Concrete Driveway Replacement in Green Bay, WI
Green Bay Concrete Pros replaces concrete driveways for homes across Green Bay and Brown County, Wisconsin. We are a licensed and insured concrete contractor. A driveway replacement is a full job: tear out the old slab, rebuild the base under it, and pour a new reinforced driveway that is jointed, pitched to drain, and sealed against salt.
The new slab is four inches thick, five to six where an RV or a truck sits, over four to six inches of compacted crushed limestone. We reinforce it with rebar or welded wire mesh set on chairs in the middle of the slab, or a fiber mix, and pour 4000 PSI air-entrained concrete so freezing water has room to expand instead of flaking the top off. A thin slab poured straight onto Fox River valley clay, with no stone base and no steel, cracks and sinks in a few winters.
A Driveway Fails From the Base, Not the Top
Concrete is rarely the thing that breaks. The ground under it is. Green Bay sits on red lacustrine clay that holds water and heaves when it freezes. A slab on loose fill or wet clay lifts, drops, and cracks apart no matter how good the mix was. We build the base first, because the base is the driveway.
The Compacted Stone Base
We strip the old slab and its failed base down to solid ground, then bring it back up in compacted lifts of crushed stone. Water drains through that stone instead of pooling under the slab, and it does not settle the way dirt does. Deep frost pulls at everything here, so a base that drains is what keeps the new driveway flat through the winter.
Steel, Joints, and Pitch
Reinforcement does not stop a slab from cracking. It holds the crack tight so the driveway stays one piece. We saw-cut control joints about every ten feet so the concrete cracks along a straight line where we put it, and set isolation joints where the driveway meets the garage and the walks. The whole slab is pitched about a quarter inch per foot to shed water off the surface and away from the house.
Sealing Against Salt
Road salt is what eats a Green Bay driveway. It comes off your tires all winter and drives freeze-thaw damage into the surface. A penetrating sealer slows the salt and water getting into the concrete. We seal the new slab once it has cured, and it is the cheapest thing you can do to buy years off the top of the driveway.
What It Costs
A driveway replacement in Green Bay runs about $4,000 to $10,000. A standard two-car driveway on a clean tear-out sits toward the low end. A long run, a thick RV apron, or a driveway that needs the base dug deep and rebuilt sits higher, because there is more stone to place and more concrete to pour. Every driveway gets a free written estimate first.
Ready to stop patching a driveway that keeps breaking? (920) 555-0163 gets you a real person and a free estimate. If the old slab has to come out first, we handle the tear-out and haul-away in the same visit, and we pour driveways across De Pere and Ashwaubenon too.
Should I replace my driveway or have it leveled?
It depends on the concrete, not just the slope. Lifting a slab back up puts it where it started, but a driveway that is cracked through, flaking on the surface, or sitting on a base that washed out does not get better by raising it. Replacement pulls the old slab, rebuilds the crushed-stone base under it, and pours new. We look at the slab and the ground under it before we tell you which one you have.
How thick should a Green Bay driveway be?
Four inches of concrete for a car, five to six where an RV, a truck, or a trailer parks. Under that goes four to six inches of compacted crushed stone. The thickness of the slab carries the load on top. The compacted base carries the slab through the freeze and thaw, which is the part that actually breaks driveways here.
Why is my driveway flaking and pitting at the surface?
That is spalling, and it comes from freezing water and road salt working on the top of the slab. Concrete made without air entrainment has no room inside for that water to expand, so the surface pops off. We pour 4000 PSI air-entrained mix and seal it, which is what stands up to a Green Bay winter and the salt that comes off your tires.
How long does a new concrete driveway take?
Most residential driveways are torn out and poured within a few days, then the concrete cures before you drive on it. We keep foot traffic off for a day or so and vehicles off for about a week while it gains strength. Curing time is not the same as drying, and driving on green concrete is how you crack a good pour early.