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Serving Lafayette, LA and surrounding areas(337) 483-1560
When Lafayette's clay soil pulls away from your foundation, the slab settles and the structure above moves with it. Polyurethane foam injection raises the slab back to level in a single visit, with cure times measured in minutes and a drainage review included before we leave.
Foundation raising in Lafayette lifts settled concrete slabs back to level by injecting expanding polyurethane foam through small drill holes — most residential projects complete in a single day, with the slab ready for normal use the same afternoon.
Most calls we receive come from homeowners who noticed a door that stopped closing cleanly, a floor that now tilts toward one corner, or a crack running diagonally from a door frame. These are not cosmetic problems. They are the visible result of soil moving beneath the foundation. In Lafayette, that means Acadiana's heavy clay: it absorbs water and swells during the wet season, then dries out and contracts — leaving voids under the slab that let it settle unevenly.
The foam injection process addresses that directly. Two-part polyurethane foam is injected through 5/8-inch holes drilled into the affected slab section. The foam expands to fill the voids beneath, then hardens in minutes and raises the concrete back toward its original elevation under controlled pressure. It is significantly lighter than a mudjacking slurry, which matters because the goal is not to add weight to already-compromised soil. If the settlement is severe enough that surface injection alone cannot reach the root cause, we discuss whether foundation installation — or a pier system that reaches load-bearing strata — is the better path.
The LSU AgCenter identifies Acadiana's vertisol clay as among the most problematic soils for residential foundations in Louisiana. That context matters when choosing how to lift, how high to set the target elevation, and what drainage corrections to make after the work is done.
When interior doors start dragging at the top or window frames bind in their tracks, the slab beneath the wall framing has likely shifted unevenly. In Lafayette, that shift usually traces to clay soil pulling away from the perimeter beam during a dry spell. The gap that forms lets the slab edge drop, and the framing above moves with it.
A gap opening between your baseboard and the floor — or grout lines separating in a tile field — signals differential movement in the slab underneath. These aren't cosmetic issues. They indicate that one section of the foundation has moved relative to another, and the gap will widen if the soil void beneath it isn't addressed.
A floor that tilts noticeably — where furniture rocks or water rolls toward one wall — means the slab has settled unevenly across its span. Differential settlement of more than 3/8 inch over 10 feet is outside the tolerance range defined by ASCE slab-on-ground performance standards. At that point, a professional elevation survey will confirm whether raising is the appropriate remedy.
Diagonal cracks running from the corners of door frames toward the ceiling are a reliable indicator of foundation movement, not just shrinkage. In Lafayette, these typically appear after the first major dry season following heavy rain. The clay beneath has swelled and then contracted, racking the wall framing above the settled slab section.
Polyurethane foam injection is the right starting point for the vast majority of Lafayette residential foundation work. The foam is lightweight — an important property when adding material to clay soil that has already been stressed — and it cures within minutes, which means no waiting period before the home is back to normal use. Drill holes are 5/8 inch in diameter, small enough that the patched surface is barely noticeable on a finished floor or driveway.
Traditional mudjacking remains a practical option for driveways, sidewalk sections, and commercial flatwork where cure time is not a constraint and the added weight of a cement-soil slurry is acceptable. It uses larger holes and takes 24 to 48 hours to harden fully, but the material cost is lower than foam on high-volume flatwork projects.
When voids exist because of deep soil failure — not surface clay void formation — a pier system may be required. Helical or push piers are driven to load-bearing strata well below the problematic clay layer and used to stabilize the structure from a depth that foam cannot reach. This is a more invasive repair and is appropriate when an engineer's assessment — using the differential settlement criteria from the American Society of Civil Engineers — determines that surface injection alone will not hold. For any project that leads to a structural conclusion, we connect clients to a full slab foundation assessment as the next step.
Every raising project also includes a post-lift drainage review. Re-settlement is preventable when the water source that created the original void is addressed. That means checking downspout discharge, yard grading around the slab perimeter, and whether mature trees near the foundation are extracting moisture unevenly from the clay — a particular concern in older Lafayette neighborhoods with established live oaks.
Best for most Lafayette residential slabs — fast cure, lightweight, moisture-resistant, and minimally disruptive to finished surfaces.
Suitable for driveways and flatwork where cure time and added weight are not a concern; requires larger drill holes and a 24–48 hour hardening period.
For deep soil failure that surface injection cannot reach — piers are driven to load-bearing strata and used to hydraulically stabilize the structure from below.
Soil moisture management through regrading, downspout extension, or root barrier installation to reduce re-settlement risk after the lift is complete.
The soil beneath nearly every home in Lafayette Parish is a heavy vertisol clay that the LSU AgCenter classifies as one of the most plasticity-reactive in Louisiana. When the region's 60-plus inches of annual rainfall saturates the ground, these clays swell. When drought conditions follow — as they do every year — they shrink and crack, sometimes visibly at the soil surface. Every cycle of that process applies stress to the concrete slab sitting on top of it.
Most homes in Lafayette and surrounding Acadiana communities were built on slab-on-grade foundations rather than raised pier-and-beam systems. Neighborhoods like Broadmoor, Couret Farms, and the post-WWII subdivisions north of downtown were developed during decades when subbase requirements were less demanding than they are now. Many of those slabs are now cycling through their second or third settlement event. That history is relevant because it means the void pattern beneath the slab is often not uniform — it pools where drainage has been consistently poor, near where tree roots have extracted moisture, or at the perimeter beam where the clay edge has shrunk away repeatedly over the years.
We serve communities across the Lafayette metro area, including Scott, Carencro, and Breaux Bridge. The same clay soil conditions apply across the region, and our elevation assessment and drainage review protocol is the same whether we are working in a new Youngsville subdivision or an older Lafayette neighborhood near Bayou Vermilion.
Foundation raising in Louisiana is regulated specialty work. The Louisiana State Licensing Board for Contractors requires at minimum a Home Improvement Contractor registration for residential foundation work billed above $7,500. Any contractor who cannot show you a current LSLBC credential before work begins should not be on your foundation.
Contact us by phone or through the form. We respond within 1 business day to discuss your symptoms, confirm the property address, and schedule an on-site evaluation. No lengthy intake process.
We measure differential settlement across the slab using optical levels, document the results, and identify probable void locations. You receive a written estimate covering injection volume, drill point locations, and cost — with no obligation to proceed. This is also where we discuss whether a permit is required for your project scope.
Access holes are drilled to 5/8 inch diameter at calculated intervals. Two-part polyurethane foam is injected under controlled pressure until the slab reaches target elevation. Cure time is measured in minutes, not days. Most residential projects are complete in a single visit.
Drill holes are patched with color-matched filler. We walk the site with you to review drainage conditions — downspout routing, yard grading, or areas of surface pooling — that contributed to the original settlement. Addressing those factors is what makes the repair last.
Submit the form and we will call you within 1 business day to arrange an on-site elevation survey. The assessment is free, the written estimate is yours to keep, and there is no obligation to proceed. Most residential lifting jobs complete in a single visit with no overnight displacement.
(337) 483-1560Our Louisiana State Licensing Board for Contractors credential is current and searchable at lslbc.gov. Any foundation contractor billing over $7,500 on a residential project is required by Louisiana law to hold at minimum a Home Improvement Contractor registration — an unlicensed contractor leaves you without legal recourse if something goes wrong.
Polyurethane foam cures in minutes, not days. Most Lafayette residential foundation raising jobs complete in a single visit, and the slab is ready for normal load the same day. You don't have to vacate your home or wait 48 hours for cement slurry to harden before walking back in.
A raised slab that re-settles within two years is not a completed job. After every lift, we assess the site for the drainage conditions — downspout discharge, yard slope, surface pooling — that fed the original void. That review is included in every project, not an add-on service.
We have worked on foundations across Lafayette, Carencro, Scott, and surrounding communities. The soil and drainage conditions in this parish are not the same as in Houston or Atlanta, and contractors without local experience make assumptions that don't survive the first wet season.
Foundation work is the repair where cutting corners has the most consequences. Licensing, drainage follow-through, and honest communication about what raising can and cannot fix are not optional extras here — they are what separates a repair that lasts from one that resurfaces two seasons later. Call us at (337) 483-1560 with questions before you commit to anything.
When a foundation has settled beyond what raising can correct, full foundation installation gives you a properly engineered slab built to current LCG and ASCE standards.
Learn moreNew construction or full replacement starts here — slab foundations designed for Acadiana clay conditions and built to carry the structure above them for decades.
Learn moreSettled slabs get worse every wet season — call now and we will schedule your free on-site assessment within 1 business day before the next rain cycle widens the gap.