Driveway re-surfacing
Looking for driveway repair and re-surfacing. I saw a recommendation years ago and now I need to do. Or is it cheaper just trying to replace entirething?
Where are you located?
We are in San Jose and had our entire patio and walkway resurfaced 4 years ago--the driveway did not need it. Ours was in terrible condition, thanks partly to our overly-zelous use of a pressure washer, in our determination to remove every last spec of the PINK paint used by the prior homeowner. It was pitted something awful. We had it resurfaced with a concrete-based product in plain grey, so that it would look close to the original. It is not a cheap solution, but is a viable conservative one, since you don't have to risk potential damage to the slab by having to jackhammer everything up. They did a great job and it has held up well. Send me an e-mail if you are interested in the name of the company (cathyelynn at earthlink dot net).
Cathye
I am so glad you replied . You are the onlyone. Iam inSunnyvale in the Fairbrae trct.
PLS send me the contractor's name.
edwina [email protected]
I don't have experience in this, but my wife mentioned another material instead of concrete that won't crack. I'll ask my wife - - she was told the material is from California so it's cheaper than concrete but visually looks different and won't crack; it was a prelude to more landscape re-modeling so I block it out from hearing and don't remember what she said.
I believe the Sunnyvale Fairbrae tract is fairly large; w're in a smaller Sunnyvale tract built on farm compost; there seems to be lots of driveway and street cracks -- some say it's the compost settling others say it's poor workmanship and plain age.
thnx much. pls ask your wife for name. Hope she remembers,
EDWINADEROUSSE:
I sent you an e-mail message, using the link you provided, but it came back. Please check the address and post again.
Regards,
Cathye
YES I am interest in learning of all contractors phone numbeers I can get so as to get competitive bids.
Also did you replace the old wood expansion boards down the middle of the driveway and other places?
CAN ANY ONE ELSE (OTHER READERS) HELP ME WITH THIS?
I can't answer the question of "re-doing" vs. "re-surfacing" if there is a difference. Our driveway has a major crack and my wife mentioned the use of "paver" material instead of concrete - - concrete is susceptible to cracking because of Calif's clay soil. Paver is (apparently) made of stone pieces and sit on sand and doesn't crack easily; think of it as outdoor tile so it does have a tile look - - she pointed out one driveway at a distance and it had a herringbone design and smallish square pieces - - my wife would use larger pieces (18+" sq.). According to one architect, she said it is cheaper than concrete ($6-$9K vs. $7-$10K for concrete).
Thus, if "re-surfacing" can be done, I suppose concrete or concrete-based would be less expensive. If you're "replacing", paver material and concrete are 2 options - - my wife claims high end houses are using paver even if it's less expense. She wants paver as the replacement material and integrate it with the walkway (which is concrete) in our courtyard model.
Several Eichler owners in our area have replaced their driveways with pavers and it looks beautiful. It is becoming somewhat popular in higher end neighborhoods here (Willow Glen). We have thought about it and have a few concerns:
1) Our driveway is in perfect shape w/o any cracks at all, so why spoil a good thing?
2) Digging up concrete is a big, messy job and brings with it the potential for damage (hitting pipes comes to mind)
3) While we know concrete holds up for a long time (ours is 43 years old), I am uneasy about how well pavers laid on a bed of sand will hold up, epsecially with cars driving over them every day. I envision all kinds of settling and unevenness 10+ years down the road.
4) Paver jobs are very expensive. It would be a shame to spend all that $$ for something that may not last as long as concrete. However, I do not know how their cost compares to the other two options (replace or repair concrete).
Resurfacing is very different than replacing. With replacing, you have to jackhammer up the concrete and start all over again. Resurfacing is just like it sounds...puts a new surface on old concrete.
Cathye
