Sinking Driveways Lifted With Polyurethane Foam Injection
Epp Foundation Repair, family owned since 1994, diagnoses and lifts sunken driveways across Nebraska, Iowa, Kansas, and Missouri, and the water source gets addressed first.
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Sinking Driveways Diagnosed and Lifted Back to Grade: diagnosed and explained.
Epp Foundation Repair diagnoses and lifts sinking driveways across a four-state territory dominated by two soil behaviors that account for the majority of driveway settlement: hydroconsolidated loess fill in eastern Nebraska and western Iowa, and expansive clay in central Kansas and northern Missouri. Phil Epp founded the company in 1994, and Dave joined in 2004. In more than two decades of driveway inspections, the field rule holds: most sinking-driveway calls trace back to water reaching the subgrade through a fixable source. A downspout, a broken sprinkler, a low spot in the grade. We walk the water before we scope the lift.
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Sinking Driveway Signals to Watch
- 01
Step-down at the garage door
A noticeable drop where the driveway meets the garage slab means backfill against the foundation wall has settled. Small step-downs are common and easily lifted. Larger step-downs usually mean the backfill voiding is significant and the lift requires more foam volume.
- 02
Pooling water on the driveway after rain
A driveway should slope away from the house and the garage at a minimum of 1/4 inch per foot. When settling reverses that slope, water pools on the driveway and drains back toward the foundation or sits over the apron joint.
- 03
Cracks at the corners of the driveway
Cracks that form at driveway corners. Particularly the corner closest to a downspout. Mark where the subgrade has lost support and the slab has rotated. These cracks can widen with freeze cycles until the corner breaks off.
- 04
Gap between driveway and sidewalk or curb
A widening gap at the public sidewalk or curb means the driveway has settled relative to the city slabs that sit on undisturbed soil. Wider gaps let water and salt into the joint and accelerate damage to both.
What causes sinking driveways diagnosed and lifted back to grade in Midwest homes.
- 01
Hydroconsolidated loess fill collapse
Eastern Nebraska and western Iowa sit on wind-deposited loess soils. Loess holds together dry but collapses when wet, a behavior called hydroconsolidation. New construction across the Lincoln-Omaha corridor commonly uses excavated loess as compacted fill under driveways. When water reaches that fill, it loses volume and the driveway above settles.
- 02
Downspout discharge eroding sub-driveway fill
House downspouts that drain near a driveway apron deliver a large volume of concentrated water in every rain. That water tunnels along the apron-to-foundation interface, washing fines out of the subgrade and creating a void the driveway eventually bridges and breaks into. The pattern is unmistakable: driveway settles directly below the downspout location, often after the downspout is installed or extended incorrectly.
- 03
Expansive clay heave and shrink cycle
Across central Kansas, northern Missouri, and parts of southern Iowa, expansive clay shrinks in dry summers and swells back in wet seasons. Driveways on expansive clay ride that cycle: they lift in spring, drop in late summer, and over years develop tilted panels and joint cracking. The settlement is rarely uniform. One corner moves more than the others.
- 04
Settled fill at apron-to-garage joint
The joint where the driveway meets the garage slab is the single most common settlement location Epp Foundation Repair lifts in the region. The garage slab sits on the same foundation as the house and barely moves. The driveway apron sits on backfill against the foundation wall, which can settle even without water intrusion.
- 05
Plumbing leak void formation
A slow water-supply or sewer leak under a driveway can wash out subgrade over months before the driveway visibly drops. The first sign is often a sinkhole that opens suddenly after rain, exposing the void. Plumbing leaks account for a small share of driveway-settlement calls in the region, but they are the highest-stakes category because the leak continues damaging the soil until it is fixed. Epp Foundation Repair does not repair plumbing.
How sinking driveways diagnosed and lifted back to grade looks after a permanent fix.
A real Epp Foundation Repair project. The visible symptom resolves once the underlying cause is corrected.
How concrete leveling specialists actually fix sinking driveways diagnosed and lifted back to grade.
Solving sinking driveways diagnosed and lifted back to grade means addressing the underlying soil, pressure, or settlement cause. Not just patching the visible damage. Below are the engineered solutions we install most often for this symptom in Nebraska, Iowa, Kansas, and Missouri homes.
Engineered concrete leveling solutions for this problem.
Each method is matched to a specific failure mode and soil profile. Browse the toolkit we draw from when diagnosing your home.
Polyurethane Foam Injection
PolyLift is Epp Foundation Repair's polyurethane foam injection method for lifting sunken driveways, sidewalks, patios, and garage floors. Small ports, a two-part expanding foam, and a laser-monitored lift, with the slab walkable 15 minutes after the work is complete.
Polyjacking
Slab jacking and polyjacking are names homeowners use for the same idea: lifting a sunken concrete slab by injecting material underneath it. Epp Foundation Repair's slab jacking work, across Nebraska, Iowa, Kansas, and Missouri, is done with polyurethane foam.
Concrete Void Filling
Voids under a concrete slab leave it with nothing to rest on. Epp Foundation Repair has filled those pockets with structural foam across Nebraska, Iowa, Kansas, and Missouri since 1994. No demolition, no waiting for a new pour to cure.
Concrete Joint & Crack Sealing
Epp Foundation Repair seals concrete expansion joints and stable cracks across Nebraska, Iowa, Kansas, and Missouri with self-leveling polyurethane, a flexible material that expands and contracts with the slab through freeze-thaw cycles.
Why do driveways, sidewalks and patios settle in Nebraska and Iowa?
Concrete depends on the soil underneath it for support. Runoff along an edge or a downspout that empties beside a slab can wash out or soften that soil, and part of a driveway, sidewalk or patio can then settle or tilt. Water under a slab that freezes and thaws can also leave gaps beneath it.
Based on NOAA 1991 to 2020 climate normals for Lincoln Municipal Airport and Omaha Eppley Airfield.
What kind of soil is around Lincoln and Omaha?
Based on USDA soil survey data for Lancaster County (Lincoln) and Douglas County (Omaha), clay is the main soil type in both counties. The survey rates Lancaster County high and Douglas County moderate for shrink swell. Clay can swell when it gets wet and shrink as it dries, so a slab or foundation on clay can move up and down with the seasons. The soils that cover the most ground in Lancaster County are Wymore and Aksarben, and in Douglas County they are Contrary and Marshall.
Loess, the wind deposited silt common in eastern Nebraska and western Iowa, can lose strength and settle when it gets wet. Water can reach it from runoff, a plumbing leak or a downspout that empties next to the house.
How does freezing weather affect footings and basement walls?
In Lincoln and Omaha, soil near the surface can freeze and thaw many times between fall and spring. Each city's building code sets a frost line depth, which is the minimum depth below finished grade for a footing. It is 36 inches in Lincoln and 42 inches in Omaha. Supports that sit above that depth, such as some porches, stoops and chimney footings, can move as the ground freezes and thaws.
Horizontal cracks in a basement wall are more often linked to pressure from the soil outside the wall than to settlement. Wet soil pushes harder against a wall than dry soil, and soil that freezes against the wall can add to that pressure.
Climate: NOAA U.S. Climate Normals 1991 to 2020, LINCOLN MUNI AP (USW00014939) and OMAHA EPPLEY AIRFIELD (USW00014942), retrieved September 30, 2026. Soil: USDA NRCS Soil Data Access (SSURGO), county survey for Lancaster County and Douglas County. Frost line depth: Lincoln Municipal Code 20.12.140 and Omaha Municipal Code Sec. 43-127.
"If I lift your driveway and you've still got a downspout dumping right next to it, I'm just buying you 18 months. After more than two decades I've learned to spend 10 minutes walking the water before I spend 4 hours injecting foam. Fix the cause first, then the symptom. That's why our 20-year-old lifts are still holding"
Care and expertise from a team that's been doing this since 1994.
Epp Foundation Repair is locally owned and operated, with crews dedicated exclusively to foundation, basement, and concrete work across the Midwest.
Foundation repair, waterproofing, and concrete leveling are our entire focus, not a sideline.
Three decades of experience with Midwest soils, basements, and weather conditions.
Recognized by the Better Business Bureau for integrity and ethical business practices.
Many of our repairs carry a written Epp warranty. The warranty page lists every covered repair and its terms.
Answers to common questions about Sinking Driveways Diagnosed and Lifted Back to Grade.
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Other concrete leveling warning signs to watch for.
If you see one, it's worth checking for the others. Most foundation problems show up as more than one symptom.
Serving Nebraska, Iowa, Kansas & Missouri.
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