Concrete Driveway Repour and Replacement in St. Joseph
One slab dropped or cracked through, and the rest of the driveway still fine?
You don’t always need a whole new driveway. Around here that job is called a repour, and you can repour just the bad sections. Most companies won’t tell you that, because a full replacement is a bigger ticket.
Can you replace just part of a concrete driveway? Yes. Here’s how.
Saw-cut at the joints, break out the bad sections, haul off, check and rebuild the base (a slab usually fails from below), pour new sections matched to height and joint lines. Honest note: new concrete won’t color-match old at first; it closes with weathering. If a perfect match matters, say so up front and we’ll talk options including a full repour.
Repair, lift, or repour? An honest answer.
Repair
When the concrete is sound but a joint or crack needs sealing. Cheapest, and right more often than the industry admits.
Lifting (mudjacking or foam leveling)
When the slab is solid but sunk over a void underneath. If it isn’t cracked apart, lifting genuinely wins at a fraction of the cost (~$1,600 KC-metro report, Reddit, May 2026). We’ll say so even though it’s not a pour.
Repour
When slabs are cracked through, crumbling, or the base failed. Lifting a broken slab gives you a level broken slab.
The forum advice is right: quoted for leveling? Get a replacement quote too, and vice versa.
One slab sunk, or the whole driveway breaking up?
Call now for the honest answer: repair, lift, or repour.
Concrete or blacktop for your driveway?
- Up front, blacktop usually costs less. The asphalt sellers say so and they’re right.
- Over the years, blacktop needs resealing on a recurring schedule and softens in summer heat; concrete gets joints cut once.
- Repairs: blacktop patches blend but come sooner; concrete sections last longer, and you can repour one section.
If your budget says blacktop, fair choice. Deciding on lifetime cost? Ask both bidders to put their maintenance schedule in writing next to their price.
What driveway work runs in St. Joe
| Job | Typical range |
|---|---|
| Section repour (bad slabs only) | Call for today’s range |
| Full driveway repour | Call for today’s range |
| New construction | Call for today’s range |
| Leveling (when the slab is sound) | Call for today’s range |
The right-of-way permit and site plan? Handled.
The street-facing strip of your driveway is city right-of-way, and St. Joseph requires a permit and a site plan for work on it. Both get prepared and pulled as part of the job. Nobody should tell you to skip it.
Driveway questions, answered straight
Is it cheaper to lift a sunken driveway than to repour it?
Usually yes, when the slab is sound (~$1,600 KC-metro report). Lifting a cracked slab wastes money; run the repair-lift-repour test above.
Can you replace just one or two slabs?
Yes: saw-cut at the joints. Expect an initial color difference that fades with weathering.
Do I need a permit to replace my driveway in St. Joseph?
The street portion, yes (city right-of-way). It’s handled for you.
Sidewalk on the list too? The city may pay half. Just need a pad poured? That page prices by footprint.
Ready for a straight number on your driveway?
Step 1 of 4The job