Why is my driveway sinking near the garage in Winston-Salem?

A Winston-Salem driveway that sinks near the garage is almost always a base problem, not a concrete problem. The soil beside a foundation was excavated and backfilled when the house was built, and backfill settles for years, especially red clay that swells wet and shrinks dry. Add a downspout dumping roof water beside the slab and the base washes out from under it. The slab then tilts toward the garage, which sends more water exactly where you do not want it.

Updated Aug 18, 2026 · Winston-Salem Concrete Co, Winston-Salem, NC

Concrete Repair & Replacement Concrete Leveling & Lifting

How to tell what is happening under the slab

Three checks tell most of the story before anyone quotes anything.

Look at the joint where driveway meets garage floor: a gap or a step that was not there before means the driveway side has dropped.
Watch where downspouts discharge. Roof water landing beside the slab is the most common single cause of washout in this housing stock.
Check the slope after rain: puddles against the garage door mean the slab now tilts the wrong way and every storm makes it worse.

Leveling or replacement

If the sunken section is structurally sound, one piece, and just low, slab leveling lifts it back into place for a fraction of a repour, and it is done in hours. If the section is cracked through, rocking, or the base has washed badly, leveling lifts a broken slab and you are back in the same spot in two years. The honest answer comes from reading the slab, and either way the drainage that caused it has to be fixed or the fix will not hold.

Common questions

Is a sunken driveway section near the garage urgent?⌄

More than most concrete problems, yes. The tilt directs storm water at the garage slab and the foundation, so the damage compounds. It is worth having eyes on it this season rather than next.

Will leveling crack my slab?⌄

Done properly on a sound slab, no. The lift is gradual and supported. Leveling a slab that is already cracked through is the mistake, and a contractor worth hiring will decline to do it.

Why is my driveway sinking near the garage in Winston-Salem?

How to tell what is happening under the slab

Leveling or replacement

Common questions

People also ask