Fourteen questions, answered the way we would answer them on the phone. Where a number is published market data rather than our quote, we say so.
Almost always because water got under it. Billings averages 14.3 inches of precipitation a year, so soil under a slab rarely gets soaked by rain alone. The water usually comes from a sprinkler, a downspout or a leaking line. Once it arrives, the soil either swells and shrinks or washes out.
A void is an open gap between the bottom of the slab and the soil that should be holding it up. Signs are a hollow sound when you tap the concrete, a slab that rocks slightly under a vehicle, water disappearing at a joint, and cracks that opened suddenly rather than slowly.
Watch the timing. A slab that rises in a wet spring and drops again by late summer is riding smectitic clay, which swells with water and shrinks as it dries. A slab that dropped suddenly after a wet stretch and stayed down is sitting over washout: dispersive clay carried away by moving water, leaving a void. The first is volume change, the second is lost support, and they need different work.
If the slab is in the public right-of-way, usually yes. Montana has no state building permit requirement for a single-family residence unless a local jurisdiction requires one by ordinance, so it comes down to your city or county. Our permits page lists what each jurisdiction publishes and who to call.
Yes, more than most people expect. Billings and Laurel are incorporated cities with their own ordinances and their own public works departments. Lockwood and Shepherd are unincorporated, so Yellowstone County is the authority and the county approach permit is the main touchpoint at $75 residential or $150 commercial.
Generally the abutting property owner. MCA 7-14-4122 gives a Montana city or town council power to regulate and provide for the construction or repair of sidewalks, and to do the work and assess it against the property if the owner does not. That applies in Billings and Laurel.
Published market data for ZIP 59102 puts leveling at about $5.01 per square foot, in a range of $4.50 to $5.52. Typical residential jobs land between $500 and $2,500, with a single slab around $300 to $700. Most companies also carry a minimum charge of roughly $300 to $550 per visit. Ranges are published market data, not our quote.
It depends on the soil. Mudjacking uses a heavy slurry and starts cheaper, and it works well where the ground below is stable. Foam weighs far less, goes in through smaller holes and cures within minutes, which matters when the soil failed because it could not carry weight in the first place.
With polyurethane foam the material reaches strength in minutes and the surface is usually ready for vehicles the same day. Mudjacking uses a cementitious slurry that needs longer to cure, so plan on staying off it for the rest of the day at minimum and follow the cure time you are given.
Somewhat, yes. Foam ports are around five-eighths of an inch and mudjacking holes are larger, typically one and five-eighths to two inches. All of them get patched with grout. The patches blend better on broom-finished and weathered concrete than on smooth, new, or colored slabs.
It lasts as long as the reason for the settlement stays fixed. Lifting corrects elevation; it does not stop a downspout from dumping at a slab edge or a sprinkler from soaking one corner every night. Deal with the water source and a lift holds for years. Leave it and the slab will find its way back down.
It can be one of the causes. In semi-arid ground, settlement is usually driven by controlled water sources rather than rainfall, and sprinklers sit alongside downspouts and leaking service lines on that list. We would not tell you irrigation is the main moisture input everywhere — we would check where your water actually goes.
The work happens from the top of the slab, so there is no excavation and no trenching across the lawn. Equipment and hose have to reach the slab, so we agree on a route beforehand. Mark any heads, valve boxes or shallow lines near the path and they can be worked around.
Concrete that is broken into many small pieces instead of a few large panels, slabs that are spalling or crumbling through their thickness, and slabs poured at the wrong grade to begin with. Lifting needs a slab that still acts like a panel. When it does not, replacement is the honest answer.
Describe the slab, the shape of the drop and where the water goes. That is usually enough to narrow it down before anyone visits. For jurisdiction questions, the permits page lists each office and number; for figures, see the cost guide.