Asphalt Repair and Crack Filling

Over time, every cobblestone driveway develops cracks and pits. Hither'southward how to fight dorsum.

Introduction

Learn how to fix driveway cracks and pits the correct way. They're more than than just an eyesore; they actually speed up the demise of your driveway if you ignore them.

DIY Driveway Repair: Set up Driveway Cracks

In common cold climates, water seeps in and destroys the asphalt when it expands during freezing. If you program to topcoat your driveway, you'll demand to set the cracked driveway first and do cobblestone repair later.

You can purchase clasp bottle and caulk tube–way fissure filler products from any home center. They're quick and piece of cake to apply, but they shrink and crack and don't last very long. Nevertheless, at that place's some other way to fill cobblestone cracks: with melt-in filler that doesn't shrink—the same type used by highway crews. The melt-in cloth and trowelable cover mix cost about $100 for a typical driveway.

It'll take almost a full day to repair several cracks if they're 20 ft. long or so, but the cobblestone repair work will last much longer than other quick fixes. In improver to the melt-in and trowel mix products, you'll need a propane torch with an extension hose, and a leaf blower or compressed air gun. Use an bending grinder fitted with a diamond cycle to widen hairline cracks and to quickly remove previously practical cracked driveway fillers.

Purchase the supplies and tools

Nosotros used melt-in 1/2-in.-diameter Latex-ite Pli-Stix Crack and Joint Filler and the best asphalt patch, Latex-ite Trowel Patch, for this projection. Our driveway had several 25-ft.- long cracks. So we bought four thirty-ft. packages of the crack filler and four ii-gallon pails of the trowel patch. We already had a propane torch. But nosotros bought a 5-foot extension hose to eliminate the flame-outs that occur when you tip a propane cylinder upside downward (WH0159 Bernzomatic Universal Torch Extension Hose).

Check the conditions and prep the cracks

Choose a sunny day with no rain in the forecast for at least 24 hours. Beginning by rolling the driveway crack filler rope onto a sunny section of the driveway so it warms and softens. While it'south warming, remove all the clay, weeds and former driveway crevice filler from the cracks. Scrape out the old cloth with a flat-blade screwdriver or 5-in-1 pigment tool. Information technology'due south a painstaking process, just it's disquisitional to getting a successful repair. And so don't skip it or take shortcuts. Cleaning and filling hairline cracks are more time consuming for asphalt repair, and the gear up won't final unless you widen them with an angle grinder and diamond bike (Photograph 1).

Once you cease digging out all the cracks, blow the dust and debris out of the cracks and off the driveway using a leaf blower or compressed air gun.

Project stride-by-footstep (seven)

Step ane

Add the driveway crack filler and melt it

Widen hairline cracks

crack

Plunge the diamond wheel into ane end of the fissure and drag backward to dig out any old filler and widen the crack.

How to Install a Durable Cobblestone Driveway

Pace ii

Stuff the crevice with driveway crack filler

filler

Jam the driveway fissure filler deep into the crack using a flat-bract screwdriver. Add a second layer to fill deeper or wider cracks.

Repave Your Driveway for Instant Adjourn Entreatment

Pace 3

Shrink the filler

compress

Hammer the filler and so information technology sits at least one/16 in. below the surface of the driveway. Don't overfill.

How to Seal an Asphalt Driveway

Stride 4

Melt the filler

melt

Sweep the torch flame side to side slowly over a 12-in. department until the filler begins to melt. And so motility on to the next section. Render to the previous section and estrus again until the filler levels out and seeps into the crack.

How to Set a Sinking Driveway

Step 5

Add trowel mix and then shine it

trowel

After the filler has cooled, scoop up the trowel cobblestone driveway patch and tap it onto the fissure filler to create a small mound. Smooth it with a trowel and let dry overnight. If a depression remains the next day, apply a second coat.

Push the melt-in filler deep into the cracks (Photo 2). If whatsoever filler bulges above the surface of the driveway, cut off the backlog with a knife or shrink information technology and so it sits beneath the surface (Photo iii). Then screw the extension hose onto your propane tank and mountain the torch to the other end and fire it up. The melt-in filler burns hands, then don't endeavour to melt it in one cruel swoop. Using just the tip of the flame, slowly melt the filler (Photo four). If the filler starts to burn, accident out the flames and use a faster sweeping motion or move the flame farther from the crack.

Allow the filler to cool to the touch (at least 20 minutes) before covering it with the trowel patch material. And so lay down a bead of trowel patch and smooth it (Photo 5). Let the trowel patch dry overnight. Apply a second coat if you see a depression where the crack was filled.

xiii Creative Driveway Landscaping Ideas

Stride half dozen

Asphalt driveway patch for pitted asphalt

Fill the pits

smooth

Strength the asphalt driveway patch filler material into the cracks and pits with a trowel. And then smooth the streaks with an onetime broom.

Tips to Build a Concrete Walkway

Step 7

Enlarge the area and smooth

spread

Pour more filler fabric onto the pitted area and spread information technology with a floor duster to smooth the surface.

Asphalt driveways can develop pitted areas from motor oil and coolant contagion and repeated freeze/thaw cycles. If the pits are ane/ii in. or less, you can fill them with a spreadable filler product for cobblestone repair. (We used Latex-ite Trowel Patch again.)

Make clean oil stains and prime with oil stain primer. Then coat the entire pitted area with asphalt driveway patch material and let dry overnight (Photo 1). Utilize a 2nd glaze to acme off any partially filled pits (Photo 2) and smoothen the surface. Let dry to complete your asphalt repair.

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Originally Published: July 05, 2022