| Concrete Cleaning and Repair |
From "Ask DIY"
episode ADI-104 |
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Q: I have a variety of different cracks in my concrete sidewalk and would like to fix them before they become much bigger. What's the best way to handle this? And please suggest some good products for me to use. A: (Brad Staggs, Ask DIY Home Repair expert). Cracks can be a very big problem if you let them go. Water will seep into them in the winter, the concrete will freeze, and they'll get much larger. If you have to have the concrete re-poured, it could cost more than a thousand dollars. Instead, take care of cracks early on by following these steps. Materials: Concrete sealer and cleaner, and mortar repair in a caulking tube (figure A)
Steel scrub brush
Concrete patch
Pointing trowel (figure B)
- To prep a small crack (figure C), rinse it out with water and allow it to dry thoroughly. Also use a steel scrub brush to knock any loose particles away from the crack.
- Use mortar repair in a caulking tube to fill in the fracture, forcing it into the crack to seal it and prevent water from leaking into the concrete. The tip of the caulking tube will smooth the mortar repair a bit; you can do the rest of the smoothing with your finger.
Working smarter: Don't repair concrete if it's wet. Always make sure the surface is dry. - To repair larger cracks, make a batch of concrete patch, which you can buy in small bags at a home or hardware store. Mix it to a plasticlike consistency (figure D).
- Using a pointing trowel, poke concrete patch into the holes and/or "build" missing segments of concrete, and then smooth the concrete patch out (figure E ). Remember, even if your edges aren't perfect, repairing the cracks before they get out of hand is the way to go.
Nobody's perfect: If you're working at the edge of a swimming pool, hold the container of concrete repair below the area you're working on, to catch any concrete patch you slop around before it falls in the pool. More questions for Brad: Q: I've seen concrete sealant in the store, but I'm not sure when to use it. Is it really needed even after a small repair? A: It's always a good idea to seal your concrete. The mortar repair that comes in caulking guns, though, includes a sealant, so you don't need to seal over that. Q: Is there a chance that my repair will crack again? If so, how long will it take to crack again? A: Your guess is as good as mine regarding when, but yes, it will crack again eventually, maybe in the winter. What you're trying to do when you repair concrete is postpone the inevitable, and save as much money as you can before the concrete fails altogether and you have to replace it. Q: Can you repair cracked asphalt the same way you repair a crack in concrete? A: Yes and no. You do want to fill up any cracks in asphalt, but you use completely different products. Books: Concrete, Masonry & Bricks: A Practical Handbook for Home Owners
by U. S. Dept. of Agriculture
Dover Publications, Inc. (1999)
31 E. 2nd St.
Minneola, NY 11501
Phone: 516-294-7000
Fax: 516-873-1401 Concrete Construction Handbook
by Joseph Dobrowski
McGraw-Hill (1998)
Customer Service
PO Box 545
Blacklick, OH 43004-0545
Phone: 800-262-4729
E-mail: customerservice@mcgraw-hill.com
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