Concrete Driveways in Wellington, FL

Concrete driveways in Wellington take the most daily punishment of any slab on the lot: cars, delivery trucks, boat and horse trailers, and every summer downpour that runs off the roof and lawn. A large share of the village's homes were built between the 1980s and the 2000s, according to Point2Homes' Census summary, so many driveways here are original and have been through decades of rainy seasons. They usually fail in the same spots: the apron at the street, the panel next to the garage and the edges along the lawn where water runs.

Signs it is time to replace

• A panel by the garage that has dropped and holds a puddle
• Cracks with one side higher than the other
• Broken edges where tires leave the slab
• An apron cracked or crumbling at the street or swale
• A surface stained, worn and pitted after years of sun
• A drive too narrow for the household's cars

One sunken panel on a sound drive can often be lifted, and a worn but solid surface can be resurfaced. When settling, cracking and edge breaks show up together, a new driveway is usually the better spend.

What happens under the concrete

The slab is only as good as what it sits on. We break out the old concrete or pavers, remove soft or organic soil, and compact the base in layers so it will not settle further. Forms are set so the finished surface falls toward the street, the swale or a yard drain and never toward the garage or the house.

Thickness follows what you park. HomeGuide's driveway guide calls for at least 4 inches for cars, 5 to 6 inches for RVs and heavy vehicles, and 6 to 8 inch edges. If a horse trailer, boat or work truck sits on the drive, we thicken that area. Rebar or wire mesh keeps cracked sections from drifting apart, and saw-cut joints on a planned grid give shrinkage cracks a straight path.

The edge at the street

Where a driveway meets a public road, the work stops being private. Wellington's Permit & Plat Checklist says connecting a driveway to Village of Wellington right-of-way falls under its General Site Work engineering permit, and connecting to an Acme Improvement District facility requires a public works permit instead. If your street is a private community road, the HOA may have its own rules for the connection. We find out who owns the edge at your address and pull the right permit before demolition starts.

Get a Free Estimate

Finishes

• Broom finish: the standard, with grip in the rain.
• Exposed aggregate: stone showing at the surface, good traction and it hides tire marks.
• Stamped or colored borders: a band along the edges to match the house, with plain lanes in the middle.
• Integral color: tinted through the whole slab, often chosen to meet HOA palettes.

A smooth trowel finish looks clean but gets slick in a downpour, so we keep it off sloped drives.

Wider drives and parking pads

Many Wellington families add width for a third car, a trailer or a boat. We dowel the new section into the old slab so the two move together, and match the finish as closely as possible. New concrete looks lighter than weathered concrete for a while, which is worth knowing before you decide whether to widen or replace.

Caring for a new driveway

Keep cars off for at least seven days and heavy vehicles off for the full cure. HomeGuide recommends waiting until after the 28 to 30 day cure to seal, then resealing every few years. Point downspouts away from the slab, keep sprinklers from soaking the edges every day, and wipe up oil before the sun bakes it in.