Concrete Repair & Resurfacing Cost in Ontario: What Drives It

Most people pricing a repair are looking at the damage: a crack, a pitted surface, a sunken corner, a broken step. That is the part you can see, so it is the part you shop. But the cost of concrete repair and resurfacing depends on the factors behind the damage and the method that fixes it. Here is what actually moves the price in Southern Ontario.

The cause comes first

Damage on top and damage underneath are different jobs. Surface pitting and scaling usually come from salt and freeze-thaw wearing the concrete from the top down. A sunken slab is different: the base failed, not the concrete. Washouts, poor compaction and clay working through its freeze-thaw cycle leave a void, and the slab follows it down.

A repair that ignores the cause is rented, not bought. Caulk smeared into a moving crack opens by spring. An overlay troweled over a slab that is still settling cracks along the same lines. So a good quote starts with the cause.

The method you need

Each repair method is a different job, with different materials and different crew time:

• Crack injection fills the crack to full depth, with epoxy or polyurethane. Polyurethane foams up and stops active water within minutes. Epoxy cures to a structural bond in 1–3 days.
• Slab lifting pumps material under a sunken slab to fill the void and float it back to grade. Mud slurry wants 24–48 hours before traffic. Polyurethane foam takes traffic the same day. For the difference, see our guide to mudjacking versus polyjacking.
• Resurfacing grinds off the weak layer and applies a polymer-modified overlay, 1/8 to 1/2 in. thick. It needs a sound, stable slab underneath.
• Step repair forms and re-pours broken edges and treads. Steps that sit on moving ground are a different conversation, and may need foundation work first.
• Sealing is maintenance, every 2–3 years on exposed surfaces. New concrete cures about a month before its first sealer.

How much area is affected

A single crack and a surface scaled across a whole driveway are not the same job. Size is one of the factors, along with the base and soil, access and how severe the damage is.

Repair or replace

Repair wins when the damage is local and the base is still doing its job. Replacement wins when the slab has cracked into a road map, the base has failed across the whole area, or the surface has scaled so deep there is nothing sound to bond to. Resurfacing over that is throwing good money after bad. A repair-or-replace call is part of any honest quote. For a driveway, see how to decide between repair and replacement. For surface damage after winter, read about spalling and flaking.

Access and site

Can the crew reach the work with its equipment? Is there a lawn, garden or entry to protect? Does water drain toward the damaged area? These things add or save crew time, and they are worth raising at the site visit.

How to read a repair quote

A fair quote does these things:

• It names the cause of the damage, not only the symptom.
• It names the method and the material, such as epoxy or polyurethane, or mud slurry or foam.
• It says what the repair does about water and drainage.
• It says plainly when replacement would be the better spend.
• It states the warranty in writing.

Getting a real number

The honest way to price a repair is a free site visit and a written quote that holds. We check the base, the grade and the drainage before we quote a fix. Repairs carry our lifetime warranty on labour, in writing. Ask about your concrete repair and compare real jobs, not guesses.