One question decides it: is the slab still structurally sound? If the concrete is intact and only the surface has given up, resurfacing gives you a new-looking driveway for a fraction of the price. If the slab is moving, or the base beneath it has failed, an overlay is money spent on hiding a problem that will reappear.
Here is how to tell which situation you are in, and what each option actually involves in Hobart, where reactive clay, frosty winters and steep, tight-access blocks all shape the answer.
What resurfacing actually involves
Resurfacing means bonding a new layer onto the existing slab. The old concrete stays where it is and becomes the base for a fresh surface. The work is mostly preparation: the existing surface is mechanically opened up, usually by diamond grinding, so the overlay has something to key into, and any cracks are assessed and stabilised. Then the topping goes down, is finished — plain, stamped, coloured or textured — and sealed. Like new concrete, an overlay needs suitable temperatures to cure, so a cold, frosty spell can push timing out.
What replacement involves
Replacement means breaking out the existing slab, carting it away and paying tip fees, digging out and rebuilding the base beneath with compacted crushed rock, and pouring a new driveway from scratch. It is a much bigger operation, and on a steep hillside block or a narrow older-suburb driveway, getting machinery in and rubble out is a real part of the cost. The advantage is that you get to fix whatever caused the original failure — poor drainage, an inadequate base on reactive clay, steel in the wrong place — which is the entire point when the base has gone.
When resurfacing is the right call
When the slab underneath is sound and the complaint is cosmetic.
- Worn or dull surface with the slab itself intact.
- Staining from oil, leaves or general weathering.
- Fine crazing — shallow map-like surface cracking that is stable.
- Dated appearance you simply want to change.
In these cases the structure is doing its job and only the surface has aged. Resurfacing addresses exactly that, and you keep the base, the reinforcement and the levels you already have.
When only replacement will do
When the slab has stopped behaving as one piece.
- Cracks that are widening rather than sitting stable, often as clay swells and shrinks with the seasons.
- Sections at different heights, indicating the slab has broken into pieces that move independently.
- Spalling with rust staining, which means the reinforcement is corroding and expanding.
- Widespread scaling where freeze-thaw has broken up a poorly cured surface across large areas.
These symptoms point at the base, the reinforcement, or both. Laying a new surface over a failing structure buys you perhaps a season before the same cracks come through, and you will have paid for the overlay as well as the replacement you ultimately need.
The two side by side
Here is how the two options compare on the things that matter.
| Resurfacing | Replacement | |
|---|---|---|
| Cost | A fraction of a rebuild | Includes break-out, cartage, tip fees, base and new pour |
| Disruption | A few days, no demolition | Longer, with machinery on site and rubble carted away |
| Lifespan | Years, tied to the slab beneath | A full new slab life of 30 to 40 years |
| Right when | Slab sound, surface worn or dated | Slab cracked through, settling, or base failed |
How we work out which you need
By looking underneath rather than at the surface. We check whether cracks are active, whether sections have moved relative to each other, what the drainage is doing — especially where winter runoff from a slope crosses the drive — and whether there is any sign of reinforcement corroding. Only then is it possible to say honestly which option your concrete warrants.
Not sure? Send us photos
Photos of the whole driveway plus close-ups of the worst cracks and any level changes are usually enough for a first opinion. If it looks like a resurfacing candidate, we will come out, confirm it on site and give you a written quote; if it needs replacing, we will tell you that straight.