How to read this table
The right call depends on one question: is the concrete failing, or is what is under it failing? Surface damage and tight cracks are concrete problems and usually fixable. Panels that are sinking, heaving, or cracking across the whole slab are base problems, and a repair that ignores the base is only a delay.
The costs in the table are typical Aurora ranges. Crack repair is priced per linear foot, leveling and resurfacing per square foot, and replacement per square foot with tear-out included. A typical 2-car example: cracks across a driveway like that, about 75 linear feet, run $300 to $900. Lifting two sunken panels with foam, about 200 square feet, runs $1,400 to $3,000. Resurfacing a Resurface a 2-car driveway (about 600 sq ft) runs $3,000 to $6,000. Replacing that same driveway runs $6,600 to $9,600.
Put those next to each other and you can see why we tell people to repair when repair makes sense. It also shows why putting thousands into patches on a driveway that is going to fail anyway is a poor trade.
A rule of thumb: how much of the slab is damaged
Here is how we usually think about it on a walk-through. Count the panels, then count the ones with real damage: cracks wide enough to catch a fingernail, vertical offset, or crumbling edges.
- Under about a quarter of the panels damaged. Repair is almost always the better call. Fix the bad ones and keep the rest.
- Somewhere around a third to half. This is the gray zone. Compare the repair quotes with a full replacement quote. If the repairs add up to more than about half of a new driveway, replacement usually makes more sense.
- More than half the panels damaged. Replace. You are paying to patch a slab that has already told you what it is going to do.
This is a rule of thumb, not a law. A single badly heaved panel by the garage matters more than five hairline cracks near the street. Use it to frame the conversation and not as a final answer. Our concrete crack repair page explains which cracks are worth filling.
Age and base failure
Age by itself is not a reason to replace a driveway. We have seen 40-year-old slabs in good shape and 8-year-old slabs that were done. What matters is how it was built and what the ground has done since.
Here is what base failure looks like:
- A panel that rocks or thumps when you drive over it, because there is a void underneath.
- Panels that have dropped at the joints and keep dropping.
- Cracks that run in a pattern across the slab instead of along control joints.
- Water pooling in a low spot that was not there before.
- Edges that crumble away from the tire path.
On Aurora clay, voids come from water. Gutters dumping at the slab edge, sprinklers aimed at the driveway, and a thin base over expansive soil all leave the same result: the clay shrinks away, and the slab bridges a gap it was never meant to span. Lifting it with concrete leveling fills the void, which is a fine fix if the water problem gets fixed too. If the slab is also badly cracked, lifting it just gives you a level piece of broken concrete.
When we break out an old driveway, we often find a couple of inches of sandy fill sitting right on clay, no rebar, and rusted-out mesh that did nothing. If that is what you have, there is nothing under the slab to save.
Surface damage: scaling and resurfacing
Flaking, pitting, and a rough, pockmarked top near the garage door is surface damage, and it is common here. The city's concrete repair policy lists three causes of spalling: overworking the surface, adding water at placement, and poor cold-weather protection during curing. Deicing salt tracked home on tires speeds it up.
If the slab underneath is solid and the cracks are tight, concrete resurfacing puts a new polymer-modified surface over it for a lot less than a pour. If the slab is also heaved, sunken, or full of wide cracks, an overlay will crack through. It is a surface fix, and it cannot hold a slab together.
Sealing after any resurfacing job matters. A sealed surface holds up to salt much longer, and sealing runs $1.50 to $3 per sq ft.
Putting money into a dead slab
The mistake we see most is a homeowner who spends a little on crack filler this year, a little on leveling next year, and a little on a sealer the year after, and ends up with a driveway that costs more than a replacement and still does not look right. Each repair is reasonable on its own. Together, on a failing slab, they are not.
Ask yourself three things. Are the problems getting worse every year? Are the repairs going to fix the cause, or just the symptom? And would the repair budget put a big chunk toward a new driveway instead? If the answers are yes, no, and yes, replacement is the cheaper path over time.
If you do go that route, start with our driveway replacement page. We rebuild the base, which is the whole point, and the new slab goes in with rebar, control joints, and air-entrained mix. And if you are weighing a repair, ask us to look at the whole slab first. We will tell you if a smaller fix is the smarter move, even when it is a smaller job for us.
Frequently asked questions
Is it cheaper to repair or replace a driveway?
Repair is cheaper when the damage is limited. Crack repair runs $4 to $12 per linear ft, and a new driveway with tear-out runs $11 to $16 per sq ft. Once repairs add up to about half the cost of replacement, replacing usually makes more sense.
How do I know if my driveway needs to be replaced?
Look for widespread cracking with panels sitting at different heights, a slab that rocks under your tires, or a slope that sends water to the garage. Any one of these points to a failing base.
Can sunken concrete be fixed without replacing it?
Often, yes. Mudjacking runs $4 to $8 per sq ft and foam leveling runs $7 to $15 per sq ft. It works when the slab itself is in decent shape and the cause of the settling is fixed.
Will resurfacing fix cracks in my driveway?
Only small, stable ones, and we repair them first. Resurfacing runs $5 to $10 per sq ft. If the slab is moving, the cracks will come back through the overlay.
How long does a repaired driveway last?
It depends on why the damage happened. A sealed crack on a stable slab can last for years. A lifted panel lasts as long as the water and soil problem stays fixed. A rebuilt base lasts decades.
Can I replace just one section of my driveway?
Yes, if the other panels are sound. We saw-cut along a joint, remove the bad panel, rebuild the base, and pour new. The new section will not match the old color exactly.