Crack sealing
Closing a crack against water with a flexible material that can move with it.
Usually worth planning a repair
Concrete Repair Methods
Concrete repair methods
What each method actually does, and — more usefully — what it leaves untouched. The boundary of applicability is the thing a quote never tells you.
A repair estimate names a method and a price. It rarely says which problems that method addresses, which it does not, or what happens if the underlying cause is still active. That gap is where most disappointing concrete work lives.
Every page here leads with what the method is and then immediately with its limits, because the limits are what let you judge whether it fits your situation. Lifting restores elevation and repairs nothing. Sealing excludes water and adds no strength. An overlay is only as good as the concrete under it.
No page here publishes a service-life figure. How long a repair lasts depends on movement, exposure, preparation and whether anyone dealt with the cause — so the pages list those variables instead of inventing a number that would be wrong for most sites.
Methods covered
Crack filling
Filling a stable crack with a rigid material to restore a continuous, wearable surface.
Usually worth planning a repair
Routing and sealing
Cutting the crack into a clean reservoir before sealing it, so the sealant has sound faces to bond to.
Usually worth planning a repair
Epoxy crack injection
Injecting a rigid resin through the full thickness of a crack. Structural intent, and only for cracks that have stopped moving.
Professional evaluation is worth arranging
Polyurethane crack injection
Injecting a flexible resin to stop water. Tolerates movement and wet conditions; makes no structural claim.
Usually worth planning a repair
Polyurethane foam lifting
Injecting expanding foam through small holes to fill voids and raise a settled slab back towards grade.
Usually worth planning a repair
Void filling
Filling the space beneath a slab without necessarily raising it. Support restoration rather than elevation correction.
Usually worth planning a repair
Concrete grinding
Removing a high edge or lip mechanically. Cheap, fast, removes the hazard, changes nothing about the cause.
Usually worth planning a repair
Resurfacing and overlays
A new wearing layer bonded over sound concrete. Appearance and surface durability, entirely dependent on preparation.
Usually worth planning a repair
Replacement
Removing and repouring. The most expensive option, the only one that lets you rebuild the base and change the geometry.
Usually worth planning a repair
Control-joint repair
Restoring the joints that decide where a slab cracks. Small work with a disproportionate effect on slab life.
Usually worth planning a repair
Expansion-joint repair
Restoring the gaps that let concrete grow. Different purpose from a control joint and different failure mode.
Usually worth planning a repair
Penetrating sealer
A sealer that soaks in and works below the surface. Invisible, no slip change, no film to peel.
Often reasonable to monitor
Topical sealer
A film-forming sealer that changes appearance. More visual effect, more maintenance, and a slip question.
Often reasonable to monitor
Drainage correction
Changing where water goes. Frequently the cheapest intervention and the one that stops problems recurring.
Usually worth planning a repair
Service pages with more detail
- Concrete leveling — the service overview for lifting settled slabs
- Polyjacking — polyurethane lifting in more depth
- Mudjacking — cementitious slurry lifting in more depth
- Concrete resurfacing — the service overview for overlays
- Concrete replacement — when removal and repour is the right answer
Not sure which way to go?
Both decision tools are free, need no contact details, and take a couple of minutes. If you would rather talk to somebody local, you can ask us to look at matching you.