Cracked, sunken or worn concrete does not always need to come out. Across Suwanee, we repair driveways, patios, walkways and slabs that still have sound structure underneath but have settled, split or lost their surface. Leveling brings a sunken section back to grade. Resurfacing bonds a new wearing layer over a slab that has gone rough, pitted or stained. Repair covers what sits between: cracks, broken edges and spalled spots. Each one keeps more of your existing concrete in service.
Every job starts with the slab and the ground under it. Pacolet soil, which is well drained, is the most common type in Gwinnett County, but it varies across the county, so we test every site individually before work starts. That test, along with what the concrete itself shows us, decides whether a section can be lifted and resurfaced or has to be cut out and poured new. We tell you which it is and why. Then we do it.
Water causes most of the failures we see. The area gets about 55 inches of rain a year, and water that runs under a slab instead of away from it carries off the support and lets sections drop. A new surface laid over concrete that is still moving will crack where the old one did. So we fix the cause first: we correct the drainage, fill the voids and add reinforcement where a repair needs it, then finish the surface. Call for a free estimate.
What a slab costs is set by what goes under it and into it. We measure the footprint, check how much the grade has to change, and test the ground on the site before any figure is written. A four-inch patio slab on compacted gravel with wire mesh is a different job from a six-inch shop floor with rebar on chairs and thickened edges. Excavation, pump access and the finish you choose all move the number too. Call for a free estimate.
A driveway takes its hardest loads at the edges and where it meets the street, so that is where we build it up. We compact a gravel base, set rebar on chairs so the steel sits mid-slab instead of on the dirt, and cut control joints before the concrete picks its own cracks. With about 55 inches of rain a year, every driveway gets sloped to shed water away from the garage. Broom finish is standard. Stamped and exposed aggregate are options.
Garage floors, basements and shop slabs are finished for the way they get used. A vapor barrier goes down first, so ground moisture does not rise through the slab and lift a coating or floor covering later. We power trowel for a dense, smooth surface that takes epoxy or sealer well, then saw-cut joints the same day so shrinkage follows the lines. Where new concrete meets an existing slab, we dowel the two together so one side cannot settle on its own.
Not every cracked slab has to come out. Hairline shrinkage cracks get routed and sealed. A slab that has dropped at one corner can often be lifted with polyurethane foam pumped through small holes, which are patched afterward. Worn or scaled surfaces take a bonded resurfacing coat. Before any of that, we test the site to find out why it moved, because soil type varies across the area. A slab that is broken through and still shifting needs replacing. Patching it only buys time.
Walkways crack for predictable reasons: a thin pour over loose fill, no joints, or roots lifting a panel. We compact the base, hold a consistent width, and tool control joints at regular spacing so cracks land in the joints instead of across the surface. A slight cross slope keeps water from standing after a storm. Where a walk meets steps or a driveway, we set an expansion joint so the two can move independently. A broom finish gives footing when it is wet.
Most of what we see in Suwanee is concrete that is still sound underneath and tired on top: a driveway that has dropped at one joint, a patio with a scaled surface, a walk that catches a toe at the same seam every time. We treat that as a repair problem first. If the slab is structurally sound, we level it or resurface it and leave the rest of the property alone. If it is not, we say so plainly. A new surface over a failed base only buys a short season.
Every job starts with the ground, not the crack. Pacolet soil is the dominant type in Gwinnett County and it drains well, but it varies across the county, so we test each site individually before any work starts. That test tells us whether a sunken section needs lifting, whether the base under it needs attention, and what reinforcement makes sense for the load it carries. Then the repair goes in the order the conditions call for. Nothing gets skipped because it is out of sight.
Water is usually what undoes a repair. This area sees about 55 inches of rain a year, and a slab that settled once will settle again if the runoff that moved it is still running underneath. Patching the surface without dealing with the cause is the quick version, and it shows within a few seasons. Getting it right means matching materials to the site, sealing the joints, and sometimes changing where the water goes. Call for a free estimate on yours.
Most repair work in Suwanee comes down to three systems, and we choose between them only after we have seen the slab. A polymer-modified resurfacer bonds a thin new wear layer to sound concrete that has scaled, stained or worn smooth. Leveling pumps a lifting material beneath a sunken section and raises it back to grade without tearing it out. Where the concrete itself has failed, we cut out the bad section and pour new, with reinforcement tied into the slab around it. Decorative and stamped overlays go on top of sound concrete, never in place of a repair.
The ground under a slab decides more than the slab does. Pacolet soil is the county's dominant type and it drains well, but it varies from one property to the next, so we test each site before work starts. That test tells us whether a sunken driveway needs lifting, a fresh base, or both. Then comes preparation: grinding, cleaning, and opening up cracks so the new material has something to grip. Preparation is most of the job. Once the surface is ready, the material itself goes down without much ceremony.
Water is where repairs fail. This area sees about 55 inches of rain a year, and a resurfaced patio that sheds it toward the house, or a lifted slab with open joints, will be back in trouble. We seal joints, check that surfaces pitch away from the structure, and leave expansion gaps where concrete meets concrete. The other common failure is a coating laid over a slab that is still moving underneath. It looks right for a while. Then it cracks along the old line, and we would rather tell you a section needs replacing than cover it.
Most of what a repair job costs is settled before any new concrete arrives. It comes from what is already on your property: the condition of the old slab, how a truck gets to it, and where the water goes when it rains. You can check most of these yourself before anyone comes out.
| What changes the price | Which way | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Old slab that is solid underneath but worn or scaled on top | costs less | A sound slab can take a resurfacing layer instead of coming out. |
| Slab that has sunk, heaved or cracked clean through | costs more | Once it moves as a whole, it has to be lifted and leveled, or removed and poured again. |
| Old concrete that has to come out first | costs more | Breaking it up, loading it and hauling it away is labor and disposal before the new work starts. |
| No clear path for the truck to reach the forms | costs more | If a mixer cannot back up to the work, the concrete goes in by pump or wheelbarrow, which takes more crew and more time. |
| Trucks, trailers or an RV parked on the driveway | costs more | Heavier loads call for a thicker slab and more reinforcement than a walkway or patio needs. |
| Water that pools against the slab or runs toward the house | costs more | With about 55 inches of rain a year, the grade or drainage gets fixed first, or the new surface fails the same way the old one did. |
| Tree roots under or beside the slab | costs more | Roots lift concrete. They have to be dealt with before the pour or they do it again. |
| Plain broom finish instead of stamped or decorative | costs less | Stamped and colored surfaces take extra materials, sealing and hand work. |
When you lay competing bids side by side, read the lines and not the total. Look for the slab thickness, the reinforcement (rebar, wire mesh or fiber), the base preparation, and whether tear-out, haul-off and drainage work are written in. A lower number that leaves those out is a different job.
We cover the towns around Suwanee across metro Atlanta, residential streets and commercial lots alike. There is no short list of favored subdivisions. We go where the property is, and a cracked driveway in a newer cul-de-sac gets the same crew and the same process as a worn slab behind a shop in Duluth. The full list of towns we serve appears elsewhere on this page. If your address falls inside it, call for a free estimate.
The short answer is every town on our list, on one set of terms. We don't run a home base with outlying zones that wait their turn. A resurfacing project in one town and a driveway replacement in the next are scheduled the same way, quoted the same way, and built to the same standard. If you aren't sure whether your street is covered, ask when you call. It's a quick question to settle.
It depends on the wall, and we won't guess at a figure before we've stood on the site. Height is only part of it. How long the wall runs matters just as much, along with how much earth and water it holds back and how the drainage behind it will work. A retaining wall is structural, not decorative. We look at the slope, test the ground, and price the wall from what we find.
That is a question to settle on paper, not on a web page. Before any commercial project starts, anywhere in Suwanee, ask every contractor you're considering (us included) for current documents, and check them with the issuing office yourself. Commercial slabs, parking areas and walkways carry more load and more liability than a home driveway. We would rather you verify than take anyone's word for it.
Water is the main thing. Suwanee sees about 55 inches of rain a year, and a patio that holds water or lets it run under the slab wears out early. Snow is light, about 2 inches a year, with average daily highs around 72°F and lows around 53°F. So we build for drainage first: a compacted base, a slight fall away from the house, control joints where the slab wants to crack, and a proper cure. Sealing keeps surface water out.
No single depth fits every commercial building. The answer comes from the load the structure carries, the engineer's drawings, the building code, and what the ground under that particular lot turns out to be. The dominant soil around here is Pacolet, which drains well, but it varies from site to site, so we test every site individually before work starts. Then we dig and form the footings to the depth the design calls for, and not an inch less.