Replace it, or can it be repaired?
A driveway with a few hairline cracks and a sound surface just needs cleaning and sealing. It's time to replace when the slabs have sunk or lifted at the joints, the edges are crumbling, big pieces have broken loose, or the surface is flaking away across wide areas. Patching those buys a season, not years, because the problem is under the concrete.
What makes a driveway last
Everything that matters happens before the truck shows up.
- Tear-out and subgrade. The old drive comes out, and soft or organic soil underneath is dug out rather than covered over.
- Compacted stone base. A layer of crushed stone, compacted in lifts, spreads the load and lets water drain away from under the slab.
- Thickness where it counts. Driveways get a thicker slab than a patio, and the edges and apron where tires turn take the most stress.
- Slope and drainage. The drive is pitched so water runs off to the street or the yard, never toward the garage floor.
- Control joints. Cut on a spacing that fits the width, so shrinkage cracks happen in the joints instead of across the slab.
Options people ask for
Widening
An added strip for a third car, a basketball pad or a turnaround, tied into the old slab or poured with the new one.
Stamped borders
A plain broom-finished field with a stamped and colored border or apron dresses up the whole front of the house.
Walk tie-in
We can pour the front walk in the same job so the two meet cleanly.
Commercial drives and lots
We also pour drives and parking areas for commercial customers.
The apron, the sidewalk and the city
The part of a driveway between the public sidewalk and the street, the apron or curb cut, usually sits in the city's right-of-way. Most cities around here require a permit to pour or widen it, and some want a specific thickness or an inspection before the pour. We check what your city requires at the estimate so it is part of the plan from the start, whether you're in Noblesville, Fishers or Carmel.
Driveway day by day
Tear-out
The old drive is broken out and hauled away.
Base and forms
Subgrade fixed, stone compacted, forms set to grade.
Pour and finish
Concrete placed, finished and broomed, joints cut.
Cure
Walk on it after a day or two; cars after about a week to ten days, longer in cool weather.