Mudjacking vs Polyjacking
Six measurable differences, not marketing preference. Cost, hole size, weight, cure time, service life and cold weather performance, with the specific Lubbock conditions that decide which way each job should go.
Mudjacking costs $3 to $8 per square foot and polyjacking costs $5 to $12, and on most Lubbock residential slabs the more expensive method is the better buy. Both lift a settled slab by filling the void beneath it and raising the concrete with pressure. They differ on what gets pumped in, and every other difference follows from that one.
Mudjacking, also called slabjacking, pumps a cement, sand and soil slurry through 1 to 2 inch holes. Polyjacking, also called polylevelling or foam injection, injects a two-component polyurethane through 5/8 inch ports. This page compares them on the six things that actually change the outcome, and names the jobs where each one wins.
The six differences, in numbers
Everything below is a physical property of the two materials rather than a claim about workmanship. A good mudjacking crew and a good foam crew still face the same numbers.
| Measure | Mudjacking | Polyjacking |
|---|---|---|
| Cost per square foot | $3 to $8 | $5 to $12 |
| Hole diameter | 1 to 2 inches | 5/8 inch |
| Weight per cubic foot | 100 to 150 lbs | 2 to 4 lbs |
| Cure before load | 24 to 72 hours | About 15 minutes |
| Expected service life | 5 to 10 years | 10 to 15 years |
| Cold weather | Unreliable below freezing | Unaffected |
National foam pricing stretches to $25 per square foot on deep lifts and specialised applications. The $5 to $12 band reflects typical Texas residential and light commercial flatwork.
The one that favours slurry is price per square foot, which is also the line most homeowners lead with. That is reasonable, but it is worth completing the arithmetic: a $1,200 saving on a driveway that needs redoing in year seven, against a foam lift still holding at year twelve, is not a saving. It is a deferral plus a second mobilisation.
Weight is the difference that matters most
A cement slurry weighs 100 to 150 pounds per cubic foot. Cured structural lifting foam weighs 2 to 4 pounds per cubic foot. That single ratio explains most of the service-life gap between the two methods.
Work it through on a real slab. A 400 square foot driveway that has dropped two inches needs roughly 67 cubic feet of material to fill the void and raise the concrete. With slurry that is about 6,600 pounds of new permanent load. With foam it is about 200 pounds. The soil under that driveway already failed to carry the slab. One of those two numbers asks it to do considerably more than it was already failing at.
Where the subgrade is sound and the settlement had a single cause that has been corrected, the extra weight is survivable and the cheaper method is a reasonable trade. Where the subgrade is a washed-out sand skeleton, which describes most of the residential settlement we see in Lubbock, it is not.
Why Lubbock soil pushes the answer toward foam
Most of the city sits on Amarillo fine sandy loam and Acuff loam, formed in loamy eolian deposits of the Blackwater Draw Formation. These are well drained soils over a calcic caliche horizon roughly 30 to 60 inches down. Water moves through the profile easily, reaches the cemented layer, and runs laterally, carrying fine particles out from under slabs as it goes.
What is left is coarse sand with open voids between grains, which is weak but compactible. Expanding foam pushes outward into that material and densifies it before the slab moves, so part of the repair is an improved subgrade. Slurry fills the cavity but sits on the loose skeleton as a heavy new mass without consolidating it.
On playa margins the soil is Randall clay, a very-fine smectitic clay that ponds for long periods and swells and shrinks with moisture. Neither method controls that. Those lots need drainage corrected as part of the scope, whichever way the lifting decision goes.
Where mudjacking is genuinely the better call
Thick industrial and commercial slabs over engineered fill. When six inches or more of concrete sits on properly compacted base designed for forklift or truck loading, a few thousand pounds of grout is immaterial against the design load, and the per-square-foot saving across a large floor is real money. That is the clearest case, and it covers a good share of the commercial work we quote.
Large agricultural and shop floors across Hockley and Hale counties, for the same reason at a different scale. Void filling where no lift is needed and grout is simply a good bulk filler. And slabs whose settlement had one identified cause that is now fixed, such as a consolidated utility trench or a repaired supply line, where the subgrade is not going to keep moving.
Where mudjacking is the wrong call
Decorative, stamped or stained concrete, because 2 inch patches are permanent and obvious. Slabs measuring under four inches at the core. Slabs with multiple through cracks, where distributing pressure across more, smaller ports matters more than saving on material. Pool decks and interior floors, where both weight and cure time work against you. And anything scheduled in the October to April freeze window.
How to decide on your own slab
Four questions settle it in most cases. How thick is the concrete, measured rather than assumed? If under four inches, the answer is foam or replacement, not slurry. What caused the settlement, and has it stopped? An ongoing cause rules out adding weight. Does the finished appearance matter? Decorative surfaces rule out 2 inch patches. And can you take the slab out of service for two to three days? If it is your only driveway, that has a cost.
We answer all four on site before quoting, and we put both methods on the same sheet with cost, cure time and expected service life beside each other. If slurry is right for your slab we will say so, and it is the cheaper job for us to sell. Send the slab details through the contact form to start that.
The soil argument underneath all of this is not our opinion. The USDA Official Series Description for Amarillo soils records the fine sandy loam surface and calcic horizon that make Lubbock subgrades wash out rather than heave, and the description for Olton clay loam records the heavier, slower-draining profile found north toward Hale County where the balance shifts.
Mudjacking vs polyjacking questions
What is the difference between mudjacking and polyjacking?
Mudjacking pumps a cement, sand and soil slurry through 1 to 2 inch holes to raise a slab, while polyjacking injects expanding two-component polyurethane foam through 5/8 inch ports. The practical differences follow from the materials: slurry weighs 100 to 150 pounds per cubic foot and cures in 24 to 72 hours, foam weighs 2 to 4 pounds and cures in about 15 minutes.
Which is cheaper, mudjacking or polyjacking?
Mudjacking is cheaper up front at $3 to $8 per square foot against $5 to $12 for polyjacking, roughly a 40 percent difference. Whether it is cheaper over a decade is a separate question: mudjacked lifts average 5 to 10 years and foam lifts 10 to 15, so a repair that needs redoing in year seven erases the initial saving plus a second mobilisation fee.
Which lasts longer, mudjacking or foam?
Polyurethane foam lasts longer, typically 10 to 15 years against 5 to 10 for mudjacking. The reason is weight, not material durability. Cured slurry is a tough material, but a residential lift adds thousands of pounds of permanent load to soil that has already proven it could not carry the slab alone. Foam adds a fraction of that, so the subgrade is under far less new stress.
Is polyjacking worth the extra cost?
On most Lubbock residential slabs, yes. The extra $2 to $4 per square foot buys roughly double the expected service life, same-day use instead of a two to three day wait, and 5/8 inch patches instead of 2 inch ones. On a thick commercial slab over engineered fill, where added weight is immaterial and the area is large, mudjacking's price advantage compounds and the answer flips.
Which method is better for a driveway?
Polyjacking is usually better for a residential driveway in Lubbock. Driveways here typically settle because water has washed fines out of a sandy subgrade, so the soil is in a weakened state, and that is precisely the case where adding three tons of slurry shortens the repair's life. Foam also lets you park on the slab the same day rather than finding somewhere else for two to three nights.
Which method is better for a sidewalk?
Polyjacking is better for most sidewalks, mainly because of hole size and cure time. A 2 inch mudjacking patch is permanently visible on a 4 foot wide walk, and residential walks are often near the 4 inch minimum thickness where slurry pressure is riskier. Foam's 5/8 inch ports disappear into a broomed finish and the walk is usable within the hour.
Can both methods be used on the same job?
Yes, and on larger mixed-scope jobs it is sometimes the right answer. A property might get slurry under a thick shop slab where weight does not matter and foam under the adjoining office floor and front walk where it does. We quote by slab rather than by property for exactly this reason, so each surface gets the method that suits it.
Does either method fix cracks in the concrete?
Neither method repairs cracks. Both correct elevation, and a crack that was there before the lift will still be there afterward. Where cracks matter to appearance they need separate cosmetic repair after the lift. Where a slab has many through cracks, that is usually a sign the correct answer is replacement rather than either lifting method.
Which method works better in cold weather?
Polyjacking works in cold weather and mudjacking does not, reliably. Polyurethane cures by an exothermic chemical reaction that proceeds regardless of ambient temperature. Cement slurry cures by hydration and can be damaged if it freezes before gaining strength. With Lubbock's freeze window running October through April and January average lows near 26 degrees, that is half the year where foam is the only dependable choice.
Get both methods priced
Send us the slab, the size and how far it has dropped. You get one written quote with mudjacking and polyjacking side by side, including cure time and expected service life for each, so the decision is made on numbers.
- Free written scope with a measured lift plan, not a verbal number
- Polyurethane foam on 5/8 inch holes, patched and colour matched
- Drive on the slab the same day, usually within the hour
- Insured crews, written workmanship guarantee on every lift