You don’t need to spend a fortune repairing small driveway cracks. Some basic tools, the right technique and some care can prevent water from sneaking in and prolong the life of the pavement. Follow this friendly step-by-step guide for a clean, long-lasting asphalt repair of which you can be proud. Check this forum discussion for additional information on DIY repair.
Tools You’ll Need
Using the right tools makes the job faster, neater and more durable. You don’t need contract-grade tools, only those possessed by most of the do-it-yourselfers, plus a good crack filler. Check the weather first since mild, dry weather is best for bonding and curing of the material.
- Crack cleaning brush or stiff wire brush
- Leaf blower or shop vacuum
- Cold patch asphalt crack filler (pourable or trowel on)
- Caulking gun or squeeze bottle (for applying narrow crack filler)
- Pointing trowel or small putty knife
- Hand tamper (or flat 2×4 and hammer)
- Eye protection and gloves.
- Broom and dustpan
- Sand or fine aggregate (if needed for filling deep voids)
A simple hand sledge of 1 or 2 lbs. can serve as a tamper in tiny spots, which is useful in quick blacktop repair.
Cleaning the Crack
The secret to making a patch last is good preparatory work. Sweep off the area, then brush out the inside of the crack with a wire brush to remove all loose grit, dirt and old filler. Use a leaf blower or shop vac to clean the dust out. If grass has grown, take hold of it as well as treat with a weed product.
The crack must be thoroughly dry, so wait after a rain, or apply cool air from a hair drier to drive out the moisture. A thorough cleaning is the first step in good pavement maintenance. Don’t do the last washing using a hose unless you can let it thoroughly dry by the end of one sunny day, for moisture after washing is detrimental to crack sealing.
If you are located nearby and would like an expert opinion before you start, search for asphalt contractor West Anaheim for local information and estimates:
For larger cracks (wider than ½ inch) or spreading “alligator” cracks, a little inexpensive make-do remedy may not hold. Then a full depth patch or driveway resurfacing may be preferable to a patch.
Filling and Compacting
The crack sealer is shaken or kneaded as the label requires. For deep holes, first sprinkle with dry sand, so as to hold the crack filler, from sinking. Beginning at one end, apply the packing material as a steady bead into the crack, slightly overfilling the top. Check out this video to see how crack sealing works: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4GvqcOh2Mbo
With a trowel or putty knife, tamp the material and feather the edges in order that the water cannot run to rest there on a ledge. Reinforce by tamping the repair. Hand tampers are the best, but if you don’t have one, simply lay a flat 2×4 over the patch and hammer or tap with a hammer. If necessary, add more material and repeat until the patch stands on a par with the surrounding surface.
For hairline cracks, a pourable filler may suffice; for wider gaps, a trowel grade cold patch asphalt mixture is better able to occupy space and stand wear and tear. If cracking is extensive, you might want to investigate employing a professional and laying before pm a larger asphalt repair program instead of following up new cracks each season.
For the period specified by your product after the patch has cured, many homeowners apply sealcoating to it (generally, some weeks later) which aid in resisting the weathering action of the sun’s rays and the dampness of rains. On cold mornings, put your filler container in a pail of warm water for five minutes so it will flow nicely. For very fine Warren, two deftly made streaks materialize much better than a thick dab, and such will shun later sinks.
Drying Time Tips
Cure time varies with the product used, with the size of the cracks, the temperature, the sun’s ray exposure. Patience in this will pay dividends, for a too reedy use of a fresh patched spot to traffic will sheer off anything in the way of a bond that the patched spot necessitates between this and the old pavement. For the most precise indications consult your product label together with the following:
- Keep people, pets and vehicles off the repaired place for at least 24 to 48 hours, or as the label calls for.
- Warm, dry days make for quick curing; cool or damp weather has a contrary effect.
- Protect the area from rain. If a shower pops up, tent a sheet of plastic over the patch with bricks to keep droplets off.
- Avoid heavy vehicles being parked on repaired spot for at least several days while it is hardening through.
- Wait the recommended time (generally, thirty days’ interval) before sealcoating any surface over the repaired one.
Home-made testing by catching thumb and lifting should be free of suspicion before you open up the area to pedestrian traffic.
Safety Reminders
Gloves and eye protection are necessary where scraping and troweling is in order. Keep children and pets off the working district and avoid lighted cigars or metal lighting apparatus or smoking while applying the solvent cold fillers to use when necessary. Work in air in the open, shutting the bottle after using and wiping off the dribbles with rags. If noticeable are signs of base movement being general, or repeat cracks in the same place are noted, communicate with some reliable local expert on paving about drainage or sub-base trouble that seem rather of a too general nature and a professional concern.
Asphalt and concrete paving service are able to diagnosis the troubles again very effectually and may suggest for your feeling some longer rehabilitation process, such as a selective patching process or driveway resurfacing. Stubborn, cracked reparative patches present the concern of a general base troubles or drainage worries, they may demand some professional talk about driveway paving or resurfacing of failing asphalt thickness.