By April, half the driveways off Broad Street look like a dropped dinner plate, which is why Providence resurfacing keeps us busy from the thaw straight through to Thanksgiving. I run our concrete contractors company on one stubborn rule: we don't put a new surface over a slab that doesn't deserve one. If the base underneath is shot and heaving, I'll say so out loud, even when saying so costs me the job.
Here's what you get from my crew. We show up in the window we gave you. Nobody talks down to you, nobody hard sells you at your own kitchen table, and your yard doesn't look like a Del's truck tipped over when we pull out.
Below you'll find how driveway resurfacing actually goes, what changes the price, where we work and what folks ask before booking. Or just call me at (401) 394-6425 and I'll come have a look.
Concrete Resurfacing
Concrete resurfacing is what we do when the slab is ugly but still sound: we grind off the loose top, clean it down to bare aggregate, then bond a polymer-modified overlay over it, usually an eighth to a half inch thick. Spalling, crazing, salt scaling from a winter of ice melt on the front steps, that's all fixable without a dumpster in the driveway. A slab that rocks under your foot or has heaved two inches at a joint is a different conversation, and I'll tell you that on site.
Prep is the whole ballgame. Skip the profile and the overlay lets go in sheets by April, which is why resurfacing concrete companies get a bad name.
Patios, garage floors, walks, steps and resurfacing a concrete pool deck all come through our concrete contractors company, from Elmhurst to the East Side.
Drive Way Resurfacing
Drive way resurfacing is what most folks call us about once a winter of plows and road salt has finished chewing on the slab. If yours is scaled, pitted or wearing those hairline spiderwebs but the base underneath is still sound, we can resurface concrete instead of breaking it out and starting over.
Bad driveway resurfacing peels like a sunburn by March. It peels because someone skipped the diamond grind, bonded an overlay to dust, or troweled it out at noon in August sun when the mix flashed off before it ever grabbed.
We grind, chase the moving cracks, prime, then squeegee and broom the overlay so water runs to the street and not at your garage door. Walk on it the next day, park on it that weekend.
Our concrete contractors company does this work from Elmhurst to the East Side.
Asphalt Resurfacer
Asphalt resurfacer is the bucket product people reach for when a drive starts looking tired, and I'll tell you straight: brushing a coat over alligatored asphalt hides the problem until about the second thaw. If the base has gone soft, it telegraphs right back through. A real overlay means a milled edge at the garage apron so you don't raise the height, a tack coat, and an inch and a half to two inches of hot mix compacted while it's still hot. That's summer work here, not a November job.
Most of what we do is concrete, and our concrete contractors company will tell you honestly when asphalt is the smarter call on your drive way. What moves the price on any resurfacing is the condition of what's underneath, square footage, and access for the truck.
Driveway Resurfacing Contractors
Driveway resurfacing contractors get called when a slab looks rough but is still sound underneath, and telling those two apart is most of the job. Our concrete contractors company grinds the old surface open, saw cuts and fills the working cracks, then bonds a polymer-modified overlay roughly a quarter inch thick across the top. If the slab has heaved into a seesaw or the base has washed out under it, an overlay is lipstick on a pig. Overlays telegraph whatever is beneath them, so we break out and replace those panels before we resurface concrete anywhere near them.
Timing matters here. We want 50 degrees and rising to place an overlay, which in Providence means April into late October.
Most single-car drives go down in a day, walkable that night, ready for tires after about three days. Rush the cure and the first February freeze peels it.
What the job involves
The job involves a lot more prep than pour. We grind or shot blast the old slab first so the topping has something to bite into, blow it clean, chase out the cracks and pack them with polymer mortar, then prime before any resurfacing material goes down. Skip that profiling step and the overlay lifts off in sheets by the second February, usually right along the apron where the plow blade and the road salt find it.
Most driveway resurfacing around here is about a quarter inch of polymer-modified topping, broomed or stamped, and a two car drive is a single day for my crew. Stay off it a day on foot, three days with the car.
If a slab is heaving or the base is gone, our concrete contractors company won't resurface concrete over it. That one needs a tear out.
What it costs
What it costs on your slab comes down to four things: square footage, how bad the existing surface is, what you want on top, and how hard it is to get a wheelbarrow to it. A flat two car drive way resurfacing in the same gray finish sits at one end. Grinding out spalled concrete, filling cracks, then a stamped and colored overlay sits at the other, and resurfacing a concrete pool deck adds coping, drains and cuts around the shell. Access matters too, since a tight East Side driveway with a fence and a garden between the truck and the work adds hours nobody sees.
Call us at (401) 394-6425 and we'll walk your slab and give you a real number, not a guess.
I'll say plainly that our concrete contractors company is rarely the cheapest quote you'll collect. The prep is where the money goes, and prep is what keeps the overlay stuck down through a February freeze.
Why choose us for this
You've got a surface out front that looks rough, and what you actually want is to have the resurfacing done once, by people who finish, and then not think about it again for years. Not to babysit a crew. Not to chase anyone down in August.
So here's what we won't do.
Move the number: What we write on the estimate is what lands on the invoice, unless you ask us to change the scope.
Vanish mid-job: We don't start a second driveway resurfacing across the East Side while your slab sits half-poured.
Push you to sign: The quote's good next week too.
Leave a mess: Broken concrete goes in the truck, not behind your garage.
We're not the cheapest bid you'll get, and that's deliberate. Our concrete contractors company preps longer than most before anything gets poured, and the estimate itself costs you nothing.
Frequently asked questions
Can you resurface concrete that's already cracked?
Usually, yes. Resurfacing works when the slab is still sound underneath, so we saw out the moving cracks, fill them with a polymer patch, grind the surface open and bond a quarter inch to three eighths of an inch of overlay over the top. If a section has heaved two inches or the base has washed out under it, an overlay will crack in the same line by the second February, and we'll tell you that before you spend a dime on it.
How long am I off it once you resurface concrete at my place?
Foot traffic the next morning, cars in three to five days. We want 50 degrees and climbing for the bond coat, which in Rhode Island means roughly late April into October. Push it into a cold November week and the overlay skins over before it grips.
What's the difference between sealing and resurfacing?
Sealer is a thin coat that keeps water and road salt out. Resurfacing puts new material down and gives you a fresh wear surface, which is what a spalled walk or a pitted pool deck actually needs.
How do we get started?
Call our concrete contractors company at (401) 394-6425 and we'll come measure, sound the slab for hollow spots and tell you straight whether an overlay holds.