A smooth, level driveway keeps your vehicles safe as they drive across the concrete surface. An uneven driveway can make for a bumpy ride and may present a trip hazard for children at play or anyone walking across your driveway. As your home’s first impression, safety is critical. Explore how to repair your uneven driveway apron.
What is the Driveway Apron?
The driveway apron is the slanted section at the front of the driveway that connects it to the street. This part of your driveway is what makes for a smooth transition from the road to your driveway or garage by giving you an angle to drive over in place of a high curb. If your driveway apron is uneven, this can present even more problems and could cause your car to bottom out as you enter and exit the driveway.
Driveway Repair Options: Concrete Grinding vs. Slab Jacking
When it comes to driveway repair for a driveway apron or any other unlevel slabs, the two most common concrete repair approaches are polyurethane slab jacking and concrete grinding. But how do you know which option is right for your uneven driveway situation?
Let’s take a look at how these two concrete repair methods compare and the results over the long term for your driveway apron.
Concrete Grinding
Concrete grinding is most commonly used as a finishing technique to smooth out rough concrete surfaces, but it can also be used to shave down concrete slabs until they are level. This concrete repair is performed using a special diamond-tipped grinding wheel to shave down raised areas of the driveway apron.
Affordability
Concrete grinding is a cheap driveway repair option as it involves no materials and just a few pieces of equipment: the grinding machine to shave down the surface and a vacuum system to collect dust during the grinding.
Longevity
Concrete grinding is here for a good time, not a long time. Your driveway may appear nice and even at first. But since it only deals with the surface of your driveway apron, concrete grinding won’t resolve any issues beneath the surface that are causing your concrete to settle or raise. Over time, the concrete will shift again and you will be left with a thinner slab of concrete to work with due to the earlier grinding.
Durability
Concrete grinding can compromise the durability of your concrete. The process wears down and thins out a portion of the driveway apron and exposes the porous cement material to the elements. This can lead to a higher chance of cracking and breaking, especially in extreme weather conditions like we commonly get in Kansas City summers.
When to Consider Concrete Grinding for Driveway Repair
Driveway grinding is a temporary solution. The raised driveway apron might be caused by tree roots pushing up the slabs, for example, and you’re not ready to have the tree removed. In that case, concrete grinding can be a temporary solution to smooth out the connection between the apron and the rest of your driveway without harming the tree root.
Because concrete grinding is fairly cheap, it’s also a good option to consider if you plan to replace your concrete soon but need to keep functional in the meantime.
Polyurethane Slab Jacking
Polyurethane slab jacking—or “polyjacking”—is a quick and permanent solution to driveway repairs that directly addresses the literal underlying cause of an uneven driveway apron by injecting polyurethane foam beneath the slab, which expands and solidifies to fill voids and level out uneven concrete.
Affordability
When considering your options for driveway repair, it’s important to think about concrete leveling techniques over the long term. Polyjacking does cost more than concrete grinding in terms of the initial service, but the results speak for themselves as you will spend a lot less money on concrete repair over the long term.
Longevity
Polyjacking is considered a permanent solution for driveway repair because it strengthens the concrete, prevents future sinking, and stabilizes the soil. This is what makes polyjacking such an incredible solution for all manner of concrete problems! Polyjacking is an investment in the quality and reliability of your concrete surfaces.
Durability
Polyjacking leads to even more durable concrete because it locks the slabs in place, preventing sinking and reducing the chances of surface-level concrete damage like cracks and fissures. If you have your driveway apron repaired with polyjacking, you can rest assured that it won’t need any repairs or replacement for years to come!
When to Consider Polyurethane Slab Jacking for Driveway Repair
When in doubt, polyjack it out. We are so confident in the power of polyjacking to resolve concrete problems and leave your driveway permanently restored that it’s literally in our name—and this is coming from a family who has been in the concrete business for more than three decades! If your driveway apron is uneven, polyjacking is always your best option.
Serve Your Driveway Apron a Healthy Dose of Polyjacking!
You want your driveway apron to provide a smooth entry into your driveway as you come home after a long day at the office or a late night out with friends. You want to know that every dollar you spend on home maintenance is going to serve you well for as long as possible. You want to know that your concrete won’t unexpectedly sink or crack right after you have it fixed. With polyjacking, you can have everything you desire for your driveway! Make an appointment with your concrete experts at Pro Polyjacking today.