Carlsbad Concrete Group runs as North County's top-rated team in concrete slab leveling, specializing in polyurethane foam lifting, cement grout slabjacking, and void filling under hollow panels. We offer driveway panel lifts and patio re-leveling.
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Our team provides trip-edge removal at garage and walkway joints, delivering level, walkable concrete for homes and safer entries for both residential and commercial projects. Backed by 11 years in business and our 1-year workmanship warranty, we have completed over 1,460 projects, from three sunken driveway panels to a full row of patio slabs pulled back up to the house.
From drilling injection ports the size of a coin to checking each lifted panel with a long level, our team handles every detail. Serving Carlsbad and neighboring Poway, Lake San Marcos and Fairbanks Ranch, we also deal with the downspout or leak that sank the slab, so it stays where we put it.
Call us for a free estimate, and we will measure how far each panel has dropped before we quote the lift.
What you can hold us to
Linda, near Lake Poway, Poway
Three driveway panels sunk an inch and a half at the garage after years of watering
Investment and duration figures are estimates. Your written quote sets the final price and schedule.
Linda's driveway near Lake Poway had three driveway panels sunk an inch and a half at the garage after years of watering, leaving a trip edge where the drive met the garage slab. We drilled the 3 driveway panels, about 420 sq ft, and raised them with a polyurethane foam lift, then sent the downspout away from the slab so the soil below stays dry. The lift was an estimated $2,200 to $3,400 and took an estimated 3 to 5 hours. Linda now has a level drive with no trip edge at the garage, and the car was back on it the following days.
Slabs sink because the soil under them washes out, compresses or shrinks, and water is behind most of it. A downspout that empties beside a driveway, a sprinkler line aimed at a walk, or a leaking pipe slowly carries fines out from under the concrete until the panel has nothing left to sit on.
Fill that was never fully compacted is the second cause, common on 1980s tract lots in Carlsbad and on cut-and-fill pads in Fairbanks Ranch. Expansive clay is the third: Poway and Bonsall soils swell when wet and shrink in the dry season, so a panel there can drop a little more every year.
A sunken panel tips water toward the house, the void beneath it grows, and the trip edge at a garage or front walk is the classic fall hazard. Once a hollow panel cracks across the middle, lifting stops being an option and the job becomes a Driveway tear-out and repour.
Our slab lifting process is measure, drill, inject and check, and most driveway lifts are done in a single visit.
A Sunken slab lifting job typically takes an estimated 2 to 6 hours, and light traffic can usually go back on foam-lifted concrete the same day.
Sunken slab lifting in Carlsbad is estimated at roughly $1,800 to $4,100 per project for a typical sunken driveway, and the number of panels, how far they dropped and whether foam or grout is used move the price most. Polyurethane foam usually costs more than grout per panel but lifts with smaller holes and less weight on the soil.
Mudjacking or polyjacking settled driveway or walk panels back to level
Demolition, haul-off, compacted base, rebar and a broom or exposed finish for a 2-car drive
Integral color, a stamp pattern and release, sealed after cure, about 400 sq ft
Tear-out around the coping, new base and steel, a cool broom, salt or exposed finish
A poured cantilevered wall with footing, steel and drainage behind it, about 50 linear ft
Rough-sawn board forms leave the wood grain in the face, about 200 sq ft of wall
Investment and duration figures are estimates. Your written quote sets the final price and schedule.
| Job | Est. investment | Est. time on site |
|---|---|---|
| Sunken slab lifting | Est. $1,800 to $4,100 per project | Est. 2 to 6 hours |
| Driveway tear-out and repour when panels are broken | Est. $3,200 to $10,400 per project | Est. 2 to 5 days |
| Walkway or garden path rebuilt after a failed lift | Est. $1,400 to $3,400 per project | Est. 1 to 2 days |
| Slab foundation repair when the house itself settled | Est. $4,500 to $20,000 per project | Est. 1 to 4 days |
Linda's three Poway panels came in near the middle of the lifting range, and a full patio row in Lake San Marcos or Fairbanks Ranch typically sits higher because more panels need lifting.
These leveling prices are estimates and may change after we measure the drop and sound the panels. Your written quote sets the final price and the schedule, and it depends on the panel count, the void size and the lifting material.
Polyurethane foam is the lighter, faster lift, cement grout slabjacking is the traditional heavier fill, and replacement is the only answer once a panel has broken.
| Method | Est. investment | Est. time on site | What it suits |
|---|---|---|---|
| Polyurethane foam lift | Est. $1,800 to $4,100 per sunken driveway | Est. 2 to 6 hours | Intact panels, clay or soft soil, small injection holes |
| Cement grout slabjacking | Est. $1,800 to $4,100 per sunken driveway | Est. 2 to 6 hours | Intact panels over large voids on firm ground |
| Tear-out and repour | Est. $3,200 to $10,400 per 2-car drive | Est. 2 to 5 days | Broken, heaved or badly cracked panels |
Lifting foam is typically expected to last 10 to 15 years or longer, and a lifted panel keeps its original concrete, which is why lifting is the first thing we check before any tear-out.
We lift when the panel is in one piece and replace when it is not. A sunken panel with a single tight crack can usually be lifted; a panel broken into pieces, heaved by a root, or more than a few inches low is a new pour, and our estimator says which at the first visit.
A lifted panel keeps its own finish, so a broom drive stays broom and an exposed aggregate walk stays exposed aggregate. Where a panel has to be replaced instead, we match the surface, and a full drive rebuild becomes a driveway replacement with a 5 to 6 in. slab. Patios that are past lifting are often repoured as stamped and decorative concrete.
Homeowners choose us because we fix the water as well as the panel, so the lift does not have to be repeated. After 1,460 projects across North County, our crew knows which Carlsbad and Poway soils keep moving, and every lift carries our 1-year written workmanship warranty from the day the work is done.
We lift sunken concrete across a 35-mile radius of the Carlsbad yard, including the clay lots of Poway, the lakeside homes of Lake San Marcos and the gated streets of Fairbanks Ranch. Encinitas, Del Mar, Bonsall and every other area we serve are on our service area page.
When the sinking is under the house, not the drive, the job is slab foundation repair. Water that keeps washing out the base calls for concrete drainage solutions, and a sound but worn surface after the lift can take a resurfacing overlay.
Lifting a sunken driveway is estimated at roughly $1,800 to $4,100, and your written quote sets the final price once we measure the drop.
Foam is lighter and uses smaller holes, so we prefer it on Bonsall clay and soft fill; grout still works on firm ground with large voids.
Lifting foam is typically expected to last 10 to 15 years or longer, provided the water that sank the slab is redirected.
Foot traffic can return the same day, and vehicles typically return in an estimated 2 to 3 days.
A panel with one tight crack usually can, as on many Encinitas and Del Mar walks; a panel broken into pieces needs replacing.
Not if the cause is fixed, which is why we redirect downspouts and flag leaks on every Poway and Carlsbad lift.
No more than 10% or $1,000, whichever is less, with the balance due when the panels are level.
Request a free estimate, and we will measure every sunken panel, find the cause and quote the lift.
Start to finish
We measure the area, shoot the grades and check drainage before anything is quoted.
The quote names the tear-out, base, reinforcement, finish and control joint layout.
The subgrade is compacted and the forms and rebar are checked before the truck is booked.
The crew places, finishes and cuts the joints, then walks the cured work with you.
Where we work
Call us or send the form, and we will book a site walk and measure the job.
Calls only, we do not receive text messages.
