Concrete Driveway Replacement in Wichita, KS
Wichita Concrete Pros replaces concrete driveways for homes across Wichita and Sedgwick County, Kansas. We are a licensed and insured concrete contractor. A driveway replacement is a full tear-out and repour: the old slab comes out, the base underneath is rebuilt, and a new reinforced slab goes down in its place. This is the head service this crew is built around.
The new slab is 4000 PSI air-entrained concrete, poured four inches thick over four to six inches of compacted crushed limestone. Rebar on chairs or welded wire mesh sits in the middle of the pour, and we saw-cut control joints about every ten feet. The air in the mix gives freezing water room to expand, which is what stops the surface from spalling. A thin slab poured on bare dirt with no base, no steel, and no joints is the one that breaks apart on Kansas clay.
A Driveway Fails From the Ground Up
Concrete rarely fails on its own. It fails because of what is under it. A washed-out or loose base lets the slab settle, and expansive clay lifts it when it gets wet. We dig out the old base, compact the subgrade, and lay a moisture-stable stone base that water drains through. Get the base right and the slab stays flat.
Replace, Level, or Resurface
Mudjacking and foam lift a settled slab back up. An overlay coats the top. Neither one touches a base that has already washed out, and neither one brings back a slab that is spalled or broken. When the concrete or the ground under it is done, replacement is the honest fix. We rebuild the base and pour new so the drive starts over from the dirt up.
Joints, Pitch, and Steel
Every driveway cracks somewhere. Control joints decide where. We saw them in about every ten feet so the slab splits on a straight tooled line instead of across the face. An expansion joint separates the drive from the garage slab and the sidewalk. The whole slab is pitched about a quarter inch per foot to shed water off the surface and away from the house.
Sealing Against Wichita Winters
Road salt and freeze-thaw are what scale a driveway surface. Air-entrained concrete handles the freezing on its own. A penetrating sealer adds a second layer, slowing salt and water from soaking into the top. We seal after the concrete has cured, and it stays worth re-coating every couple of years to keep the surface tight.
What It Costs
A driveway replacement in Wichita runs about $4,000 to $10,000. Size, thickness, and how much base has to be rebuilt move the number. A drive that needs the old slab hauled off and the ground re-compacted costs more than a straight repour on solid ground. Every job starts with a free written estimate.
Driveway breaking up or sinking at the garage? (316) 555-0148 gets you a real person and a free estimate. We pour the same way out in Derby and across Sedgwick County.
How much does a concrete driveway cost in Wichita?
Most driveway replacements in Wichita run about $4,000 to $10,000. A standard two-car drive on a good base sits at the low end. A long approach, a thicker RV apron, or a full base rebuild on soft clay sits higher. Every drive gets a free measure and a written estimate before any work starts.
Do you replace the driveway or just resurface it?
We replace it. A resurfacer or overlay hides the top and does nothing for the base under it. If the old slab is cracked, spalled, or sitting on ground that has moved, we tear it out, rebuild the base, and pour new. That is the difference between a drive that lasts and one that fails again in a season.
How thick should a driveway be poured?
A car driveway is poured four inches thick over a compacted stone base. Where an RV, a truck, or a trailer parks, we thicken the slab to five or six inches so the heavier load does not crack it. The base thickness stays four to six inches of crushed stone either way.
Why does my driveway keep cracking on Wichita clay?
Sedgwick County clay swells when it takes on water and shrinks when it dries out. That movement lifts and drops a slab that was poured straight on dirt. The fix is a moisture-stable crushed-stone base over compacted subgrade, plus saw-cut control joints so the concrete cracks on a straight line you choose instead of wandering.