There are only three answers to a damaged drive and they are separated by what is happening underneath rather than by what you can see. Repair treats a defect in an otherwise sound slab. Resurfacing puts a new wearing layer over a slab that is stable but tired. Replacement is for a drive that is moving. Spending resurfacing money on a moving slab is the most common expensive mistake in this trade.
Before concrete slab repair, read the pattern, not the damage
Hairline cracks spread evenly across a slab are shrinkage and are usually cosmetic. A single crack with one side higher than the other is movement. Cracks radiating from a corner are a joint problem. Surface pitting and flaking without structural cracking is a finish or a de-icing problem. The pattern is the diagnosis, and it is readable in ten minutes by anyone who knows what to look at.
What resurfacing actually is, and the cost to resurface asphalt driveway
A bonded overlay of a cementitious product applied over a cleaned and prepared slab, often a few millimetres to a couple of centimetres thick, which can be plain or decorative. It renews the surface and the appearance and it inherits everything structural from below. On the right slab it is excellent value; on the wrong one it is money applied to the visible half of a hidden problem.
Concrete pitting, scaling and the first winter
A surface that has lost its skin in patches usually met de-icing salts too early in its life, or was finished while bleed water was still on it, or was poured without air entrainment in a freezing climate. It is a surface condition rather than a structural one, so resurfacing addresses it, but it is worth knowing the cause so the new surface is not given the same treatment.
Asphalt repair is a different vocabulary
On asphalt, crack filling keeps water out of the base, patching replaces a failed area, an overlay lays a new mat over the old, and full depth replacement rebuilds from the subgrade. The same rule applies: none of the first three fixes a base that has failed, and alligator cracking across an area is the sign that the base rather than the surface is the problem.
What concrete driveway maintenance is genuinely worth doing
Keeping joints clear and sealed so water does not sit in them, keeping de-icing chemicals off young concrete, and making sure water leaves the drive rather than ponding on it. These are cheap and they extend life. Frequent decorative sealing on plain concrete does much less than any of the three, whatever the truck at the end of the street says.
Questions people ask about concrete driveway repair
Can a cracked concrete driveway be repaired or does it need replacing?
If the crack is not moving and the slab either side is at the same level, repair or resurfacing is legitimate. If one side has risen or dropped, or the crack has opened over a season, the ground is moving and only replacement with the base rebuilt resolves it. The level test either side of the crack is the quick version of that diagnosis.
How long does a resurfaced driveway last?
It depends on the product, the preparation and what is underneath, so the honest answer comes with the specification. A bonded overlay on a sound, clean, properly prepared slab is a durable surface; the same product on a slab that was not prepared or that is still moving fails early, and the difference is the preparation rather than the product.
What causes pitting on a concrete driveway?
Most often de-icing chemicals on concrete that was too young, or a surface finished with bleed water still present, or a mix without air entrainment in a climate that freezes. It is a surface failure rather than a structural one, which is why resurfacing is usually the proportionate answer.
Is it worth repairing an old drive before selling?
A sound drive reads as maintenance done and a cracked one reads as a job waiting, so a proportionate repair usually pays back better than a full replacement does. Ask a contractor for the cheapest fix that makes it read as sound, rather than for the best drive they could build you.
How much to replace driveway slabs against repairing them?
Replacement is several times a repair and lasts several times longer, so the question is whether the base is sound. Where the cracks have stopped moving, repair; where the slab rocks, you are paying twice to repair it.
Is a concrete driveway calculator useful for a repair?
Not really. Calculators price new area, and a repair is priced by the operation: cut out, base, reinstate, joint. Ask for those lines rather than a square foot rate.