Driveway repair cost

Repairing a driveway costs $300 to $3,000, typically around $900. Filling cracks is $2 to $6 a linear foot. Patching a pothole is $100 to $400. Replacing a failed section is $8 to $20 a square foot, and replacing the whole thing is $4,000 to $10,000.

What decides which of those you are doing is not the surface. It is whether the base underneath is still there.

What it costs

Reading the damage

Hairline cracks in concrete. Normal. Concrete cracks; that is why control joints exist. Seal them to keep water out and move on.

Cracks wider than a quarter inch, or with one side higher than the other. The slab has moved, which means the base has. Filling it treats the symptom.

Alligator cracking in asphalt, an interconnected pattern like crocodile skin. The base has failed and the surface is flexing over nothing. This area cannot be sealed or patched; it needs removing and rebuilding.

Potholes. Water got in, froze, and took material with it. A patch is legitimate and it will need doing again if the water still gets in.

A settled slab or a low area holding water. Concrete can be lifted back into place by mudjacking or foam injection for a fraction of replacement, and it is a genuinely good repair when the void beneath is the whole problem.

Spalling, where the concrete surface flakes off. Usually de-icing salt on concrete that was not air-entrained or was finished badly. Resurfacing is the answer; sealing prevents it recurring.

Edges crumbling. Asphalt has no support at the edge. Adding gravel shoulders or an edge restraint stops it.

Fix the water first

Almost every driveway failure is water. Water in the base, freezing, or washing the base out from underneath.

Before spending anything on the surface, look at where the water goes:

• Does the driveway drain, or does it hold puddles?
• Does a downspout discharge onto it?
• Does the ground alongside slope toward it?
• At the garage, does water run in or away?

A $500 channel drain or a regraded shoulder frequently does more for a driveway than $2,000 of patching, and without it the patching is on a schedule.

Repair or replace

Repair when the damage is localized, the base is sound, and the surface is under about two-thirds of its life.

Resurface when the surface is worn or widely cracked but the base is intact and the levels are right. An asphalt overlay is $3 to $7 a square foot against $7 to $13 for new, and it buys ten to fifteen years.

Replace when:

• The base has failed over a large area, shown by alligator cracking or widespread settlement
• The drive has already been overlaid once and is failing again
• Levels are wrong and water runs toward the house or the garage
• More than about a third of the area needs work
• The drive is 25 years old in asphalt or 40 in concrete and repairs are annual

Frequently asked questions

Can I fill cracks myself?

Yes, and it is worth doing. Asphalt crack filler in a bottle or a hot-pour rope, and concrete crack sealant, both cost $15 to $40 and both work if the crack is cleaned out first. Do it in spring or fall, not in high summer when the crack is at its narrowest.

Is sealcoating a repair?

No. It is a surface treatment that slows oxidation on asphalt. It does not fix cracks, it does not restore a failed base, and applied over an unfilled crack it achieves nothing.

What is mudjacking?

Drilling small holes in a settled concrete slab and pumping a slurry or expanding foam underneath to lift it back to level. $500 to $2,500 against several thousand to replace, and it works well where the slab is intact and the ground beneath has washed out.

Why does the same pothole keep coming back?

Because the water that made it is still getting in. Patching without fixing drainage or the base is a recurring cost rather than a repair.

How long should a repair last?

A crack fill, two to five years. A pothole patch, three to eight. An overlay, ten to fifteen. If a repair fails in one season, the diagnosis was wrong rather than the material.