What Is Concrete Resurfacing?
Resurfacing puts a new wearing surface on an existing slab instead of removing it. A thin polymer-modified cementitious layer is bonded to the prepared concrete, textured or stamped, coloured if you want it, and sealed. The result looks like new concrete at roughly half the cost, with no demolition, no disposal bill and far less disruption to the property.
The catch, and it is a real one, is that an overlay is only as good as what it is stuck to. It has no structural capacity of its own. If the slab underneath is delaminated, still moving at cracks, or sitting on a failed base, the overlay will fail with it, usually within a season.
So the first thing we do is test. We sound the slab with a hammer to map any delamination, check whether cracks are static or still opening, and confirm the slab drains and sits reasonably level. If the base passes, resurfacing is excellent value. If it does not, we tell you and quote a replacement instead, because selling you a $6 per square foot overlay that fails in a year is worse than quoting the $12 per square foot job that lasts.
What’s Included
- Sounding and bond testing of the existing slab
- Crack mapping, with stitching where cracks are active
- Cleaning, grinding or shot blasting to a proper surface profile
- Bonding agent application
- Polymer-modified overlay, hand-cut or stampable system
- Integral colour and accent detailing where specified
- Control joints cut over the existing joint lines
- Curing and sealing
Common Problems We Solve
Surface Scaling on a Sound Slab
The classic overlay candidate. Toronto road salt and freeze-thaw have flaked the top few millimetres away, but the slab underneath rings solid and sits level. A bonded overlay restores the surface completely and can change the colour and texture at the same time.
A Plain Slab That Looks Dated
Nothing structurally wrong, just grey and tired. A stampable overlay in ashlar slate or wood plank transforms it for roughly half the price of a new decorative pour.
Uneven Interior Floors
Basements, additions and older commercial spaces often have floors that are out of level enough to cause problems for flooring or equipment. A self-levelling topping flows out flat and fixes it, provided slab moisture is tested first.
Worn Porch Decks and Stair Treads
Hand-cut stone-effect overlay systems restore both surface and appearance on porches and steps. The structure has to be sound and any moving cracks stitched first, which is exactly the sequence our porch restoration work follows.
How Much Does Resurfacing Cost in Toronto?
Overlays run $5 to $10 per square foot. The drivers:
- System. Plain resurfacing costs less than a stampable or hand-cut decorative system.
- Preparation. A slab needing extensive grinding, coating removal or crack repair adds preparation cost.
- Crack treatment. Stitching active cracks before overlaying is separate work and is not optional where movement exists.
- Colour and pattern. Integral colour, accent washes and stamping all add to the rate.
- Thickness. Self-levelling toppings placed thick to correct levels use more material.
Against $9 to $16 per square foot for a replacement, the saving is substantial where the base allows it.
Overlay Systems We Use
Polymer-modified cementitious overlays are the workhorse: thin, strongly bonded, and finished with a broom or trowel texture. Stampable overlays are placed thicker so texture mats can be pressed in, giving the full stamped-concrete appearance. Hand-cut stone systems, including Jewel Stone style products, are trowelled and then hand-scored into individual stone shapes, which suits porches, steps and smaller feature areas. Self-levelling toppings are flowable and used where flatness rather than appearance is the goal, often as the substrate for polishing or a floor covering.
When Resurfacing Is Not the Answer
Replace rather than overlay when the slab is heaved out of plane, when cracks show vertical displacement between the two sides, when sounding reveals widespread delamination, when the sub-base has washed out, or when drainage cannot be corrected without regrading. In those cases an overlay hides the problem for a few months and then cracks along the same lines.
We will always tell you which category your slab falls into before quoting, and we would rather lose the smaller job than sell a repair that fails.
Send us a photo of the surface and its dimensions, and we will come back with a written published-rate quote inside two hours.
