Concrete Repair in Suffolk, VA

Concrete repair starts with a question: why did it fail? A crack, a sunken panel or a flaking surface is usually a symptom of something else, like water washing out the base, a downspout soaking one corner, a tree root, or freeze-thaw damage on a surface that was never sealed. Suffolk's homes range from houses built before 1940 to subdivisions finished in the last few years, so the problems range just as widely. We find the cause, recommend the repair that fits, and price replacement next to it when the two are close.

What we repair

• Cracks: routed and filled with a flexible sealant to keep water out of the base
• Sunken panels: lifted back to level by pumping material under the slab
• Flaking and pitting (scaling): surfaces resurfaced with a bonded overlay
• Broken corners and edges: patched or cut out and repoured
• Trip hazards: raised or lowered panels brought flush
• Joints: old, failed joint filler removed and replaced

Water is usually the cause

With more than 50 inches of precipitation a year in Suffolk, water causes most concrete damage. Rain running off a roof onto one corner of a driveway, a downspout aimed at a walk, or a patio sloped toward the house can wash fine soil out from under a slab until it cracks and drops. A repair that ignores that cause will fail again. So part of every repair is fixing the water problem: extending a downspout, regrading a strip of yard, or sealing joints so rain stops getting underneath.

Freeze-thaw damage

January lows in Suffolk average just under freezing, so concrete that holds water goes through many freeze-thaw cycles each winter. The result is scaling: the top layer flakes off, exposing the stone underneath. It is worse on concrete that was not air-entrained, was finished with extra water on the surface, or got de-icing salt in its first winter. If the slab below is sound, a resurfacing overlay can give it a new top. HomeGuide's resurfacing guide puts basic overlays at $3 to $7 per square foot and says they last 8 to 15 years.

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Repair or replace?

HomeGuide's leveling and resurfacing guides point to replacement when cracks are wider than about a quarter inch, when the surface is crumbling or badly spalled, when the base has failed, or when an overlay would need to be more than two inches thick. Cracks that wide can signal a deeper problem that would show through any overlay. We look at the whole slab, not just the worst spot, and give you both prices when it is a close call. Replacing two bad panels of a driveway is often better than resurfacing all of it.

Leveling sunken concrete

A panel that has dropped but is still in one piece can often be lifted rather than replaced. Mudjacking pumps a cement slurry under the slab; polyjacking uses expanding foam through smaller holes. HomeGuide lists mudjacking at $4 to $9 per square foot and polyjacking at $8 to $25, and says leveling typically lasts 5 to 10 years or more, depending on the method and on whether the drainage problem that caused the settling gets fixed.

Keeping it repaired

• Seal cracks while they are small
• Keep downspouts and sprinklers off the concrete edges
• Seal exterior concrete every few years
• Go easy on de-icing salt