Driveway Replacement Process, Step by Step

OKC Driveway Repair Co. replaces driveways across the Oklahoma City metro, and this walkthrough shows the driveway replacement process for a typical job: a 20 × 24 ft, two-car concrete drive at a brick ranch house, with the approach at the street included. It is an illustration of how the work runs, not a specific customer’s project. Timelines shift with weather and permits.

Before the work: estimate and paperwork

The estimate visit (about 30 minutes). Every panel is measured, slope and drainage are checked, and the subgrade is probed at the sunken spots. The quote comes back in writing with tear-out, base, concrete, steel, joints, finish and permit as separate lines. For this drive, 480 sq ft at $8 to $13 per square foot puts it at roughly $3,800 to $6,200.

Permit and locate (about one week). Because the job includes the approach in the city right-of-way, a permit is pulled under OKC Code §50-116. OKIE811 is notified at least three business days before digging so utility lines are marked.

What you do: move cars out of the garage before day one if you’ll need them, and plan to park on the street for about a week.

Day 1: tear-out

• Saw cuts along the garage, the sidewalk and the street so nothing outside the job is damaged.
• A skid steer breaks out and loads the old concrete, which is hauled to a recycler.
• The exposed subgrade is checked. Soft, pumping clay at the old sunken panels is dug out.

What you’ll see: red clay where your drive was, and a lot of noise for a few hours.

Day 2: base, forms and steel

• 4 to 6 inches of crushed stone are spread and compacted with a plate compactor or roller.
• Wooden forms are staked along the edges, set to slope water toward the street.
• #3 rebar is tied in a grid and set on chairs so it sits in the middle of the slab. Dowels are drilled into any concrete that stays, like the garage slab edge.
• ½-inch expansion joint material goes in at the garage, sidewalk and curb.

Day 2 or 3: the pour

• Ready-mix trucks deliver 4,000 to 4,500 psi air-entrained concrete, placed 5 inches thick with thickened edges.
• The crew screeds it flat, floats it, and finishes it with a broom texture for traction.
• Membrane curing compound is sprayed on the same day, as OKC Code §50-105 requires in the right-of-way.

The next 24 hours: joints

Control joints are saw-cut to about a quarter of the slab depth, roughly every 10 feet, within 24 hours of the pour. Cutting on time is what makes the slab crack in straight lines where it’s supposed to.

The next 7 days: hands off

• Walk on it after about 24 hours.
• Drive a car on it after 7 days.
• Keep heavy trucks, trailers and dumpsters off for about a month while it reaches full strength.
• Forms come off, the edges are backfilled with soil, and the site is cleaned.

The walk-through

At the end, the drive is walked together: joints, edges, drainage and finish. Any approach inspection is closed out with the city.

That’s the whole driveway replacement process: about one week of paperwork, two to three days of work, and a week of waiting. For the costs behind each step, read the replacement cost guide, or call (405) 442-4044 to start with a free estimate.