Cracks in concrete driveway
Billy
Join Date: Oct 1999 Posts: 975 Southeast Oklahoma Pics |
2002-08-29 41782
Ok, I need some info. I have this long circle concrete drive. Over the years Mother Nature has done a number on it. It has what I call stress cracks. My question is, is there some kind of treatment or sealer I can put on it to seal the cracks? And if so, is it expensive?
Thanks
Billy
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Cracks in concrete driveway
TomG
Join Date: Feb 2002 Posts: 5406 Upper Ottawa Valley |
2002-08-30 41804
Hope you get some help. I'm not aware of anything myself, but I've heard that there's little help except to start over with a better base and drainage. That sound like a lot of work.
I think I recall seeing tar used to seal wide cracks on concrete roadways, but I think it is applied hot. I believe the idea is to try and keep water from pooling under a crack where it freezes and causes more damage.
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Cracks in concrete driveway
BAC
Join Date: Posts: 1 |
2002-08-30 41835
Self-leveling caulk. Grind the cracks to about1/4" to 3/8" depth and fill with the caulk. Works great if cracks are not to bad. ....
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Cracks in concrete driveway
MRETHICS
Join Date: Jul 2003 Posts: 190 Star City, Indiana |
2002-08-30 41838
There are two kinds of concrete:
1) The kind that is cracked
2) The kind that is gonna crack
I have in my possesion a bag of "concrete crack filler, and patching compound" .
It is in the powder form and must be mixed with water, like concrete then troweled in the hole. I have had this bag about ten years and have used it on a few occasions. It never works.
Due to my nature, I had to find a solution. I consulted my friend who is our county highway superintendant. He is the one who turned me on to the two groups of concrete.
TomG is right (nothing personal Tom, but you are right even more than my wife "thinks" she is, which means, in my book, you agree with ME!, so we both must be right!) The cracks are there to stay, they will always rear their ugly head. Bad drainage, poor base, or poorly compacted base to name a few reasons.
The concrete will always flex as the ground benieth it heaves and settles.
There is a product widely used by highway depts. across N.America. It is called asphault emulsion. It is sorta hot, but below 100 deg. C. (212 deg. F). It is poured in the cracks to keep water from leaking under the concrete and freezing, just like TomG wrote in his post. It will not heal the wound, but it slows down the deterioration.
My brother used the calk BAC talks about, it worked pretty good, but you can still see the lines of caulk from a distance, and his snowblade seems to tear it out during snow removal.
Another fix includes spraying a layer of the emulsion I talked about on the entire drive, then, spreading a thin layer of some kind of fine aggregate, such as 10F limestone,or pea gravel, then rolling it. this ain't cheap or easy either.
My advise is put up with the cracks as long as you can, then, pour a new driveway, have fibre added to the mix, use plenty of reinforceng steel, make sure you have a good, well compacted base, and add dye to the mix to have a color you like.
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Cracks in concrete driveway
Peters
Join Date: Feb 2002 Posts: 3034 Northern AL Pics |
2002-08-30 41841
Well I first saw this post and I did not know what to say. My friend at the lumber yard sell something like the material Mr. Ethics describes. I have never used it so? But the rambling discussion jogged my memory.
Some years ago I studied a material for a company on a short term contract. The material was called Jet Set and was the product of our airforce and the tax dollars. The material was designed to be an ultra quick patch for a cratered runway. The material had excellent adhesion to concrete and hardened immediately.
Anyways there is a commerical material available now that I found last year. I would think these people could provide something to solve the problem if any one can. ....
Link: Jet Set
 
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