 600-square-foot slab costs nearly twice the mudjacking top end. The piers vs mudjacking comparison covers the case where neither lifting method addresses the cause.

What Changes the Price on Site

Access is the first variable. A slab the pump truck can back up to is cheaper than one behind a fence, and a slab inside a basement is more expensive than either, because the equipment has to be brought in.

The condition of the slab is the second. A slab cracked into several pieces may not survive lifting, and a contractor who prices the lift without noting the cracking is pricing the wrong job. Slabs with post-tension cables need a different approach entirely.

The third is what the lifting is for. A driveway that has settled half an inch is a cosmetic lift. A slab that settled because the soil beneath it is washing away needs the drainage corrected first, or the lift will be undone by the next wet season.

Lifespan and the Cost of Doing It Twice

Mudjacking service life is commonly estimated at 5 to 15 years. Take $5.50 per square foot on an 800-square-foot slab: 800 × $5.50 = $4,400. If it is lifted again 12 years later at the same price, the two jobs total $8,800 over 24 years. Foam at $10 per square foot on the same slab is 800 × $10 = $8,000 as a single job.

That arithmetic does not prove foam is cheaper. It shows the comparison is not mudjacking versus foam at one moment; it is one lift versus however many lifts the slab needs over the time you own the house. On stable soil with corrected drainage, a single mudjacking job can last the full 15 years. On expansive clay with a downspout dumping at the corner, it may not last five.

When Lifting Is the Wrong Repair

Lifting restores elevation. It does not restore a footing that has rotated, a wall that is bowing, or a slab that has lost support across its whole area. The signs that lifting is the wrong tool are structural: wall cracks wider than 1/8 inch, differential movement approaching 2 inches, doors that no longer close, or a floor that slopes toward an interior wall rather than the exterior grade.

Then the repair is underpinning, wall anchors, or carbon fiber, and the lift becomes cosmetic work. Our slab lifting methods guide covers the alternatives, and foundation crack repair cost covers what crack repair adds to the bill.

Getting a Quote You Can Compare

1. Measure each slab’s length and width and write down the square footage.
2. Note the crack pattern and photograph it before anyone quotes, so the scope cannot quietly change.
3. Ask whether patching, inspection, and permits are included, and get the minimum charge in writing.
4. Ask what drainage correction is recommended, because without it the lift is temporary.
5. Get two lifting quotes and one structural opinion if any crack exceeds 1/8 inch.

If all three come back as lifting quotes, the crack width was never the issue. If one comes back recommending piers, ask what measurement drove that recommendation. The foundation repair quote guide shows how to compare the answers.