Concrete Repair in Denver, CO

If it sunk once, it will sink again, unless someone fixes the reason it sank. Most patch and lift jobs skip that step. We find out why your concrete cracked, flaked or settled before we price anything: clay moving under a thin base, water sitting along the low edge, mag chloride on an unsealed surface, or tree roots. Then we tell you plainly whether a repair will hold or whether that section needs to come out and go back on a compacted base.

You get a fixed written, itemized price after an on-site measurement, from a licensed and insured Colorado contractor working in Denver since 2010. Call (720) 782-8086. We reply the same day during business hours.

If this sounds familiar

The slab got lifted, and a few years later it sank again

You paid to have a sunken walkway, step or driveway panel raised. It looked right for a while, then it settled back to the original depth, or a hairline crack formed through one of the jack points. Lifting does nothing about why it dropped. Here, the first question is what moved underneath, and when the ground under a panel has failed we say so and replace that panel on a compacted base instead of selling you another lift.

You paid the deposit, then they stopped answering

The contractor was quick to reply right up until the money changed hands. Then calls and texts went nowhere and the start date came and went. We reply the same day during business hours, and you have a fixed written price in hand before anything is scheduled.

The patch came right back, and now you look at it every day

Someone filled the crack or poured a couple inches over the top, and by next winter it cracked again, with a different colored patch to show for it. A crack where one side sits higher than the other is structural, and filling it is money spent to have it reappear. We tell you which kind you have before you pay for either.

If it sunk once, will it sink again?

What it looks like: panels at different heights. A slab that rocks. A driveway section that has dropped away from the garage, or a walkway panel standing higher than its neighbor.

What causes it here: two things, and they are opposites. Expansive clay soil, which runs through much of the Front Range and is heaviest through the south and east metro, swells when it takes on water and shrinks when it dries out. A slab on a thin or poorly compacted base rides that movement. In Highlands Ranch, Aurora and Littleton this is common enough that it should be the first thing anyone checks.

Tree roots do the opposite, lifting rather than settling, and they are the main cause on older walkways in Littleton and the established Denver neighborhoods. Different cause, similar symptom, different fix. See walkways and sidewalks.

So will it sink again? It will if the cause is still there. Small offsets can sometimes be ground down to remove the trip hazard. Panels can be replaced with the base corrected underneath. Where the base has failed across a large area, replacement is the honest answer and we will say so before you spend money on a repair that will be worse by next year.

Which cracks can be fixed, and which come right back

Not all cracks mean the same thing, and the answer to "what caused the crack?" decides the fix.

• Hairline surface cracks are normal. All concrete cracks. If it is thin, not offset, and the two sides are level, it is cosmetic.
• Cracks along control joints are the joints doing their job. That is where the slab was supposed to crack.
• Wide cracks with one side higher than the other are structural. Something underneath moved. Filling it will not hold.
• Map cracking, a fine web across the surface, usually points to a finishing or curing issue in the original pour. Typically cosmetic, and a good resurfacing candidate.

Cosmetic cracks get filled and sealed. Structural cracks mean dealing with what moved underneath, which usually means removal and replacement of the affected section.

Worried they will take the deposit and stop answering?

It is the most common story in every homeowner thread about hiring concrete work, and it has nothing to do with how good the concrete is. What you can hold us to:

• We reply the same day during business hours.
• Someone comes out and measures before any number is given.
• You get a fixed written price, itemized, so you know what you are paying for before work is scheduled.
• The work is done by a licensed and insured Colorado concrete contractor carrying general liability and workers' compensation.
• We have worked in the Denver metro since 2010, and the work is backed by a warranty.

What will the repair cost, and will the bill match the quote?

Nobody can price a repair honestly from a photo, because the costs people call totally unexpected are usually the ones hidden until the old concrete is opened up. That is why the price comes after an on-site measurement, fixed, written and itemized. What moves the number:

• Surface or structure. Filling and sealing cosmetic cracks costs far less than taking out a panel whose base has failed.
• How much area is affected. One sunken walkway panel and a driveway with cracks everywhere are different jobs.
• Whether a section has to come out. Removal, haul-off and base rework are itemized on their own lines, not added at the end.
• Resurfacing or sealing afterward. If the surface is flaking, repairing without sealing just resets the clock, so we show that as its own line and you decide.

The top layer is flaking off. Is it the salt?

What it looks like: the top layer coming off in thin sheets or chips. Rough, pockmarked patches. Aggregate showing through. Usually worst near the street, near the garage, or on steps.

What causes it here: freeze-thaw plus magnesium chloride, almost every time. Salt and concrete don't get along very well, and Colorado's deicer is worse than most. Denver runs around a hundred freeze-thaw cycles a year. Water gets into the pores at the surface, freezes, expands roughly nine percent, and pushes the top layer apart. Mag chloride off the roads makes it worse in two ways at once, attacking the cement paste chemically and lowering the freezing point so the surface cycles even more often.

The part worth hearing: this is usually not your original contractor's fault and it is not bad concrete. It is an unsealed slab in a climate that punishes unsealed slabs. Almost every spalled driveway we look at in this metro has never been sealed.

The fix: if the slab is structurally sound, this is a surface issue. Repair the damaged areas, or resurface the whole thing for a uniform result, then seal it and stay on a two to three year cycle.

One caveat: a few different surface failures look nearly identical from standing height and they don't all get fixed the same way. Sorting out which one you have is the first thing we do on site, and you can get most of the way there yourself in about two minutes. The checks are in why is the top layer coming off my Denver driveway.

If your driveway or patio went in this year, skip the deicer this winter and use sand for traction instead. The longer answer, including what magnesium chloride does that rock salt does not, is in should I put salt on my new concrete driveway this winter.

Why it shows up in spring: almost none of this is visible while it is happening. The bond under the surface gives way a fraction of an inch down over the winter, ice holds the layer in place until the first real thaw, and the whole thing sheds at once in April. If your slab looked fine in October and terrible in April, that timing is the explanation, and the few things worth doing before the first freeze are in there too.

What happens after you call

• You call or send the form. We reply the same day during business hours.
• We come out and look at it. We measure, check whether the damage is surface or structure, and look for the cause: base, drainage, deicer, roots.
• You get a fixed written price. Itemized, with a plain answer on repair or replace.
• The repair. We protect your yard, do the work, and haul off the debris.
• Afterward. If sealing is what keeps it from coming back, we tell you when, and the work is backed by a warranty.

Will the crew wreck my driveway or lawn getting to it?

Ruts in the yard and a broken driveway edge are a common complaint after concrete work of any kind. We protect your yard, haul off the debris, and leave the site clean.

Do I repair or replace?

If the slab is sound with surface damage, repair or resurfacing is the cheaper fix that holds. If the base has failed and the slab is heaving, badly broken, or the edges are a tripping hazard across the whole run, replacement lasts longer. You get the honest call on site, including when we think it is probably repairable.

Are they licensed, and can I see their previous work?

All work is done by a licensed and insured Colorado concrete contractor, with general liability and workers' compensation. You can see finished jobs in the photos on this site and read what homeowners said on our reviews page.

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