Should You Repair or Replace Your Concrete?
The honest answer usually has nothing to do with what you can see on the surface. It's about what's happening underneath.
The one question that decides it
Is the slab still sitting flat and stable, or are sections moving relative to each other? Put a straightedge or a level across a crack. If both sides are at the same height and the slab feels solid underfoot, you're likely looking at a surface problem and repair is realistic. If one side has dropped, or the slab rocks when a car drives over it, the base underneath has failed — and nothing you do to the surface fixes that.
What repairs well
Surface spalling and scaling, worn or rough finishes, and isolated cracks in a stable slab. These are genuinely fixable and cost a fraction of replacement. Individual failed panels in a sidewalk or driveway can also be cut out and repoured to match rather than replacing the whole run.
What doesn't
A slab with sections settled to different heights has a base problem. Resurfacing it looks good for a season and then cracks along the same lines, because nothing underneath changed. Spending money on a topping there means paying twice — once for the topping, then again for the replacement you needed in the first place.
What the numbers look like
Resurfacing generally runs around $3–$10 per square foot in this market, against roughly $6–$11 per square foot for new concrete. Repair is meaningfully cheaper — which is exactly why it's worth being honest about whether it will actually hold.
The age question
Concrete flatwork that's well past a couple of decades and showing widespread cracking is usually near the end regardless of how any single crack looks. At that point money spent on repairs is money spent twice, and replacement is the cheaper answer over any reasonable time horizon.
Need this done?
Snell Concrete & Construction handles demolition & repair across Missouri, based in Fulton. Free on-site estimates, and a straight answer on what the job actually needs.
Related guides
Answers before you call.
Can you resurface a cracked driveway?
Sometimes. If the slab is stable and the cracking is surface-level, a resurface can work. If sections have settled at different heights, the base has failed and a resurface will crack along the same lines within a season or two.
How do I know if my driveway base has failed?
Check whether both sides of a crack are at the same height, and whether the slab moves or rocks under vehicle weight. Height differences and movement both point to a base problem rather than a surface problem.
Is it worth patching a small crack?
For a tight crack in an otherwise sound slab, sealing it keeps water out — and water getting under a slab and freezing is what turns small cracks into big ones. That's cheap and worth doing.
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