A driveway is the hardest working flatwork on your property. It carries vehicle weight day after day, it takes the full brunt of winter, and it is the first thing anyone sees from the street. That combination is why a driveway is a different structural request than a patio. The loads are heavier and more concentrated, especially where vehicles turn in from the road, and the slab has to be built for that from the ground up rather than dressed up on top.
Most failed driveways along the Wasatch Front did not fail because of the concrete. They failed because the ground under them was soft, uneven, or wet, or because water had nowhere to go and sat on the surface every winter. We connect you with contractors who look at the base, the grade, and the approach before they talk about finish, and who will tell you plainly when a tear-out is the right call instead of another patch.
We are not going to put a number on a website, because the number lives in the site. The drivers are area and shape, whether the existing concrete has to come out and get hauled away, how much correction the base needs, what the drainage plan requires, how easily a truck can reach the pour, the reinforcement your contractor specifies, and whether you want a broom finish or something decorative. A steep or tight lot adds labor at every one of those steps. Ask for bids that itemize base preparation, so you can tell whether you are comparing the same driveway twice or two different jobs.
Almost never a good idea. Pouring over failing concrete traps the original problem underneath, raises the surface where it meets the garage and the street, and gives the new slab an uneven base to shrink and crack over. If the old driveway is broken, moving, or holding water, taking it out is what lets someone fix the reason it failed.
Your contractor will tell you, and the answer moves with the weather and the mix they used. Concrete keeps gaining strength well after it looks and feels hard, and parking on it early is a good way to leave marks or start a crack. Keep vehicles and heavy loads off it and follow the schedule the crew gives you.
Either it was never given enough fall, or it has settled since it was placed. A birdbath in the middle of a driveway is more than annoying. It is a freeze-thaw machine all winter, and the surface there tends to go first. Whether it can be corrected depends on why it is low, which is a base question before it is a concrete question.
Often, yes. The section between the sidewalk and the street usually belongs to the city, and your municipality may have its own requirements for work in that area. Your contractor should know how that is handled where you live and raise it before demolition, not after. It also takes the most concentrated loading of anywhere on the driveway.
A patio slab has to shed water away from your house, meet the structure cleanly, and sit at a height that works with your doors and grade. Slope and edge details matter more here than most people expect.
Learn more →Walks and steps are where settling turns into a trip hazard. Contractors look at what the old concrete sat on, keep risers even underfoot, and set the pitch so meltwater runs off instead of freezing in place.
Learn more →A garage floor takes vehicle loads, dropped tools, road salt melting off tires, and whatever you store on it. Contractors address the base, the drainage, the joint pattern, and how the surface gets finished and sealed.
Learn more →Stamping, coloring, and exposed finishes happen while the concrete is still workable, not afterward. That changes the crew size, the timing, and the weather window, and it gives you a surface with its own maintenance routine.
Learn more →Send it over and we will match you with a Wasatch Front concrete contractor who covers your area.