IN THIS ARTICLE
Find out everything you need to know about polyurethane foam concrete leveling, including when it's the best option to lift sinking concrete slabs.
By keeping your concrete level and intact, you can proactively maintain your investment and prevent safety hazards that come along with uneven concrete surfaces.
A-1 Concrete Leveling has been lifting settled concrete slabs for over 30 years, and in this time we’ve seen what the different methods of concrete leveling, like mudjacking or stone slurry grout leveling, can do to keep concrete looking great.
This article will explore foam leveling as a method for concrete leveling, how it works, and why we don’t use it as our first choice when repairing unlevel concrete.
What Is Foam Concrete Leveling?
Foam leveling is sometimes called “foam jacking”, “poly jacking”, and “poly leveling”. Although it goes by many different names, they all mean the same thing.
Foam leveling is the process of lifting settled concrete slabs using polyurethane foam. To do this, technicians drill small holes in the slab and inject the foam into the holes. The foam expands and cures under the slab, causing it to rise back into a level position.
How Does Foam Concrete Leveling Work?
Once small holes are drilled into a sunken concrete slab, liquid polyurethane foam is injected into the holes.
A chemical reaction within the polyurethane foam causes it to expand once it’s injected under the settled concrete slab. The pressure from this expansion causes the slab to lift back up.
The foam usually hardens within thirty minutes of the injection, leaving your concrete supported by a strong foam base.
Cost of Polyurethane Foam Concrete Leveling
Most of the time, it is less expensive to lift and repair a concrete slab with foam than it would be to tear it out and pour new concrete. However, these savings aren't nearly as substantial as they are with stone slurry grout concrete leveling.
For limestone slurry grout leveling, you can typically expect to see savings over replacement of the concrete up to 70%. The cost of materials for foam can be significantly higher, so these savings can drop dramatically.
When Do We Recommend Foam Leveling?
Foam leveling is useful for certain applications, like in hard-to-reach places where accessibility is important, and when a smaller drill hole size is necessary for the repair.
Here at A-1 Concrete Leveling, we typically stay away from foam leveling unless it’s needed for specific applications due to the drawbacks that come with it.
Some of the main problems with foam leveling are its high cost, the long-term durability of the lift, less control, and the potential for accidents or melting.
Read more about the pros and cons of foam leveling.
Now What?
Want to know more about concrete leveling? Check out the following articles from our online resource library, Concrete Academy:
Interested in seeing how concrete leveling can revive your sunken concrete? Click the link below to request a free onsite estimate with a member of the A-1 team!
