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I'm pretty sure I know the answer, but is there ANY cost-effective, reasonably durable method for resurfacing a badly spalled concrete driveway?
Denver weather being what it is, nearly every driveway around me (about 40 years old) is either significantly spalled or relatively new. My driveway isn't long, about 35 feet by nominally two-car, but quick estimates on replacement are in the $3-5,000 range. Just not quite worth it, as it probably wouldn't add value or even enhance salability much - crummy driveways are just a fact of life here and not a make or break for most buyers. It's presently six separate slabs (all of which are level and in good structural condition); ideally, I'd redo it as a solid pour with brick ornamentation to complement the house.
Besides being ugly, it's really a pain to walk on. Barefoot, it's like walking on sharp gravel, both the rough surface and the perpetual chips. Even in shoes, it's just uneven enough that it's easy to catch a crab and stumble.
So... would any resurfacing compound work here? Grinding? Putting down shag carpet? Or is (as I suspect) this a zero-option fix, full replacement or nothin'?
I have a 1,200 SF driveway myself - asphalt - 20 years old. Just signed up for a total resurfacing whereby they’re taking it down to the base layer, fixing two areas where wide cracks formed, and then installing new blacktop at 2 ½ inches thick, plus widening one side by about 8 inches with new base layer installed underneath it - $3,000. So that translates into $2.50 per square foot.
Not sure what resurfacing concrete consists of, but I suspect somewhat close to the same thing re: removing a few inches and pouring new on top of a base layer (sounds like your base is ok, just the top layer is weathered/aged and failing.
It doesn't happen very often here in the ATL- but it does happen. Spalling of the cream on drives and sidewalks is literally a PITA! And I certainly don't like having to pay for the cost of replacing structurely sound flatwork for a cosmetic issue.
So when I had my concrete contractor suggest this practice, I made a deal with him. If the finished work looks as good as the original work- he's "off-the-hook" for half the cost (this driveway was placed in Jan. and we were not suppose to have freezing temperatures at the time- the spalling didn't happen for a month or so). If it stayed sound for 60 days- he wasn't biting the cost of replacing.
Last time I saw it- 4yrs later- it was still holding up just fine.
Following the directions very closely is paramount- my contractor also used an acrylic primer to insure adhesion. It was mixed in a mortar mixer, placed a bucket at a time, spread with squeeges, then broomed and edged. The biggest difference between this product and the original was color. The resurfacer was "greyer" than the original concrete.
The product was also approved by the local HBA as an alternative to replacing concrete due to "acts of God".
You'd have to find a contractor that has experience with this product- labor will be the highest part of the sum. And labor varies greatly across the country.
I would almost never recommend resurfacing a concrete driveway especially in Colorado and also if you are looking for a uniform appearance. You would be spending a considerable amount of money for work that would have a relatively short timespan.
Your best option for appearance, longevity and cost effectiveness over time would be to revive the existing concrete and replace. You should determine why it needs to be replaced so that it can be determined if the sub base and soil are adequate, or perhaps that caused the issue?
Yeah, I know replacing it is the only real answer. See OP; even for resale purposes it's a questionable expense. And structurally it's just fine, with only one slab cracked and no differential settling from that. It's a perfectly good driveway, just a little unattractive and harder to walk on than it should be.
Like, I would guess, about 75% of driveways in Colorado...
It's the garage, oddly enough, that has one tilted slab. The raised corner goes right into the center and it's just enough of a lip that tool carts won't roll over it easily. Probably going to get that ground flat this summer; I have a resto car on dollies that needs to move around a little more easily.
Yeah, I know replacing it is the only real answer. See OP; even for resale purposes it's a questionable expense. And structurally it's just fine, with only one slab cracked and no differential settling from that. It's a perfectly good driveway, just a little unattractive and harder to walk on than it should be.
Like, I would guess, about 75% of driveways in Colorado...
It's the garage, oddly enough, that has one tilted slab. The raised corner goes right into the center and it's just enough of a lip that tool carts won't roll over it easily. Probably going to get that ground flat this summer; I have a resto car on dollies that needs to move around a little more easily.
Scarifying and or grinding a small area, even if it’s patch would hold up and look a whole lot better than attempting to do an entire driveway.
If your driveways sub base is good, that more than half the battle and you need to be sure the new one, if you go that route, is -laced on crushed stone with adequate expansion joints.
It's the garage, oddly enough, that has one tilted slab. The raised corner goes right into the center and it's just enough of a lip that tool carts won't roll over it easily. Probably going to get that ground flat this summer; I have a resto car on dollies that needs to move around a little more easily.
Your problem there is most likely "Bentonite". Very common building problem in CO.
Your problem there is most likely "Bentonite". Very common building problem in CO.
Kryptonite for concrete? (I can't find any useful reference.)
OTOH, I last lived in an area where they found out the common concrete mix had a contaminant from local aggregate - pyrrhotite - that causes concrete to crumble away... after a decade. This bad mix was used for almost a decade, through two building booms, and in hundreds of houses and businesses. Nothing like a whole town whose newer construction is about 40% afflicted with this disastrous fault; cost of replacing a basement and foundation is about equal to the property value in most cases.
Quarry is long closed, owners of the time are dead, most contractors have long since reformed into other corporations etc. Ain't nobody to line up and shoot, or sue, or even run out of town. Very few HO insurance policies begin to cover the problem; I think the best offer a 50% buyout.
The state has stepped in and there is federal involvement coming, I understand, but I am very, very, very glad I didn't have to sell that house. (I did get bitten by the initial decline in value, before the true scale of the problem set in... and by all information, it's not one of those affected. But no one is buying even nice shiny houses in a leper colony, not when both inspectors and insurance companies specifically exclude the problem from warranty.)
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