Most Springfield resurfacing calls start the same way. You've watched another winter of salt, plow blades and freeze-thaw chew the top half inch off your slab, and come April you can't look at it anymore. It's not broken. It's just ugly, and pitted, and getting worse.
That's our end of the trade at The Springfield Concrete Company. We turn up when we said we would, we don't talk down to you about your own driveway, we don't lean on anybody to sign that day, and we take the mess with us. Miss us during a pour and you'll hear back the same day, not next week.
Below you'll find how driveway resurfacing actually gets done step by step, what moves the price, where we work, and the questions folks ask before they book. Or skip ahead and call me at (417) 464-6822, and I'll come look at it with you.
Concrete Resurfacing
Concrete resurfacing is what we do when the slab under your feet is still solid but the top has gone to pieces, pitting, spalling, that sandpaper feel four winters of road salt leaves behind. We grind or shot blast first, fill the low spots, then bond a polymer overlay about a quarter inch thick straight over the old top. Patios, steps, walkways, garage floors, and resurfacing a concrete pool deck with a knockdown texture so nobody goes down on a wet July afternoon.
Here's what plenty of resurfacing concrete companies skip: prep. Skim over a dirty, unground slab and the overlay lets go in sheets by the second spring.
At The Springfield Concrete Company we won't resurface concrete that's heaved or rocking, either. An overlay follows the slab beneath it, faithfully, faults and all.
Drive Way Resurfacing
Drive way resurfacing is what I recommend when your slab looks beat up but still sits flat: spalled top layer, salt scaling from the plow guy's rock salt, a bit of hairline map cracking, no rocking panels. We diamond grind or shot blast the surface first so the overlay has something to grab, cut and fill the working cracks, then bond a polymer modified layer over the top, roughly a quarter inch. Most driveways off Wilbraham Road take two days, then 24 hours before you park on it.
Skip the profiling and the bond coat and that overlay peels off in sheets by the second February thaw, like a bad sunburn. That's also why at The Springfield Concrete Company we stop scheduling driveway resurfacing once nights drop under 50 degrees, usually mid October.
Asphalt Resurfacer
An asphalt resurfacer is a fresh lift of hot mix laid right over the drive you already have, usually an inch and a half to two inches, tack coated first and rolled while it's still hot enough to steam. We sweep it clean, cut the edge down at the garage apron and the street so you aren't left with a lip that grabs a plow blade every February, then compact in passes. Most drives take a full working day.
The catch is what's underneath. If the base has gone soft and you've got alligator cracking near the apron, an overlay telegraphs those cracks back through in two or three winters and you've bought yourself a nice tan and not much else.
At The Springfield Concrete Company we'd rather say that up front than resurface something that needs digging out.
Driveway Resurfacing Contractors
Most folks calling driveway resurfacing contractors around here aren't sitting on a ruined slab. You've got a surface that's gone pitted, rough and chalky gray after ten or fifteen winters of plow blades and road salt, and you're tired of looking at it. If the drive still sits flat and the base underneath hasn't moved, resurfacing gives you a fresh wearing surface bonded right over the old one.
That "if" does a lot of work. A slab that rocks under your boot will telegraph every crack back up through a new overlay by the second thaw. And if a crew skips the grinding and the bonding coat, the overlay peels off in sheets, like a bad sunburn in August.
So at The Springfield Concrete Company we walk it with you first, apron to garage slab, before anybody mixes anything.
What the job involves
What the job involves depends on how far gone the slab is, but it starts the same way every time: we grind or shot blast the old surface open, rout out the cracks, and chase off anything loose. Skip that and the overlay lifts like a bad screen protector by the second Springfield winter. Then a wash, a bond coat, and a polymer modified overlay troweled on around a quarter inch.
Weather runs the calendar. We want 50 degrees and rising, so concrete resurfacing here is an April to October job, not a week before the Big E.
Most driveway resurfacing is two days on site. Stay off it a full day, keep the car off about five.
Every crew at The Springfield Concrete Company preps before they resurface concrete, because prep is the part that fails.
What it costs
I can't tell you what it costs to resurface your drive without standing on it first, and anybody who throws a number at you over the phone is guessing. Square footage moves it most. After that it's how much patching the old slab needs before the overlay goes on, whether we're bonding to concrete or spreading an asphalt resurfacer over blacktop, and the finish you pick, since a broom finish is cheaper than stamped or knockdown texture. Resurfacing a concrete pool deck prices out differently again, what with drainage and a cool-touch topping. Call The Springfield Concrete Company at (417) 464-6822 and we'll measure yours and put real numbers on paper.
What I'd rather you didn't do is buy on price alone. Skip the grinding and the bond coat and the overlay peels by the second Springfield winter, which is the most expensive resurfacing there is.
Why choose us for this
You've got a surface you're tired of looking at, and you want the resurfacing handled once, by somebody who finishes and gets out of your way. You don't want to supervise it. You don't want to think about it again for years.
So here's what we won't do at The Springfield Concrete Company.
We won't quote one number on the phone and hand you a bigger one on the invoice.
We won't start your driveway resurfacing and disappear to pour somebody's patio in Chicopee for three days.
We won't lean on you to sign today. The overlay bonds just as well next week.
We won't leave slurry on your lawn or washed into the storm drain.
We're not the cheapest of the resurfacing concrete companies you'll call. Grinding and profiling the old slab takes hours, and skipping them is why an overlay peels by the second March thaw. Our estimate costs nothing and books you into nothing.
Frequently asked questions
Can you resurface concrete that's already cracked?
Usually yes. Hairline cracks and the shallow spiderweb stuff that shows up after a few Springfield winters get chased out, cleaned and bridged before we resurface concrete with a polymer-modified overlay. What we won't do is put a pretty face on a slab that's moved. If one side has dropped half an inch, or the crack runs the full width and the edges don't line up anymore, the subgrade is the problem and resurfacing just gives you the same crack a year later.
What's the difference between sealing and resurfacing?
Sealer is a coating, resurfacing is new material. A sealer soaks in or lays on maybe a few mils thick and buys you a couple of years against salt from the plows. Concrete resurfacing puts down a quarter inch or more of bonded overlay, which is what fixes scaling, worn broom finish and a surface that feels like sandpaper. An asphalt resurfacer is a different animal again, for blacktop, and we'll tell you straight which one your driveway actually needs.
How long am I off it?
Foot traffic the next day, vehicles in three to five days. We want daytime temps above 50 degrees, so most driveway resurfacing and any resurfacing a concrete pool deck job gets scheduled April through mid-October. Call The Springfield Concrete Company at (417) 464-6822 and we'll come look at it.