Concrete Repair & Leveling in Beavercreek, OH

Concrete repair and leveling can give a sunken or worn slab years more life at a lower price than tearing it out. HomeGuide's leveling guide lists mudjacking at $4 to $9 a square foot, compared with $6 to $15 to replace a slab. In Beavercreek, where much of the concrete dates from the 1950s through the 1970s, we see plenty of driveways, walks, patios and steps that are still structurally sound but have settled, cracked or lost their surface.

Leveling sunken concrete

When the soil under a slab washes out or compresses, the concrete drops. Leveling lifts it back into place by pumping material underneath through small drilled holes.

• Mudjacking pumps a cement-based slurry under the slab. HomeGuide lists it at $4 to $9 a square foot and says it typically lasts 5 to 7 years with good drainage.
• Polyjacking (foam) injects expanding polyurethane foam through smaller holes. It is lighter, cures fast and often lasts longest, at $8 to $25 a square foot.

Leveling works best on panels that are intact. A slab broken into several pieces usually needs to be replaced.

Resurfacing worn concrete

Scaling, the flaking surface damage caused by freeze-thaw and salt, is the most common complaint we hear in the Dayton area. When the slab underneath is solid, a resurfacing overlay restores a clean, uniform surface. HomeGuide's resurfacing guide lists $3 to $5 a square foot for a basic driveway overlay and $3 to $7 for patios and walks, with a typical life of 8 to 15 years. Resurfacing does not fix settling or structural cracks, and HomeGuide recommends replacement when an overlay would need to be more than two inches thick.

Crack sealing

Hairline cracks let water into the slab, where it freezes and widens them. Sealing them early is cheap; HomeGuide lists crack filling at $0.50 to $3 a linear foot. HomeGuide also notes that cracks wider than a quarter inch can point to deeper problems. A quarter inch is the same width Beavercreek's Sidewalk Maintenance Policy uses to flag a public sidewalk panel, so on a city sidewalk a wide crack generally means replacing that panel rather than filling it.

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Replacing single panels

Sometimes only one or two sections are bad: the panel by the garage, the square under a downspout, the corner a delivery truck cracked. We saw-cut those sections out, fix the base underneath, and pour new panels doweled to the old ones. The color will not match exactly at first, but the slab becomes level and safe without replacing everything.

Repair or replace: how we decide

We look at how much of the slab is affected, whether the panels are whole, why it failed, and how much life the rest of it has left. Generally:

• Repair when panels are intact, the damage is limited and the base problem can be corrected
• Replace when cracking, sinking and scaling are widespread, the slab is broken into many pieces, or water is draining toward the house

When both are reasonable, the quote shows both prices side by side.

Fixing the cause

Leveling or patching a slab without fixing the reason it failed means doing it again. Most settling comes from water: downspouts emptying beside the slab, gaps along the edges, or soil that was never compacted. We extend downspouts, seal joints and edges, and point out drainage changes so the repair lasts.