Straight Answers
Most Winston-Salem driveways brought to us as replacements do not need one, and the decision rule is short. Stable cracks under about 1/4 inch: seal them. Sunken but sound slabs: lift them. One or two failed sections in an otherwise solid drive: replace those sections to the joint lines. Replacement earns its cost when the problems are everywhere at once, wide cracking across many slabs, a base that keeps moving, a surface coming apart, or a driveway near the end of the 30 or more years a concrete drive typically serves.
Updated Aug 17, 2026 · Winston-Salem Concrete Co, Winston-Salem, NC
Driveways fail in parts, and they are built in parts, which is what makes partial fixes legitimate rather than a compromise.
| What you see | The honest fix |
|---|---|
| Hairline cracks, level surfaces | Seal and monitor. Cosmetic. |
| Cracks to about 1/4 inch, stable | Rout and seal, keep water out |
| Slab sunk or tilted, concrete sound | Lift it back to grade |
| Surface scaling or flaking, slab sound | Resurface or overlay |
| One or two sections shattered or dropped | Sectional replacement to the joints |
| Wide cracks across many slabs, movement continuing | Replacement, and fix the base and drainage |
| Surface crumbling through the depth | Replacement, the material is finished |
Age changes the arithmetic. Putting a repair into a 10 year old driveway buys decades; putting the same repair into a 35 year old surface that is failing in three other places buys a season. When a driveway is in its final years, money spent on patching is usually money subtracted from the replacement it is about to need anyway.
The other side of that coin: age alone does not condemn a slab. A 30 year old driveway on a good base with honest joints can be sound, and we tell owners so when it is.
Every repair worth paying for answers the question of why the damage happened. Cracks came from somewhere: water under the slab, a joint cut too shallow, a root, a truck. A repair that treats the symptom and leaves the cause books the same visit again in two years. Expect a diagnosis with the quote, and expect the drainage conversation if settlement is anywhere in the picture.
Repair-or-replace is where quotes diverge most, because it is a judgement call and incentives differ. A crew that only pours will lean replace; a repair specialist will lean repair. Get one of each if the recommendation smells like the service the bidder happens to sell, and make each explain why the other route is wrong for your slab.
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