Driveway, garage floor, step and patio leveling
The slabs closest to your house take the most abuse from roof water and backfill. Here's what can be lifted and what usually can't.
Concrete poured next to a foundation often sits on soil that was dug out and pushed back in when the house was built. That backfill keeps compacting for years, and roof runoff speeds it along. The result shows up in a few familiar ways around Waterloo homes: a lip where the garage floor meets the apron, a stoop that tips away from the door, a patio that tilts toward the basement wall.
Signs it's time to call
- The driveway apron has dropped below the garage floor or door seal
- Water or ice sits in the same low spot every winter
- The top step is lower than the threshold
- A patio drains toward the foundation instead of away from it
- Cracks in the garage floor that have opened and stepped
Driveways and aprons
Solid slabs that settled are good candidates for lifting. Surface flaking from road salt and freeze-thaw is a separate problem that lifting won't fix. If the part of the driveway between the street and the sidewalk needs work, that's in the public right-of-way, and in Waterloo the Engineering Department issues driveway and curb cut permits.
Garage floors
Interior garage slabs can often be lifted with foam, which leaves small, tidy patches. The contractor needs to know about floor drains, radiant heat lines and any utilities before drilling.
Steps, stoops and patios
Precast and poured steps can usually be raised if they're intact. Steps with hollow cores, crumbling edges or rotted forms inside may need rebuilding. A patio lifted back to a slight slope away from the house is one of the simpler ways to cut down on wet basement problems.
What drives the price?
- How many slabs and how far they dropped
- Foam or slurry
- Indoor access for garage floors
- Sealing the joint against the house afterward
Every slab is priced on site, after the contractor measures the drop and figures out what washed out or settled underneath. We don't publish or quote prices, and a figure given over the phone before anyone has seen the concrete is only a ballpark.
Where we connect you with help
Common questions
My stoop pulled away from the house. Can it be pushed back?
Lifting raises a stoop. It doesn't slide it sideways. Once it's level, the gap at the house can be sealed. A wide gap may call for a different repair.
Is it safe to drill a garage floor?
Generally, yes, when the contractor knows where floor drains, heat lines and utilities run. Point them out before work starts.
Related services
- Polyurethane foam concrete leveling
- Mudjacking (slabjacking)
- Sidewalk leveling and city notices
- Joint sealing and crack repair
More background: Waterloo, Iowa concrete leveling guide.
Sidewalk flagged in the city's zone inspection, or a garage slab that keeps dropping?
Call the number above and an independent Waterloo-area concrete lifter can come measure it and quote the fix.