Concrete Repair & Leveling in Colorado Springs, CO

Concrete repair and leveling in Colorado Springs starts with one question: is the slab going down or coming up? Sinking usually means the ground underneath settled or washed out, and a sunken panel can often be lifted back into place. Heaving usually means the soil underneath swelled, and a raised panel cannot be pushed back down. The Colorado Geological Survey calls expansive soil Colorado's most significant geologic hazard, says some clays can expand up to 20 percent by volume when wet, and names heaved sidewalks, patios and driveways as very common signs. That is why we diagnose before we price.

Quick diagnosis

• Panel lower than its neighbor, still in one piece: a settled or washed-out base; usually lifted with slurry or foam
• Panel higher than its neighbor: swelling soil or roots; the edge is ground down, or the panel is cut out and repoured
• Fine flaking across the surface: freeze-thaw and de-icers; resurfacing works if the slab is sound
• Hairline cracks with no height change: shrinkage; sealed to keep water out
• Wide cracks and broken pieces: a failed base; the panel is replaced

Most slabs show more than one of these, and the quote addresses each.

Lifting

Mudjacking pumps a cement-based slurry under a sunken slab through small drilled holes, filling the void and raising the concrete. Foam lifting does the same with expanding polyurethane through smaller holes, adding less weight to the soil. HomeGuide's leveling guide lists mudjacking at $4 to $9 a square foot and polyjacking at $8 to $25, with typical minimum charges of $300 to $700, and says results last 5 to 10 years or more. Lifting suits settlement. It is the wrong tool for a slab that is being pushed upward.

Cracks and surfaces

Sealing cracks keeps water out of the base, which matters on clay. HomeGuide's resurfacing guide puts crack filling at $0.50 to $3 a linear foot and warns that cracks wider than about a quarter inch usually point to a deeper problem. For a slab that is solid but worn, a cement-based resurfacer can restore the top; HomeGuide lists basic driveway resurfacing at $3 to $5 a square foot, with a life of 8 to 15 years, and says a slab needing more than about 2 inches of new material should be replaced. Resurfacing a slab that is still moving just puts a new face on the same cracks.

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Replacing only what failed

When one or two panels in a driveway or walk are broken and the rest are fine, we saw-cut along joints, remove the failed sections, correct the base, and pour new panels doweled into the old ones. A new panel will be lighter in color than weathered concrete for a while. If a uniform look matters, resurfacing the area afterward can even it out.

Fixing the water

Most of the concrete movement we price is tied to water. Before any repair, we look at where downspouts discharge, where sprinklers throw, which way the yard slopes and whether water collects along slab edges. The Colorado Geological Survey points to poor surface drainage and irrigation near foundations as common contributors to swelling-soil damage. A downspout extension or a regraded strip of soil can be the cheapest and most important part of the repair.

When replacement wins

If flaking covers most of the surface, cracks run through most panels, the slab keeps heaving year after year, or the repair price is approaching HomeGuide's $6 to $15 a square foot for new concrete, replacement is usually the better spend. We price both so the decision is yours.