Is it cheaper to repair or replace a cracked concrete driveway in New Brunswick?

The honest answer is: it depends entirely on what is causing the cracking and how far the deterioration has progressed — but as a general rule, if you are dealing with widespread cracking across more than 25 to 30 percent of the driveway surface, or if panels are heaving, sinking, or cracking through their full depth, replacement is almost always the better financial decision over a 5 to 10 year horizon in New Brunswick.

Crack repair and resurfacing seem cheaper upfront — and they are. Crack filling with polyurethane or epoxy caulk costs $5 to $25 per linear foot depending on width and depth. Resurfacing an entire driveway runs $3 to $7 per square foot. A two-car driveway repair might cost $500 to $3,000. Compare that to full replacement at $8 to $15 per square foot fully installed — $4,000 to $8,000 for that same driveway — and repair looks attractive.

But here is the NB reality that changes the math. New Brunswick has 150+ freeze-thaw cycles per year. Any crack repair or resurfacing overlay is a relatively thin, rigid material bonded to concrete that is already moving. Every winter, water gets into new micro-cracks, freezes, and widens them. A driveway repaired once will need more repairs the following year, and the year after. A resurfacing overlay on a driveway with underlying base failure will delaminate within 2 to 3 seasons. After two or three rounds of repairs over 5 to 7 years, you will have spent $1,500 to $4,000 and still need the replacement.

Repair makes sense when: cracking is isolated to one or two sections, the cracks are surface-level rather than full-depth, the underlying base is intact (slabs do not move or rock), the concrete is under 15 years old and was properly poured with air-entrained mix, and the budget does not allow full replacement right now.

Replacement makes sense when: cracks are widespread across the surface, sections are heaving or sinking, the driveway is 20+ years old, the original concrete was not air-entrained (common for driveways poured in the 1980s and 1990s in NB), or the surface has significant spalling and scaling. With a new driveway, you also get the opportunity to correct any drainage or base issues that caused the original failure.

Get a concrete contractor to assess your specific driveway rather than making this decision from the curb. A professional can identify whether the cracking is shrinkage-related (surface only), structural (through the full slab thickness), or heave-related (base/drainage failure). That diagnosis changes everything about the right approach.

New Brunswick Concrete matches homeowners with local contractors who provide honest assessments — not just quotes for whichever option makes them more money.