Driveway Resurfacing in Palm Bay, FL

Can your driveway be resurfaced?

A driveway carries more weight than any other slab at the house, so the test for resurfacing is strict. The slab has to be sound, because the overlay bonds to it and follows whatever it does. Faded color, oil spots and a worn finish are surface problems, and a stamped overlay covers them well. Small cracks and a little chipping along the joints get repaired first, and then the drive can usually be resurfaced.

Some driveways are past resurfacing, and at the estimate we look for the signs. Sections that sank below the rest are one, and so is a crack with one side higher. Tree roots in an older yard can push a slab up, and Brevard's sandy soil can settle under it. An overlay does nothing for the soil, and a stamped layer on a shifting slab cracks right along with it.

The edges and both ends of a drive tell you a lot too. Edges that break off in chunks where tires roll over them mean the slab is failing. So does a garage apron or a strip at the street that has broken apart. Deep spalling, where the top has flaked away in wide patches, points to replacement as well. A driveway like that needs a tear-out and repour, and that call gets made on site at the free estimate.

How we resurface a concrete driveway

Prep decides whether a driveway overlay lasts, and poor prep is the most common reason overlays fail. Oil drips, grease and old sealer all block the bond, so every trace of them has to come off. Then we diamond grind the slab, one of the most effective ways to rough up concrete for an overlay. Chipped spots get cut back to solid concrete, and low spots get filled before anything else goes down.

Cracks come next, and any crack as wide as a credit card or wider gets repaired. Active cracks get filled at this stage so they do not mirror through into the new stamped surface. An overlay cannot bridge a crack by itself, so this repair work is what keeps the new surface whole. We also re-cut the driveway's control joints through the overlay, which gives the old slab planned places to crack.

A bond coat goes on the clean slab, then the overlay mix, raked out to the depth the pattern needs. Release color gets cast over the surface, and stamp mats press the pattern in while the mix is soft. Warm weather shortens that stamping window, so summer driveway jobs start early in the day. Sealer with a grit additive goes on last. Until then, the sprinklers along the drive stay off.

Patterns, borders and color for a driveway

When the surface is a driveway, we lead with the ashlar slate, flagstone and brick stamp patterns. Ashlar slate looks like cut stone set in squares and rectangles, and flagstone has a looser, random shape. Brick lays out in straight rows like a paver drive, and it also works as an edge border. Wood plank is a pattern we stamp too, though its boards and grain read more like a patio.

Borders are often stamped in a different pattern than the field, which frames the drive. A brick border across the garage apron can set off a flagstone field, for one. We can also hand-carve a compass star or another detail into the overlay. Pigment in the mix sets the main color, and the release color shades the stamped lines a darker tone. The same knockdown spray texture we use on pool decks can also go on a driveway slab.

How much height does a driveway overlay add?

Stamped overlays typically go down between a quarter inch and three quarters of an inch thick over the old slab. Deeper patterns need more material, so the pattern you pick sets the final height. On a driveway, that height shows up where the overlay meets the garage slab, the walk and the street. We look at each of those edges at the free estimate and plan how the overlay ends at each one.

The street end gets its own check. The last stretch of a drive often sits in the road right of way, where work can need a permit. Palm Bay lists driveway approaches, the piece that meets the road, among the uses of that strip. Each city and the county set their own rules, and our Brevard driveway permit guide walks through them. If your job reaches that strip, the permit question gets settled at the free estimate.

What drives the cost of driveway resurfacing?

Square footage sets the starting point, since every step of the job grows with the size of the driveway. The condition of the slab comes next, because crack repair, chipped spots and low spots all add prep time. Old sealer or paint adds more, since it has to be ground away until bare concrete shows. Two driveways of the same size can price differently because of that prep work alone.

The look you pick moves the number too. One color and one pattern cost less than a multi-color design with borders or accent colors. Borders add time as well, since each one gets its own pattern and edge. A hand-carved compass star adds hand work, and so does ending the overlay cleanly at the garage and the street. We measure your driveway and price it from the actual job at a free on-site estimate.