Concrete lifting for Mankato-area homes

How it works

1. Call or send a request

   Tell us your town and which slab has moved.

2. We connect you

   We pass it to an independent concrete lifting contractor that covers Mankato, North Mankato and nearby towns.

3. They call you back

   The contractor checks the slab in person and quotes the job directly.

What does this service do?

We connect homeowners in Mankato, North Mankato, St. Peter, Eagle Lake and the surrounding parts of Blue Earth and Nicollet counties with independent contractors who raise sunken concrete. That includes driveways, garage floors, sidewalks, front walks, patios, pool decks, stoops and steps. If you've noticed a slab that dropped, rocked or tilted, or a gap opening up next to the house, this is the place to start.

Does sunken concrete have to be torn out?

Not usually. When a slab is still whole, or broken into only a few large pieces, it can often be raised back into position from above. The contractor drills a few holes, injects material into the hollow underneath, and lets the pressure push the slab up. There's no demolition, no new pour, and in most cases you can use the concrete again the same day or the next. Tearing out and repouring makes more sense when the surface is flaking apart, the slab is shattered, or it sits on ground that keeps moving.

Foam or mudjacking?

Both methods fill the hollow under a slab and lift it. The differences are in the material:

• Polyurethane foam. Two liquids mix at the gun and expand under the slab. Holes are small, the foam is light, and it cures fast. It typically costs more. More on foam lifting.
• Mudjacking. A pumped slurry, usually based on cement, sand or soil. Holes are larger and the material is heavier, but it's often the less expensive choice for big, simple slabs. More on mudjacking.

Some local companies do both. Ask which one they'd use on your slab and why that one fits.

Why does concrete sink around Mankato?

A few local conditions show up again and again:

• Real winters. Mankato's January averages a daily low of about 6°F, and the city gets close to 39 inches of snow in a normal year. Water that reaches the soil under a slab freezes, swells and pushes up, then leaves soft or empty spots when it thaws.
• Rain and snowmelt. The city averages close to 34 inches of precipitation a year. Downspouts and sump lines that dump next to a walk or driveway slowly carry the base away.
• Valley and bluff ground. Mankato sits in the Minnesota River valley, which the glacial River Warren cut up to 5 miles wide and 250 feet deep. Homes on the bluffs, ravine edges and river terraces sit on very different ground from homes on the flat farmland uplands, and slopes here are prone to erosion.
• Backfill near the house. Soil dug out for a basement and pushed back in is looser than undisturbed ground. Stoops, patios and garage aprons poured on top of it often settle within the first decade.

Which signs mean you shouldn't wait?

• A raised edge on a walk or public sidewalk that someone could trip over
• A patio or stoop sloped so rain runs toward the foundation
• A drop between the garage floor and the driveway
• Steps that rock, tip or have pulled away from the door
• A gap between a slab and the house wide enough to swallow a coin
• Ice that keeps forming in the same low spot every winter

When do Mankato contractors do this work?

Most lifting gets done between spring thaw and freeze-up, when the soil under the slab isn't frozen solid. Spring is when winter damage shows: heaved panels, fresh cracks, and new low spots left by melting snow. Book early if you can. Foam can sometimes be installed in cooler weather than slurry, but frozen ground limits what any method can do.

What should be fixed along with the slab?

Raising concrete treats the result. To keep it from sinking again, deal with the water that caused it:

• Run downspouts several feet past the edge of walks, patios and the driveway
• Point sump pump discharge away from concrete and the foundation
• Seal the joint against the house and any open control joints (joint sealing)
• Build up soil that slopes back toward the house

Are you a concrete contractor?

No. Mankato Concrete Lifting is a referral service. We hand your request to an independent company that serves your address, and that company inspects, quotes, does and warranties the work. Before you sign anything, read how to vet a lifting contractor and the Mankato concrete lifting guide.

Areas we cover

• Mankato
• North Mankato
• St. Peter
• Eagle Lake

Planning ahead? Read our Mankato concrete lifting guide.