Mud Jacking Mistakes
The biggest mistake people make is not waiting a week to receive a competitive estimate. There are several contractors doing this kind of work who are doing sub-standard work. Be patient and get an estimate from a company who has a great reputation, look for great credentials. There are no licenses required to be a mud jack contractor, but it takes a lifetime of experience to do it correctly. Check the BBB and of Tom Martino's exclusive referral list at the troubleshooter.com.
What is Mud Jacking?
Mud jacking consists of drilling a hole thru the top side of a concrete slab. The hole diameter varies around 1 5/8” to 2 1/2 after the hole has been drilled we inject a mud slurry thru a 2 ½ diameter hose. At the end of the hose is a wand handle with a pipe attached that goes into the drilled hole. After the void under the slab has been filled in we start the vertical raise up to the proper elevation by means of the hydraulic pump. After we get the proper elevation we clean the slurry out of the hole and plug the holes with cement mix. If raising a garage floor, the following morning you can drive on the slab. When stabilizing a slab that has a void under it, most of the time it’s best to drill a hole from the top surface. However there are exceptions to where a mud hose can be push in under the slab to fill the void and stabilize the concrete slab.
Mud jacking offers an alternative to replacing concrete flatwork. Project examples include sidewalk porches, driveways, patios, floors, and interior floors which can be leveled at a fraction of the cost of concrete demolition and replacement. If the concrete slab is a good candidate to be mud jacked, the customer can typically save up to 90% over replacement costs of demolition and pouring new concrete floors. Typically a good candidate means the slab isn’t too old and the slab is intact, not broken or cracked into pieces. Once a slab becomes too old it often becomes too soft which means it can start cracking or breaking apart when you start to raise it. Too old also depends on the type of concrete that was poured to begin with. Concrete has different strengths, and every slab of concrete is different depending on how hard it was poured, how thick it is, and what kind of reinforcements was put inside the concrete. A typical concrete slab of concrete is 4” thick with wire mesh or fiberglass in the mix.
Mud Jacking Season runs from March thru November.
When winter comes and the ground freezes holding onto the concrete slab and won’t release it for mud-jacking until the freeze cycle ends. We typically stop work from December through February give or take a couple of weeks.
Mud Jacking Colored Concrete or Brick Pavers over Concrete.
When drilling through colored concrete or brick, we save the colored dust to sprinkle on top of the grey concrete to match to color of the original work. This is not a perfect solution but it turns out to look good enough to match the existing concrete color, and again saves up to 90% over demolition and new concrete work.
Will Mud Jacking Damage the Foundation of the House?
After 23 years of experience I have never seen a foundation problem arise from mud jacking.
What is spalling?
When water gets into the concrete and freezes, it can chip off the surface resulting in pits or holes in the surface of the concrete. This is called spalling.
How long till I can drive on my new Mudjacked Driveway?
We recommend you wait overnight hours for the concrete to cure in the drilled holes before driving on your new mudjacked driveway.
What is loam soil?
Loam soil is very dense dirt excellent for stabilizing the concrete slab and reduces the possibility of the concrete sinking in the future.
The Mud Jacking Process.
After a slab has been chosen to be a good candidate for the mud jacking process we can begin. We start by drilling a series of holes trough the top side of the slab. The typical size of the hole drilled is 2.5 inch hole; however a smaller size hole drilled is more desirable because it does not stand out as much. Also a smaller hole reduces the possibility of cracking the slab. The holes are usually drilled with a rock drill; which drills a 4” deep hole in about 20 seconds. I have drilled holes 3'6" deep thru concrete. After drilling the hole we can tell how thick to pump the mud slurry. The holes are drilled approximately 4 foot apart from each other on the center of the concrete slab. Once a hole has been drilled we can tell if the slab has a void or a cavity under it. We want to raise the slab to the proper elevation and also fill the voids under the slab where it is being raised. We do this by pumping slurry into the voids under the slab. If the slurry is pumped in too soupy the mud can start running out from under the slab, this is called “blow out”. It takes years too figure out how thick and how much slurry to pump to avoid blowout problems. One large problem with mud jacking is some contractors pump the mud slurry to thick. This causes an ant pile effect of mud under each hole, and results in not filling in the voids properly. This is a problem in two ways. First it can possibly crack the slab pumping the mud in too thick. Second the slab won’t stay up as long as it should because the job wasn’t done properly filling in all the voids under the concrete. This gives the industry a bad name because some people tell others I had my concrete mud jacked and it didn’t work, or my slabs have sunk again.
When raising concrete slabs, the soil density is very important. In older homes, the ground around the house has become denser making it a better candidate for mud jacking. The types of soil concrete is laid on is very important to the life of your concrete. Some parts of the country are sand and don’t have the need for concrete raising, because there is not much settling in sandy soil. Other parts of the country have the type of soil that once it’s disturbed (dug out to build a house) it takes much more time for the soil to settle back down and become dense enough to stop settling. Often this settling process takes several years, and can result in uneven or sinking concrete slabs. Mud jacking is an accepted practice for concrete repair from sinking or uneven concrete slabs. However if you are a real picky person and want the concrete to look perfect you may want to pay the BIG BUCKS and replace your concrete.
Choosing a contractor with the best equipment is important. A lot of contractors pump the mud slurry from the street. The problem with this is if the slurry is the wrong thickness they have to pump all the mud through that long hose to obtain the proper thickness. This can become very problematic for the operator. Its best if possible to use a contractor who has a portable unit which gets filled up at the street in a hopper then is moved to the concrete slab and pumped through a shorter hose. It’s also easier to control the thickness of the slurry if you have a portable hopper.
Making the mud slurry is a key part of the mud jacking process. Sandy loam soil is an excellent material to use when creating the mud slurry. Homeowners have asked if there is cement in the mix. Typically There is cement in the slurry mix, but it has to be the right amount. The most important part of the slurry mix is making sure the voids are filled when raising the slab. If a contractor adds too much Portland cement to the mix it can actually become a problem with filling the voids. First it can stain the surface of the slab. Second it prevents the mud from flowing properly under the slab. Too much cement in the slurry causes the mud to drag and not flow easily under the slab resulting in unfilled void spaces. When selecting a contractor try to pick someone with experience in mud jacking to make sure the slurry is ideal for your project.
As a rule of thumb mud jacking can be done most of the time, however there are exceptions. If an entire garage floor has sunk 4” or more it’s probably better to look at demolition and replacement. If the floor has several spider cracks on the surface and is over 30 years old it’s probably better to replace the concrete. Make sure your contractor carries at least 5 yards of material in his rig. Not having enough materiel can result in the contractor taking short cuts resulting in substandard work.
