Poly VS Mudjacking

This post is part of the Alchemy-Spetec Contractor Lens series, featuring views, news & case studies written by our customers.  This article, written by Robin Smith of Dalinghaus Construction, contrasts the methods of polyurethane slab lifting vs mudjacking.  If you're an Alchemy-Spetec customer and you'd like to discuss writing content for our blog, please send an email to marketing@alchemy-spetec today!

Have a sinking slab you need to lift? Here at Dalinghaus we offer Polyurethane Slab Leveling, but we often get calls from customers asking for something called “Mudjacking”. If you follow us online, you have gotten an opportunity to learn a lot about Poly, but might not know anything about mudjacking. We are going to break down some of the basic differences between them! You do have options! So let’s take a look at Poly VS Mudjacking, and see what looks better to you.

What is Mudjacking???

Mudjacking is the process of lifting a building, driveway, or any slab of concrete by pumping a mixture of concrete and water (known as mud to people who work with it) underneath a sunken slab raise it back to a level or a predetermined lift. The process of mudjacking settled concrete has been around for over 60 years, and as such, the issues with the process have been well documented. Some of those issues include:

• Weight Of Material: The weight of the “mud” material can be as much as 100lbs per cubic foot! (Compare that to Polyurethane that comes in at about 2-4lbs per cubic foot!) Typically a slab starts sinking in the first place because the soil around it has been compromised. The added weight of the concrete can cause further settlement. Why fix a problem with something that potentially adds to the problem?
• Big Holes In Your Concrete: Mudjacking requires drilling a 2-3” hole through your slab to pump the thick material through. The number of holes needed is dependant upon the condition of the concrete. (Compare that to Poly that only requires a ⅝” hole to inject material!) These holes then need to be patched, and they tend to stick out like a sore thumb. 
• Curing Time: The concrete that is pumped under the slab isn’t exposed to the sun, it takes longer to cure. It can take days to a week to dry! (Our Polyurethane sets up in just seconds! Check out this project that we completed at the Orange County Transit Authority. Our technology was able to keep the bus schedule on track without missing a beat!)

When it comes to Poly VS Mudjacking, Poly makes WAY more sense to us! If you want to learn more about how we can help you, give us a call!

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