Dealing With Deteriorating Driveways

In the Australian heat, constantly expanding and contracting concrete driveways can lead to them cracking, or even crumbling at the edges. Whilst larger jobs should be referred to a professional contractor, some minor concrete crack repairs can be undertaken yourself. To carry out an effective DIY repair job on a concrete driveway that has seen better days, consider the following methods.

Filling In Cracks

To deal with a crack in your driveway before it gets any larger, it is first necessary to chisel away any loose bits of rubble that might have formed in it. Use a hand hammer and chisel to chip away any concrete which looks loose and create as smooth an edge to the crack as you can. Now chip away inside the crack to 'key' it. This means there will be a bigger cavity within the crack than there is at the surface, making it more resistant to thermal changes, once repaired. Now brush away any dust and fill the crack with concrete filler from a caulking gun. Allow it to cure overnight in dry conditions. To seal the joint of the repair, it is frequently recommended by DIY experts that you use heavy duty and water-based polyurethane, applied with a broom, to ensure a high-grip finish. Concrete joint sealing makes for a longer lasting repair and helps to avoid unsightly staining.

Handling Crumbling Concrete

In some cases, cracked concrete is the least of a driveway's problems and it has started to crumble at the edges. This often happens if heavier vehicles use the drive regularly than it has been designed to cope with. However, it is possible to deal with crumbling sections of a driveway using a simple mortar. So long as the section of concrete under the crumbled section is sound, all you need to do is to mix two parts of coarse, clean sand with one part of normal cement plus a little water to make a mortar. Having removed all of the broken pieces of concrete with a wire brush, apply the mortar to the area in question with a trowel and smooth it over. If you prefer, then an epoxy resin, such as Everbuild, makes a great bond for concrete repairs. These resins can be poured or injected into crumbling sections of driveway, making it easy to work with. However, this material must not be allowed to get wet or it will not make a sufficiently strong bond and the crumbling problem may well come back.

for more information, contact an expert in concrete repairs.