Porch leveling at a glance
Signs your porch needs lifting
- A gap opening between the porch slab and the house wall.
- The landing tipping forward, or the top step sitting below the threshold.
- Roof posts that have lifted off the slab, or a beam that looks like it's sagging toward a post.
- Cracks across the slab with one side lower than the other.
- Water running toward the door or standing on the landing after rain.
- A hollow sound when you walk across the slab, which means there's a void under it.
Why porches settle
A porch is poured against the house on the soil that was dug out for the basement and pushed back in. That fill settles for years. Roof runoff lands on and around the porch, the gap at the wall opens, water runs into it, and the slab keeps dropping.
Solid, hollow, or carrying the roof?
Three things change how we approach a porch. A solid slab on fill lifts like any other slab. A porch with a hollow space underneath, common on older homes and sometimes with a crawlspace or cold cellar below, can't be fixed by filling a void that's supposed to be there; that one needs a look at how the slab is supported. And when roof posts bear on the slab, the lift has to be slow and even so the posts, the beam and the roof come up together. A photo of the side of the porch, the post bases and any cracks tells us which you have.
Steps are usually poured separately from the porch, so they settle separately. We lift both in one visit, the porch first so the steps can be set to meet it. Steps on their own are covered under front steps and stoops.
How we lift a porch, step by step
Illustrations, not to scale. Most residential jobs take a few hours, and you can walk on the slab when we pack up.
Why lift a porch instead of replacing it?
Replacing a porch slab under a roof means shoring the posts, breaking out concrete against the house, and pouring in a tight spot. A solid porch that settled can usually be lifted in an afternoon with the roof never touched.
Replacement timing is typical; a contractor's schedule and the weather can stretch it. New-concrete cure times from Concrete Network.
What it costs
A porch is usually one or two sections plus its steps, so most land near the job minimum. See the leveling cost guide.
Send three photos and a tape-measure shot. You'll get a firm price by text within 24 hours.
After the lift: what you'll see, and how to keep it there
Level porch, sealed joints, and a few penny-sized gray patches where the foam went in. The patches are close to concrete color and fade into older slabs within a season. We text you before-and-after photos before we leave.
Keeping it level means keeping water out from under it. Three things do most of the work: keep the joints and cracks sealed, backfill soil against any slab edge the lift left exposed, and keep downspouts discharging away from the concrete. Sealing is its own line on your quote; the rest is in what to do after your concrete is lifted.