Repair When the Slab Deserves It
Not every damaged driveway needs replacing. When the slab is structurally sound — good base, right thickness, isolated problems — repair buys years at a fraction of replacement cost. Our job on a repair visit is to figure out which category your driveway is in and tell you straight. If it is a replacement job, we say so; selling you repairs on a failing slab would just waste your money. Our repair vs. replace guide shows the decision process.
What We Repair
- Cracks. Hairline to moderate cracks get routed, cleaned, and filled with flexible crack sealant or epoxy that keeps water out. Sealed cracks stop growing; open cracks grow every winter.
- Sunken slabs. Sections that settled an inch or two get lifted back to grade — polyurethane foam injection for most jobs, a clean process that takes hours, not days. No tear-out, no new concrete curing for a week.
- Spalled spots. Small areas of surface flaking get cleaned out and patched with polymer-modified repair mortar bonded to the sound concrete underneath.
- Failed joints. Crumbled or weed-filled control joints get cleaned and resealed so water stops working down through them.
- Trip lips. Minor height differences between slabs can be ground smooth — cheaper than lifting when the difference is small.
What Repair Cannot Fix
Repair cannot fix a bad base, widespread structural cracking, or concrete that was mixed wrong. If the slab is moving as a whole, lifting one section just moves the problem. We inspect first and only sell repairs that will hold — a repair that fails in a year helps nobody.
Cost
Most repairs run from a few hundred dollars for crack sealing to a few thousand for multi-slab lifting — far less than the $5,000 to $15,000 a replacement costs. Have us look at it and get a straight answer plus a written price.
Reading the Damage: Our Inspection
Every repair starts with a diagnosis, because the right fix depends on the cause. We look at crack patterns — a single straight crack is usually shrinkage; a spiderweb means movement; cracks that run through the joint lines suggest base failure. We check for vertical displacement with a straightedge: if one side of a crack sits higher than the other, the slab is moving differentially, which changes the fix. We sound the slab for hollow spots that indicate voids underneath, and we look at the drainage — where water goes tells us where the next failure will start. Then we give you the straight answer: what is wrong, what will fix it, what it costs, and — when the slab does not qualify — that you should not spend repair money on it at all.
Our Process: Diagnose, Fix, Protect
- Inspection and honest verdict. We diagnose the damage and tell you whether repair will hold. If the slab is a replacement candidate, we say so and quote that instead — we do not sell repairs that will fail.
- Crack repair. Cracks get routed open, cleaned out, and filled with flexible sealant or epoxy. The fill bonds to both sides and keeps water out while flexing with the slab.
- Slab lifting. Settled sections get lifted with polyurethane foam injected through small ports — the foam expands, fills the voids, and raises the slab to grade. Ports are patched flush when done. Most lifting jobs finish in hours.
- Spall and joint work. Spalled spots get patched with polymer-modified mortar; failed joints get cleaned and resealed.
- Protection plan. We recommend sealing after repair work — it protects the repairs and the surrounding concrete alike — and a maintenance routine from our care guide.
What Repair Costs in Fairfax County
Concrete repair is the most affordable way to extend a driveway's life: crack sealing typically runs a few hundred dollars, slab lifting from around $800 to $3,000 depending on how many sections and how far they have settled, and patching somewhere in between. If the honest total approaches a third of replacement cost and the slab is marginal, we will tell you replacement is the smarter money. Estimates are free and written — you will know the exact price before we start.
The Best Season for Repairs
Concrete repair has a calendar. Spring and fall are ideal: moderate temperatures, stable ground, and sealants that cure at the right pace. Summer works fine for most repairs, though extreme heat can make some products set too fast. Winter is the constraint — crack sealants and patching compounds need temperatures above freezing to bond and cure, and foam lifting needs the ground workable. Emergency trip-hazard grinding can happen any time, but structural repairs wait for a weather window. The practical takeaway: if you notice damage in January, get the inspection done then and schedule the repair for the first warm stretch. The contractors who do the best repair work book up in spring — the early call gets the early slot.