Munster Indiana Concrete Overlays for Older Slabs

Munster sits on the Illinois line in Lake County. A lot of the houses still standing went in during the town’s main building decades. Builders poured the driveways and walks with the house. So the slab out front is often as old as the house. Winter salt has sat on that surface for years. Concrete Overlays in Munster come up when the top is worn and the slab under it is still sound.

We’ve walked driveways here where the paste had flaked off and the stone showed through. But the slab didn’t rock. It hadn’t dropped at the garage. Because the base was still doing its job, we laid out an overlay. So people call us about that look a lot. The surface is rough underfoot, and it holds water in the pits left by scaling.

Munster driveways work hard. People leave early for the commute into Illinois and get home after dark in winter. So the apron sees tire traffic and the salt that came in off the street. We see the wear first at the street end and again by the garage, where meltwater sits. After a few decades both ends are usually rougher than the middle.

A New Surface With Concrete Overlays in Munster

An overlay is a new layer bonded to the old slab. We clean the surface and fix small breaks. Then we place the new material over the top. The driveway gets a fresh face from that layer. When the slab is level, we look at the cracks. A crack that hasn’t shifted up or down usually means the base is still sound. So we mark the stable cracks while we are standing on the driveway.

Many slabs from those building decades are still level. Salt has scaled the top into thin flakes. So an overlay is the repair we lay out, once we know the base will hold it. We also look at the walks. Upper walks and service walks pick up the same salt, and a visit can cover those with the driveway.

Concrete Overlays in Munster Start With a Slab Check

On a call we start by walking the slab. Then we look for rocking underfoot. We also check whether a crack has a lip you can catch with a shoe. And we check whether the edges have broken back toward the gravel. When those show up, the concrete has moved. An overlay on a moving slab will crack along the same line. Then we talk about concrete removal and a tear-out and replace. We do that work too, from patch work up through concrete replacement.

Concrete Overlays in Munster need a sound bond, so we spend our time on prep. So we cut out loose scale and wash the dust off. Then we give the old surface a profile the new layer can grab. Because we source our products ourselves, we know they are the best available. Our staff has done this long enough to spot a slab that won’t take a bond.

For the look, we will work with you on color or a plain broom finish. We specialize in decorative concrete such as stamped overlays and colored concrete. So our Photo Gallery shows finished jobs if you want to compare textures.

Garage floors by the overhead door often show the same salt wear. We can include a garage floor on the same visit when that slab is sound. Concrete Overlays in Munster cover the driveway and the nearby walks when each slab is still solid.

So we write the quote out line by line. We list the concrete overlays we install with the other flatwork. Then we schedule the pour for weather the material can cure in. Concrete Overlays in Munster wait on that. After the surface is prepped, placement moves along. So we carry the old control joints up through the new layer.