Concrete patio repair means fixing the slab you already have instead of tearing it out. We fill and seal cracks, lift or level sections that have settled, patch spalled and flaking surfaces, and resurface a patio that is sound underneath but tired on top. In Marietta, where the median home was built in 1986, plenty of patios have been carrying grills, furniture and foot traffic for a long time. Most of them do not need replacing. They need someone to find out what is actually wrong and fix that.
We start by looking at the whole patio, not just the crack you noticed. We check how the slab sits against the house, where water goes when it rains, and whether the base underneath has moved. Cobb County is hilly, and the ground changes from one lot to the next, so we grade and test every site on its own before deciding anything. Then we tell you what we found and what we would do. If repair is the right call, we do the repair. If it is not, we say so.
Most patio trouble comes back to water. The area gets about 59 inches of rain a year, and a patio that drains toward the house, or sits on a base that is washing out, will keep cracking no matter how many times the surface is patched. Other problems are simpler: a control joint that was never cut, reinforcement that was left out, or a topping that was troweled too wet and now flakes. Cosmetic filler hides these for a season. Then the crack opens again in the same place.
Getting it right takes more time up front than a quick patch. We clean cracks out properly before filling them, match the repair materials to the concrete they are bonding to, and correct the slope when drainage is the cause. Sometimes that means lifting a settled section rather than pouring new concrete over it. It is slower work. It is also the reason a repair holds instead of showing up again next spring. If your patio has cracked, sunk or started to flake, call us for a free estimate.
The cost of a slab comes down to what sits under it and what goes into it. The ground here is hilly and changes from block to block, so a sloped yard needs more cutting, more compacted base and sometimes a taller form on the low side. Thickness counts, and so does reinforcement: wire mesh for a patio, rebar where the slab carries more weight. Tearing out an old slab, truck access and the finish you pick all move the number too.
A driveway carries more load than a patio, so we pour it thicker and set rebar on chairs, keeping the steel mid-slab instead of on the dirt. The base is compacted in lifts before the truck arrives. Control joints go in so the cracking concrete always wants to do runs straight, where we chose. With about 59 inches of rain a year, the surface is sloped to shed water off the apron and away from the garage. Most get a broom finish for grip.
Interior slabs for garages, basements, workshops and additions need a flat, dense surface more than a pretty one. We lay a vapor barrier under the pour so ground moisture does not come up through the finished floor, then reinforce with mesh or fiber depending on what the room will hold. The slab is power troweled smooth. Joints are saw cut the same day, before shrinkage cracks can pick their own path. After that it stays bare, gets sealed, or is ground and polished.
Cracks, a sunken corner and a surface flaking off in patches each have a different cause, and the repair follows the cause. Hairline shrinkage cracks can be routed and sealed. A settled section usually means the base washed out or was never compacted, so we cut it out, rebuild the base and repour with dowels tying it to the sound slab. The median home here was built in 1986, and an older patio with a spalled surface can often take a bonded resurface instead of a full tear-out.
Most patio repairs fail because someone fixed the surface and ignored what was under it. We start from the other end. A cracked or sunken patio is telling you something about the ground, the drainage or the original installation, and the repair only holds if it answers that. Plenty of Marietta homes date from around 1986, the median build year here, so the slab behind the house may be the one that went in with it. That concrete has already lived through decades of wet seasons. We look at it as a structural question first and a cosmetic one second.
Every site gets graded and tested on its own before any work starts. Cobb County is mostly Gwinnett soil, which drains well, but it varies across the county, and the yard next door tells us nothing certain about yours. The ground is hilly as well, with 199 feet of local relief within a few miles, so we watch how water crosses the property and where it meets the slab. With about 59 inches of rain a year, that matters. Only then do we settle on the base, the reinforcement and the materials for the repair. Then we pour.
The failures we see are rarely mysterious. A patch of new concrete laid over a slab that is still moving will crack along the same line, and a raised section reset without fixing the runoff will sink again. Getting it right takes more time below the surface than on it: cutting out what has to go, compacting the base, setting reinforcement where it is needed, and sloping the finish so water runs off instead of pooling. None of it shows when the job is done. It shows years later, when the patio is still flat. Call for a free estimate on yours.
A cracked or sunken patio usually has four ways forward: patch it, resurface it, lift it, or replace part of the slab. Patching fills cracks and chipped edges with a repair material that bonds to the old concrete. Resurfacing puts a thin new layer over a sound slab, and that layer can be broom-finished or stamped for a decorative surface. Lifting brings a dropped section back to level. Replacement cuts out what has failed and pours new concrete with fresh reinforcement. Which one fits depends on what is happening underneath.
We start with the slab and the ground around it. The median home in Marietta was built in 1986, so plenty of patios here have carried decades of weather and settling. We tap for hollow spots, measure how far sections have dropped, and look at where water goes when it rains. Then we recommend the least work that will actually hold. If a resurface will last, we say so. If the base has washed out, a coating only hides the problem for a while, and we say that too.
Most patio repairs fail for the same few reasons. The crack gets patched but the slab keeps moving, so a new crack opens beside the old one. Water pools against the house because the slope was never right. An overlay goes down on dirty or weak concrete and peels. With about 59 inches of rain a year, drainage is the part we look at hardest. Cobb County is also hilly, and conditions change from one yard to the next, so every site gets graded and tested on its own.
Doing it right mostly takes preparation and patience. Cracks get routed and cleaned before they are filled. Old surfaces get ground or pressure washed before an overlay touches them. New sections get a compacted base, proper reinforcement, and a slope that sends water away from the house. Then the concrete needs time to cure before the table and grill go back on it. None of that shows once the job is finished, which is exactly why it gets skipped. Call for a free estimate on your patio.
Patio repair is priced by what the slab needs, not by a number off a chart. Two patios the same size can land far apart once we see what sits underneath them and how we get to them. Most of what moves the price is something you can check yourself before anyone comes out.
| What changes the price | Which way | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Old slab is sound, with only surface wear | costs less | A solid base can be patched or resurfaced instead of broken out and hauled away. |
| Cracks run all the way through, or sections have heaved | costs more | Those pieces come out, and the base under them gets rebuilt before any new concrete goes down. |
| Patio sits behind the house with a narrow gate or no side access | costs more | If a truck can't back up close, concrete gets pumped or wheeled in, and that is labor. |
| Sections have sunk or rock when you step on them | costs more | Something washed out underneath. We fill and compact the base first, or the new surface settles the same way. |
| Tree roots near or under the slab | costs more | Roots that lifted the old pour will lift the new one unless they are dealt with. |
| A hot tub, outdoor kitchen or masonry wall will sit on it | costs more | Heavier loads call for a thicker slab and rebar in place of wire mesh. |
| Water pools on the patio or runs toward the house | costs more | Fixing the slope, or adding a drain, is part of the job, not an extra. |
| Existing stamped or colored finish that has to match | costs more | Matching pattern and color on a repair takes test work and a slower pour. |
When you compare bids, look past the total. Check whether each one says what comes out, how the base is prepared, how thick the new concrete is, what reinforcement goes in, and where the water goes afterward. A bid that leaves one of those out is usually pricing a smaller job than the one you have.