Some driveways need a repair. Some need replacing — and pouring money into patches on a slab whose base has failed is how homeowners end up paying for the same driveway twice. Here's how we tell the difference on a site walk.
The five signs
1. Alligator cracking — an interconnected web of cracks across a panel means the slab has fatigued through, usually over a failed base. Fillers are cosmetic at that point.
2. Sunken or heaved panels — steps between panels mean the soil beneath has moved and the slab followed it. Grinding a trip edge treats the symptom; the base is the disease.
3. Standing water — puddles that linger after rain feed water straight into the base and the clay under it, accelerating everything else on this list.
4. Widespread spalling — when the surface flakes off across large areas (often from age, freeze-thaw, and de-icing salts), the damage is through the finished layer and spreading.
5. Crumbling edges and corners — edges failing along the lawn line usually mean the pour was thin or unsupported at the perimeter, and it only travels inward.
What replacement done right includes
Full tear-out and haul-off, base correction (this is the whole point — the new slab must not inherit the old base), thickness and reinforcement specified for vehicles, proper joints, and clean finishing. One scope, one bid, no surprises.
If only one or two panels show these signs, we'll tell you — section replacement is a legitimate fix when the rest of the slab is healthy. An honest site walk sorts it out in fifteen minutes.