Homeowners researching this question tend to get a sales pitch dressed up as a comparison. Companies that only pump foam tell you slurry is obsolete. Old-line mudjackers tell you foam is overpriced. We use both, so the only thing we care about is matching the method to the slab. Here is the comparison we walk through at an estimate.
What actually goes under your slab
Mudjacking pumps a wet mixture of sand, cement and soil through holes about the size of a soda can. The slurry is heavy, fills large washout voids economically, and hardens into a dense base overnight.
Polyjacking injects a two-part polyurethane through ports the size of a dime. The foam expands within seconds, compacts the loose soil beneath it, and reaches roughly full strength in about 15 minutes. Cured foam is closed-cell: water cannot dissolve it or carry it away.
That single material difference drives almost every trade-off in the table below.
The full comparison
| Mudjacking | Polyjacking | |
|---|---|---|
| Typical Peoria cost | $3–$8 per sq ft | $5–$12 per sq ft |
| Injection holes | About soda-can size | About dime size |
| Ready for foot traffic | Same day | Around 15 minutes |
| Ready for vehicles | Next day | Same day |
| Fill weight | Heavy (adds load to weak soil) | A few pounds per cubic foot |
| Water resistance | Can erode over decades | Waterproof, closed-cell |
| Large washout voids | Economical to fill | Costs climb with volume |
| Lift precision | Good | Very fine control, small shots |
| Winter work | Limited by frozen ground | Wider temperature window |
What the cost gap looks like in real dollars
Take a common Peoria job: a two-panel driveway section dropped at the garage apron, roughly 200 square feet. Mudjacked, that typically lands between $600 and $1,200. Polyjacked, expect $1,000 to $1,800. The premium buys same-day use of the driveway, smaller patch marks, and a fill that ignores water.
Now scale up to a full multi-panel driveway with serious washout underneath. Slurry’s economics improve with volume, which is why big, heavy slabs with large voids remain mudjacking territory. Foam’s economics improve wherever precision, speed or drainage problems dominate. Neither method is “the cheap one” across every job, which is a reason to distrust any company that refuses to price both. Project-by-project figures for the Peoria area are in the cost guide.
Which one lasts longer?
The materials age differently. Cured slurry is dense and stable. It is still a mineral fill, though. Give it a few decades of Central Illinois freeze-thaw and a badly aimed downspout, and the erosion that sank the slab can slowly work on the fill too. Well-drained mudjacking commonly holds eight to ten years or more; plenty of jobs go far longer.
Cured foam removes erosion from the equation entirely. What it cannot do is stop the surrounding soil from moving, which is why longevity for either method comes down to the same unglamorous work: sealing joints and redirecting roof water. A repair is only as durable as the drainage around it.
How Illinois weather tips the choice
Two local factors matter. First, frozen ground largely shuts down slurry work each winter, while foam keeps a wider season. A slab that must be fixed in January is usually a foam job by default. Second, our clay soil swells and shrinks. Slabs on ground that has already failed benefit from foam’s light weight, because a heavy fill asks weak soil to carry even more.
Spring is the busy season for both methods here. The thaw shows a winter of settlement all at once, and schedules fill fast.
When mudjacking is the right call
- Jobs measured in whole driveways or garage floors, where fill volume drives the price
- Big washout cavities that would take a lot of expensive foam to fill
- Budget-first jobs on well-drained ground
- Slabs where next-day use is no hardship
When polyjacking is the right call
- Pool decks, thresholds and steps where final height must be exact
- Anywhere water caused the settlement and will keep visiting
- Interior floors: small ports, clean process, light fill
- Jobs that cannot wait a day, or a season