Pool decks in North Texas take a beating. Heat loads climb past 100 degrees on July afternoons, then thunderstorms dump inches of water in an hour, and clay soils swell and shrink with every wet and dry cycle. If your pool deck has settled, lifted at a joint, or cracked along a control line, you are seeing the soil breathe under the slab. Concrete raising, sometimes called lifting or leveling, can restore grades, remove trip hazards, and stop water from running toward the pool shell or your home. Done correctly, it extends the life of the deck and keeps maintenance predictable. Done poorly, it simply hides the symptom, and in a year you are back where you started.
I have managed and inspected dozens of pool deck lifts across Dallas and the suburbs, from Richardson’s older neighborhoods with mature trees to newer tracks in Frisco with engineered fill. The same principles apply, but the details differ. What follows blends practical steps with the judgment calls that separate a clean, durable lift from a quick fix.
Why pool decks settle in Dallas
The short version is soil and water. Dallas sits on expansive clays that change volume with moisture. When they dry, they contract and pull away from structures. When they rehydrate, they swell and push upward. A typical cantilevered pool deck is a 4 to 5 inch slab poured over compacted base around a shell that is tied into ground more rigidly than the surrounding soil. Over time, this creates differential movement. Add to that:
- Tree roots chasing irrigation lines and drawing moisture, which dries the subgrade unevenly Poor drainage that funnels water along a deck edge or through a crack, eroding the base Construction debris left under slabs in older builds, which later rots or shifts Heavy planters, grills, and outdoor kitchens concentrating load on thin slabs
The symptoms look familiar: a 1 inch drop at the coping line, a 3/8 inch lip at a control joint, or a slab panel that rocks when you step on the corner. You might also notice caulking that used to bridge between deck and coping now stretched and torn, a sign of settlement away from the pool.
Why raising beats replacement in many cases
Full replacement has its place, especially when the slab is shattered or the steel is showing. But most pool decks, even with cracks, can be salvaged. Raising offers three advantages in Dallas conditions. First, it keeps the same concrete, which has already finished most of its shrinkage and thermal cycling. New slabs look pretty for a year, then they begin their own movement. Second, raising is surgical and fast. You can usually swim the next day. Third, with the right injection material, you improve the base rather than just adjust the height.
The caveat is that not every slab is a candidate. If a chunk has broken loose at a joint and has no structural tie points left, lifting can make the fracture worse. If the pool shell is compromised, lifting the deck won’t fix the root problem. Expertise matters here, which is why experienced Concrete Contractors in Dallas spend as much time diagnosing cause as they do measuring drop.
Mudjacking, polyurethane foam, and cementitious grout: which method fits
Contractors in our area offer three main approaches. Each works when matched to the condition.
Mudjacking uses a slurry of soil, sand, and cement pumped through 1 to 2 inch holes. It is heavy, roughly 100 pounds per cubic foot, which can be good for filling voids under thicker panels. It is also messy, requires larger patch plugs, and adds weight to already stressed soils. For pool decks perched near the edge of an excavation, that extra weight can accelerate settlement later.
Polyurethane foam injection comes in different densities. The common expanding lift foam is about 2 to 4 pounds per cubic foot, which means it adds minimal load while expanding to fill voids. It is hydrophobic, so it resists water migration. The holes are smaller, usually 5/8 to 3/4 inch, and the patch is easier to blend. Foam excels when you need a delicate lift near fragile coping or tile. The downside is cost per cubic foot and the need for practiced hands. Too aggressive an injection can over-lift a corner or cause a crack to open.
Cementitious pressure grouting splits the difference, using a fine, pumpable cement local concrete company Dallas blend through smaller ports than traditional mudjacking. It does not expand like foam, so lift is created by volume and pressure rather than chemical reaction. It is denser than foam and lighter than slurry. In Dallas, I favor this method for wider voids where foam would be cost prohibitive but you still want smaller patches and lower added weight.
A note on frost and thermal movement, because advice online often comes from cold climates. Dallas rarely sees frost depth beyond a few inches, so the seasonal lift from freezing is trivial compared with moisture-driven heave. That reality makes lighter materials like foam attractive, as they reduce the mass bearing on clay that will shrink again in August.
The anatomy of a clean lift around a pool
The sequence is simple on paper and nuanced in practice. Before any drill touches the concrete, walk the deck. Tap with a hammer and listen for hollow sounds. Mark every void you hear. Trace cracks, check their width, and look for vertical displacement. Probe the joint between coping and deck to see if the deck has peeled away. Put a level on the slab, read slope to drains, the house, and the pool. Identify utilities. Many builders ran pool light conduits under the deck edge; you do not want a drill bit in that path.
From there, a good crew sets injection ports strategically. On a 10 by 10 foot panel that has dropped 1 inch at the pool, ports should start near the edge and work back toward the high side. The idea is to fill the void under the low edge first, lift slowly, then chase the void as it migrates. Patience is the trick. A lift of 1/8 inch, pause, then another 1/8. Watching the joint between deck and coping, and listening to the pitch of the pump, tells you when the slab is bearing again rather than floating on a bubble of material.
We avoid injecting too close to a crack tip. Material squirting through a crack looks satisfying and accomplishes nothing. Better to inject behind the crack and let the pressure migrate under the slab.
When a corner is severely settled, crews often use a pry bar or a vacuum cup to give a faint upward bias while injecting. The tool is not to jack the slab, just to guide it. Over-lifting by even a quarter inch against a rigid coping can pop tile or fracture a cantilever edge. Once the slab is close to grade, we confirm slope: water should still run away from the pool, typically 1/8 inch per foot, toward a drain, turf, or a deck channel. Then the ports are patched, the joint at the coping is cleaned and recaulked, and surface cracks are sealed.
Working around cantilever coping and tile
Dallas has a mix of cantilever decks, where the concrete overhangs the pool shell, and decks with a stone coping cap. With cantilever, the deck and coping are the same pour, and any vertical movement reflects directly in the pool line. That calls for gentler lifts and close coordination with a tile specialist if the edge is already compromised. With stone coping, the expansion joint between stone and deck is your friend. If it has failed, we cut it cleanly before lifting to give the deck room to move without binding. After lift, we install a proper backer rod and a high-quality sealant, usually a self-leveling polyurethane or silyl-terminated polymer rated for UV and pool chemicals.
Tile lines deserve extra attention. If the beam behind the tile is loose or the tile is debonded, lifting the deck won’t fix the chatter. In those cases, we stabilize the beam first or at least brace the tile during lift to prevent a cascade crack.
Drainage, the overlooked half of leveling
Raising a slab without solving drainage is like changing tires on a car with a bent axle. It will roll, but not for long. Around Dallas pools, the two failures I see most often are flat grades that leave water ponding near the house and clogged deck drains that make every storm a test.
If the slab settled because the base eroded along a joint, look for a downspout that dumps next to the deck, a sprinkler head that overshoots, or landscape beds higher than the slab. Lowering the bed edge by an inch or redirecting a gutter can remove thousands of gallons a year from the problem zone. If the deck drains into an in-deck channel, pop the grates and flush the line. Many of these lines run under the deck and daylight at the fence line. I have found children’s toys and palm seeds in more than one. A blocked drain creates hydrostatic pressure under the deck during storms, which scours the base and invites settlement.
When the deck’s original slope is wrong, mild correction is possible with lifting, but there are limits. You can gain 1/4 to 3/8 inch of slope over several feet with careful lift. More than that risks misalignment at the coping or a noticeable hump at a joint. In extreme cases, a surface-applied micro-topping or a drain retrofit is smarter than trying to force the slab to do what the framing never intended.
What the climate does to timing and materials
On a 105 degree August afternoon, foam expands faster, and pot life on resins drops. Crews compensate by staging material in shade, cooling the product, and running smaller lifts per injection. In winter, materials are sluggish, and we allow longer dwell times. Cementitious grouts are especially sensitive to water temperature and set time, so read the bag, not the calendar.
Pool water temperature matters too. When foam is injected near the beam, thermal differential can warp a thin cantilever edge if you shoot too much too fast. I prefer morning lifts, with deck and pool closer to the same temperature, to reduce these tensions. The wind also matters. Cementitious grout work near a pool on a gusty day invites dust and mess; plan for calm or set wind screens. A seasoned crew in Dallas works with the weather, not against it.
Deciding whether the deck is a candidate
I use a checklist in my head during the first visit, refined by hard lessons.
- Slab integrity: Are cracks hairline to 1/8 inch with modest vertical shift, or are they open with crushed aggregate and separate movement planes? Lifting makes the first category disappear visually; it often accentuates the second. Void extent: A localized void near one joint is simple. A drum-like echo across multiple panels suggests systemic base failure. Lifting still works, but it needs more injection points and budget for stabilization, not just elevation. Pool interface: If the coping is loose, the tile popped, or the beam is cracked, pause. Bring in a pool pro to secure the interface before lifting. Utilities: Conduits, autofill lines, and gas stubs often run under decks. Map them with as-built plans if available, or use a locator. I’ve seen a drill puncture a low-voltage line and cause a breaker mystery that took hours to find. Owner expectations: If the client wants a flawless, invisible repair on a 20-year-old deck with a stamped finish discontinued a decade ago, set expectations. Patches blend well, not perfectly. A lightly stained or textured micro-topping after lift is sometimes the only way to make aesthetics meet standards.
Cost, timing, and what a “good” bid looks like
For a typical Dallas pool deck with a few settled panels on one side, expect a solid foam lift to run from $900 to $2,500. Wider voids that need significant fill can push above $3,500. Cementitious grouting may come in slightly lower for the same volume and area, but site conditions swing the number more than the material choice. The work itself takes a few hours. Add time for joint caulking and sealers to cure.
A good bid will describe the method, the target lift in inches at several reference points, and the number of injection ports estimated. It should call out crack sealing, joint caulking, and any drain work either included or excluded. Ask about warranties. In Dallas, one to three years on settlement is common, with the understanding that plumbing leaks, irrigation changes, or tree removal can void it. Warranties that promise perfection for ten years usually hide exclusions you will not like later.
When you compare Concrete Contractors in Dallas, ask to see before and after photos of pool decks specifically, not just sidewalks. Pool work is fussy. A contractor who can show tight joints against coping, clean patches, and stable lifts over time is worth the premium.
Aftercare that actually helps
People focus on the lift and then forget the habits that caused the problem. Irrigation is the silent culprit. If your sprinklers beat the deck edge every morning, the slab will ride the moisture cycle, and the base will soften. Adjust heads so they water the turf, not the concrete. Fix leaks fast, especially on autofill systems. I have chased settlement that turned out to be a tiny leak adding gallons a day right under the deck.
Maintain your joints. The expansion joint between deck and coping is a sacrificial hinge. When it fails, the deck binds against the pool edge, and vertical movement has nowhere to go but up the tile line. Clean, backer rod, and fresh sealant every few years is cheap insurance. Surface cracks, even hairline, should be sealed to keep water out of the base. Use a low-viscosity crack sealer that penetrates, not a thick patching compound that peels.
Keep the drains clear. If your deck has channel drains, plan a spring and fall clean out. If water sheets across the slab and ponds, note the spots and report them to your contractor. Sometimes a 15 minute touch-up injection a year later improves longevity far more than waiting until a bigger problem returns.
Avoiding common mistakes during lifting
I have seen lifts fail for predictable reasons. One is chasing perfection. Lifting a slab dead flush to the coping, especially on a cantilever, invites over-lift and a crack at the edge. Aim for level with a hairline reveal you can caulk. Another is injecting too far from the low edge. Material follows the path of least resistance and will simply dome the high side. Work from low to high, in small moves, and watch the joint.
On mudjacking, resist the temptation to add “just a little more” material to feel solid. Heavier fill satisfies the instinct to compact but overburdens the soil. On foam, avoid rapid-fire shots when the deck is hot, because you will get delayed expansion and overshoot. Know your product, its set profile, and the ambient conditions.
Finally, do not ignore the pool itself. A small shift in deck grade can change runoff. If you redirect water to the pool beam, you can saturate the backfill and erode it, which undermines both the deck and the shell. Verify that water leaves the pool zone where it should.
How structural repairs intersect with leveling
Sometimes the deck settled because the backfill around the pool was never compacted properly, or a retaining wall nearby is moving. In those cases, raising the slab is a temporary measure unless you address the structure. Soil stabilization with permeation grouts can lock loose fines and reduce erosion pathways. Where root systems are the culprit, judicious root pruning paired with a moisture management plan keeps the zone stable without sacrificing the tree. For decks tied to steps or adjacent patios, consider stitching cracks with carbon fiber staples after lifting to transfer loads across weak points. These are small adds that make the lift last.
If a deck panel is riddled with rebar corrosion near a saltwater pool, you may need to isolate the affected zone. In Dallas, many saltwater pools are converted without addressing splash zones on older concrete. Chloride intrusion near the waterline can corrode embedded steel, expanding and cracking the slab from within. If rust staining is present, test the steel, and be prepared for targeted replacement, not just lift.
Working with the right crew
Pool deck lifting blends concrete, soils knowledge, and the finesse of a finish carpenter. When you vet companies, look past the sales pitch. Ask who will be on site, how long they have worked together, and who makes the call on injection rate and port placement. Teams that have lifted together for years communicate with a nod and a tap. They also leave a site cleaner and handle the small things, like covering the pool, protecting decorative surfaces, and color-matching patches.
It helps if the contractor knows your neighborhood soils. The black gumbo in East Dallas does not behave like the lighter clays in North Frisco developments built on engineered pads. Local experience shows up in hole placement and how much lift a slab will tolerate before it starts speaking back through tiny pops and creaks.
Look for proof, not promises. References from clients whose decks were lifted two or three summers ago tell you whether the fix truly held through Dallas’ seasonal swing. A company that also handles drainage and joint maintenance saves you from bouncing between trades.
A realistic path if you are planning the work
Start with a walkaround when the deck is dry. Mark every trip hazard with painter’s tape. Note where water sits after a hose test. Take photos. Then call two to three contractors and invite them to walk it with you. Listen less for the miracle cure and more for the questions they ask. The better questions point toward a better lift: How old is the deck? Any plumbing work under this edge? What’s the sprinkler schedule? Did the problem worsen after a tree removal or a recent storm? A careful contractor will find the story behind the settlement.
Expect a written proposal that separates lift scope from ancillary items like caulking, crack sealing, and drain cleaning. If your budget is tight, tackle the lift first and schedule maintenance items shortly after. Do not skip them. The last 10 percent of the job is where durability lives.
Most pool decks in Dallas can be raised in a morning and put back in use by the next day, barring caulk cure time. If you host a party Saturday, schedule the lift early week, not Friday. Give materials time to settle and sealants time to set.
The edge cases worth calling out
I have lifted decks where the pool contractor tied the deck slab to the shell with rebar, a shortcut that ensures any shell movement telegraphs into the deck. If you see rebar crossing the expansion joint, stop and consult a pool builder. Cutting ties may be necessary before lift.
Another tricky case is a zero-edge or perimeter overflow pool. Those require laser-grade tolerances at the beam. Lifting a deck near such a system needs coordination with the pool contractor, because even small grade changes can alter the weir performance. Sometimes the best answer is to leave the first 2 feet near the beam alone and address trip hazards farther out.
Stamped or integrally colored decks make patch matching a craft. Keep expectations reasonable. A skilled contractor can tint grout patches and finish textures to blend within a couple of shades, but under noon sun you will see the work. If appearance is paramount, plan for a light tint seal across the whole deck after lift to even tones.
Finally, aging mastic around the pool can hide underlying joint damage. When cut out, we sometimes find the joint filled solid with mortar from the original pour, which defeats the point of an expansion joint. In that case, saw cutting the joint after the lift and reestablishing a proper gap with backer rod and sealant is the right step, though it adds time.
What success looks like a year later
A year after a proper lift, the deck still sits flush at the coping with a clean caulk line. Water runs where it should. Minor cracks are sealed and quiet. The patches, while visible to a trained eye, do not jump out. Sprinklers do not beat the slab, and the drains run clear. Most importantly, the homeowner has a plan, whether that is a quick visual check after heavy rain or a standing spring visit to refresh sealant.
The Dallas climate will always ask your deck to move. Concrete raising is not magic, but paired with sensible water management and a contractor who respects the material, it is one of the most cost-effective, least disruptive ways to keep a pool area safe and looking right. If you vet the method to your situation, give the lift the time it needs, and do the small follow-up items, you can expect years of stable service without tearing out a single panel.