Polyjacking in Leawood, KS
If the slab where your driveway meets the garage has dropped an inch, or the patio out back now drains toward the house instead of away from it, you do not need a new pour. You need polyjacking in Leawood, KS, and Olson Foundation Repair has been doing this work across Johnson County since 1986. We drill a few penny-sized holes, inject expanding polyurethane foam underneath, and lift the slab back where it started. Most Leawood jobs wrap up in the morning. You can park on it that same afternoon.
Leawood Actually Has Two Different Sinking Concrete Problems
Your address tells us a lot before we pull into the driveway.
North Leawood (66206). Old Leawood, Leawood Estates, Patrician Woods, Verona Gardens. Brick ranches from the late 1940s and 50s, many still on their original flatwork. Nobody was compacting subgrade to a spec in 1954, and that front walk has now been through seventy winters. Expect stoops pulling away from the house, walkways tilting back toward the door, and a garage apron lip you feel every time you pull in.
South Leawood (66211 and 66224). Leawood South, Hallbrook Farms, Tomahawk Creek Estates, and the Pavilions of Leawood. Built from the 1990s on, on farmland that was cut, regraded, and backfilled. Fill that was not compacted well keeps settling for 5 to 15 years, so a newer home does not mean stable concrete. Pool decks and back patios sink here too, sometimes faster.
Same dirt underneath both. The USDA maps this part of Johnson County as Wymore and Ladoga clay: very high shrink-swell, Hydrologic Soil Group D. Water does not soak in, it sits. The clay swells in a wet spring, shrinks in an August drought, and leaves a void. Your slab is heavy, so it drops into the gap. That is the lip in your driveway.
More on what causes voids under concrete.
How Polyjacking in Leawood, KS Actually Works
Polyjacking (also called poly jacking, foam jacking, or concrete raising) is simple once you see it done.
- We drill injection ports through the slab, about 5/8 of an inch across. A mudjacking crew drills holes two inches or wider.
- We inject a two-part high-density polyurethane foam through those ports.
- The foam expands, fills the void, compacts the loose soil, and pushes the slab up. We watch it on a level the whole time, so it rises evenly instead of cracking.
- We patch the ports and clean up.
The foam sets hard in about 15 minutes and weighs 2 to 4 pounds per cubic foot. Mudjacking slurry runs closer to 100. On tired Leawood clay, that difference matters: the last thing weak soil needs is another hundred pounds pressing down. Polyurethane is also hydrophobic, so it will not wash out the next time we get four inches of rain overnight.
Once we poly jack a slab back to grade, you can walk on it right away and drive on it the same day.
More detail: our Kansas City polyjacking and concrete leveling page, polyjacking vs. mudjacking and polyurethane concrete raising pros and cons.
Concrete Raising Cost in Leawood
We price poly lifting by how much material actually goes under your slab. Our current rate is $10 per pound of polyurethane, so the size of the void determines your number. A bigger drop and a thicker slab mean more foam.
Now compare that to replacing it. At our rates, tear-out and repour runs:
| Job | Cost |
| Driveway, tear out and replace | $18 to $22 per sq. ft. |
| Patio, tear out and replace | $20 to $24 per sq. ft. |
A 600 square foot double driveway, which is typical for Leawood, costs somewhere around $10,800 to $13,200 to rip out and repour. Lifting the slab you already own costs a fraction of that.
What moves your concrete raising cost:
- How far it has to come up. A one-inch lift takes less foam than a four-inch lift.
- Slab thickness. An 8 to 10-inch garage slab is a lot heavier than a 4-inch sidewalk.
- Access. Landscaping, retaining walls, and pool surrounds add time.
- Crack sealing after the lift, so water does not get right back under the slab.
- Stamped or colored concrete. Leawood has a lot of it, and a new pour will never match the old color. Lifting keeps the original slab.
One honest note. You will find cheaper poly quotes in Johnson County. The difference is almost always how much foam goes in and what grade it is. Skimp on material and the slab settles again in a few years, and you pay for the job twice.
Full numbers on our pricing page, plus how much polyjacking costs and financing options.
Concrete Leveling vs. Tearing the Slab Out
| Concrete Leveling (Polyjacking) | Full Replacement | |
| Time on site | A few hours | Several days to a week |
| Use it again | Same day | Wait for the cure |
| Holes / mess | 5/8 inch ports, patched | Jackhammers, dumpster, torn up yard |
| Cost | A fraction of a repour | $18 to $24 per sq. ft. |
| Your existing slab | Kept | Landfill |
| Matching color | Not an issue | Good luck |
There is a Leawood wrinkle most homeowners find out about too late. If the concrete sits in the public right-of-way, the city gets involved:
- A Right-of-Way permit through Access Leawood is required, and that covers driveway approaches and public sidewalks
- Driveway approach concrete has to hit a 4,000 psi spec
- Curb work carries a $5,000 performance and maintenance bond on the contractor
- Permit fees double if work starts before the permit is issued
- Questions go to Leawood Public Works, (913) 663-9130
The upshot: most slabs we lift are private concrete behind the right-of-way line, so lifting skips all of it. No demo, no bond, no permitting. If your panel is in the right-of-way, we will tell you and handle the permit properly.
And since much of Leawood is HOA territory, replacement means a week of forms, mess, and a driveway your neighbors get to look at. Polyjacking is one truck for one morning.
Why Leawood Homeowners Call Olson
- We are a geotechnical company, not a concrete crew with a foam rig. That is not a slogan; it is a difference in how we look at your slab. A crew that only lifts concrete will lift your concrete. We want to know why it dropped, because if the answer is a downspout dumping straight onto that corner of the driveway, the slab is going to sink again, and you will have paid us twice.
- We have been on Leawood ground since 1986. Forty years of Johnson County clay, from Old Leawood ranches to new builds south of 135th. We know what the soil does here because we have been watching it do it.
- We fix the cause, not just the symptom. If the real problem is water, we can handle drainage solutions and gutter installation too. One company, one visit, one answer.
- We will talk you out of it if it is wrong. See the next section. We would rather lose a job than sell you a lift that fails.
- Family owned, 4.7 stars across 90+ Google reviews, BBB A+ accredited. Read what customers say.
- Free inspection, free estimate, no pressure. We do not do the sit-at-your-kitchen-table-until-you-sign routine.
What Working With Us Looks Like
Contact Us Now
Call (913) 592-3300 or send us a message, and we will get you on the schedule for a free in-home consultation. We cover all of Leawood, 66206 through 66224.
Get an Assessment
We measure how far the slab has dropped, find the voids underneath, and look at where your water is going. Gutters, downspouts, grade, all of it. Then we explain what is actually happening under there, walk you through your options, and hand you a bid.
Complete Work
Lift day. We drill the injection ports, inject the foam, watch the slab come up on a level, patch the holes, and clean up after ourselves. On time and on budget.
Get Peace of Mind
You drive on it the same day, the trip hazard is gone, and the slab you already owned is back where it belongs.
When We Will Tell You Polyjacking Is Not the Fix
Foam is not magic. Three situations in Leawood where we will tell you to spend your money elsewhere:
Tree root heave. Leawood’s tree canopy is why a lot of Old Leawood sidewalk panels are lifted, not sunk. Foam raises concrete. It cannot lower a panel a maple root pushed up. That is a cut-and-replace job, and if it is a street tree, the city’s tree ordinance and its sidewalk replacement program may apply. Call Leawood Public Works first. It could save you the cost of the repair.
The slab is done. Spalling, crumbling, or broken into five pieces? Lifting it just gives you level rubble. Replacement is the honest answer, and we do concrete work too.
It is not a slab problem. A buckling garage floor, or settling concrete alongside basement wall cracks, points under the house rather than under the driveway. That is a foundation piering or Leawood foundation repair conversation. See choosing the right concrete leveling method.
One liability note. In Leawood, you are responsible for clearing snow and ice from the sidewalk abutting your lot within 48 hours of a snow event. A tilted panel under a sheet of ice is how a neighbor gets hurt in front of your house. Trip hazards are worth fixing on their own.
Polyjacking and Concrete Leveling FAQs
We price poly lifting by material, currently $10 per pound of polyurethane, so your cost depends on how big the void under the slab is. For comparison, tearing out and replacing a driveway runs $18 to $22 per square foot, which puts a typical 600 square foot Leawood driveway around $10,800 to $13,200. Lifting is a fraction of that.
The polyurethane foam itself does not rot, erode, or wash out, so the material is essentially permanent. What determines the lifespan is the soil underneath and the water moving through it. Fix your drainage, and a good lift will hold for many years. More on how long polyjacking lasts.
For most Leawood properties, yes. The foam weighs about 2 to 4 pounds per cubic foot versus roughly 100 pounds per cubic foot for mudjacking slurry, so it does not press down on already-weak clay. It also cures in minutes instead of a day or more, and it is waterproof, so it will not wash away.
Most residential jobs are done in a few hours. The foam reaches full strength in about 15 minutes, so you can walk on the slab right away and drive on it the same day.
Yes, if you look for them. The injection ports are about 5/8 of an inch across, roughly nickel-sized, and we patch them with concrete and smooth them out. They are far less noticeable than mudjacking holes, but they are not invisible.
Yes, and it is usually the smart move. Injection ports are small and patchable, whereas replacing stamped concrete means trying to match a color and pattern that has weathered for fifteen years. That match almost never lands.
It does. The polyurethane is not affected by cold in the way a wet cement slurry would be. We avoid working during active precipitation or when the ground is frozen solid, but we lift concrete in Leawood most of the year.
For private concrete on your own property, behind the right-of-way line, typically no. If the work touches the public right-of-way, including your driveway approach or the public sidewalk, Leawood requires a Right-of-Way permit through Access Leawood. We will tell you which side of that line your slab is on.
Often, yes. We lift the slab first, then fill and seal the cracks so water does not get back underneath. If the concrete is broken into multiple pieces or is badly spalling, replacement is the better call, and we will say so.
Usually not. Driveways, patios, and sidewalks are free-floating slabs that sit on soil, separate from your home’s foundation. That said, the same clay and the same water cause both problems, so if you are seeing slab settlement and basement wall cracks at the same time, it is worth an inspection.
Get Your Free Leawood Estimate
You have been stepping over that lip in the driveway for months. It is not an emergency. It is also not getting better, and every wet spring and dry August makes the void underneath a little bigger.
We will come look at it, tell you what is going on under the slab, and give you a real number, all at no cost and with nobody leaning on you to sign anything.
Call (913) 592-3300 or request your free estimate online, and let’s get your concrete back where it belongs with professional polyjacking in Leawood, KS.
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