Concrete Repair in Sparks, NV

Concrete repair is often the smartest money you can spend on a driveway, patio or walkway, but only when the problem is one repair can actually solve. In Sparks, most concrete damage comes from water and freezing. Wikipedia's climate figures show about 140 nights a year at or below freezing. Water that gets into cracks, joints and the surface freezes, expands and pushes things apart a little more each winter. A timely repair stops that cycle. A repair on a slab with a failed base just buys a season or two.

What we repair

• Cracks: Cleaned out and filled with a flexible sealant or repair compound so water stays out.
• Settled slabs: Raised back to grade by pumping material underneath, as long as the slab is still in sound pieces.
• Open joints: Dried-out joint filler pulled and replaced so water stops getting under the slab.
• Scaling and spalling: Flaking areas cleaned and covered with a bonded overlay, where the concrete below is solid.
• Trip edges: High lips ground down, or dropped panels lifted to remove them.
• Worn sealer: Cleaning and resealing before the surface starts to break down.

Lifting a sunken slab

A slab that has dropped but is still mostly in one piece can often be raised for far less than a new pour. HomeGuide's leveling guide puts mudjacking, which pumps a cement slurry beneath the slab, at $4 to $9 a square foot, and polyurethane foam at $8 to $25 a square foot. Foam weighs less, needs smaller holes and sets quickly, while mudjacking is cheaper up front. HomeGuide says professionally leveled concrete lasts 5 to 10 years or more, and drainage decides which end of that range you get.

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Fix it or replace it?

We look over the entire slab before suggesting anything. A repair usually makes sense when:

• Most of the slab is intact, with a few cracks or one settled section
• The surface is worn but the concrete below is still solid
• Whatever caused the damage, such as a downspout or sprinkler, can be corrected

A new pour usually makes more sense when:

• Cracks run through most of the panels or keep coming back
• The slab is in many pieces or crumbling along the edges
• Scaling is deep or covers most of the surface
• The base has washed out and the slab is sinking in several spots

Point2Homes' Census summary shows about a third of Sparks homes were built before 1980, and plenty of driveways and walks that age are past the point where a repair will hold. We will tell you plainly which side of that line yours falls on.

Finding the cause

Every repair starts with asking why the concrete failed. A downspout emptying next to the driveway, sprinklers soaking the soil under a patio, or a slab that slopes toward the house will keep causing damage no matter how good the repair is. We point out what we see and suggest simple fixes, like extending a downspout or redirecting a sprinkler head, so the repair lasts.

Keeping damage from coming back

Reseal outdoor concrete every 2 to 3 years and keep joints filled. Keep salt-based de-icers off, especially in a slab's first year, and never use ammonium-based products. Shovel early so snow does not melt and refreeze on the surface. Sealing a small crack is cheap; ignoring it is not.