Though rarely celebrated in poetry or song, cracking and heaving concrete, asphalt and brick are a sign of spring as sure as daffodils.
Trouble erupts on driveways, paths and patios at the residences of people who were too busy watching football or raking leaves last fall to do routine caulking maintenance.
Such action would have slowed water from getting in and under the surfaces, which would have kept the water from freezing and thawing over winter, which would have prevented the resulting cracks and shifts.
So now these homeowners have some filling in to do. Maybe it’s cracking or sunken slabs of pavement, or an asphalt drive with a remarkable similarity to Swiss cheese.
Take heart, procrastinators. Many cracks can be filled fairly easily and inexpensively. Scout the damage now, but wait to make repairs until the soil warms.
“Any cracks you have, they should be filled because the water gets in the cracks, washes out the sand beneath and gives it a weakness,” says Hank Cornillie, an owner of J.C. Cornillie Co., a Roseville, Mich., brick and masonry supply firm.
These repairs are especially important if your house is, or will soon be, up for sale. A cracked front walk or pitted blacktop driveway may be the first thing a potential buyer sees. You don’t want it to be a red flag suggesting your property hasn’t been well maintained.
Many people do their own repairs with products they buy at hardware stores or home centers. The labels are aimed at homeowners, and sales clerks should be able to direct you to the right product for the job.
If you opt to hire someone for these repairs, start making calls now. When the annual clean-up, fix-up fervor hits, firms get booked quickly.
“In May and June, people start to call me about it,” says Dave Deacon, whose St. Clair Shores, Mich., home-repair business is named Hire My Husband. He seals cracks in about 30 to 40 driveways a year.
“Sometimes they wait until October, but then you start getting into iffy weather,” Deacon says. “And if it starts one winter, after the second winter a quarter-inch crack will be three-quarters to an inch because of freezing and thawing.”
So get out and look for troubled spots. For example, make sure gutters and downspouts empty away from the edges of hard surfaces to lessen cracking and heaving headaches in the future.
And look at the bright side. As Grossman says, “Why pay money to go to a gym to exercise when you can do it in your own yard? This is maintenance. Things happen over the winter.”
– Concrete. What you use for repairing cracks depends on the how wide the opening is. Read and follow directions on the product.
No matter what product you select, it should be flexible. For fine cracks up to about one-quarter-inch wide, use a caulking for concrete cracks (about $3 for a 10.3-ounce tube) applied with a caulking gun.
Larger cracks should be cleaned and cut so the bottom is wider than the crack at surface level, which is called keying the hole. Concrete crack sealer or filler ($7 per quart) comes in squeeze bottles with a spout for pouring.
If the space is more than three-quarters-inch wide, use old-fashioned oakum ($1.25 for 18 inches) or round sponge roping ( five-eighth-inch diameter, 20 feet, $4) to take up space, then cover with crack filler.
Blair Gilbert, owner of Gilbert’s Pro Hardware in St. Clair Shores, says another good bridging product is aerosol foam (about $6 for a 12-ounce can). Because the foam expands, Gilbert recommends filling the crack only a third full with foam. He trims excess foam with a razor, then covers it with caulking or tar. If left uncovered, the foam will disintegrate in sunlight.
Vinyl concrete patch can be used to fix broken edges of porch steps and slabs ($3.80 for 3 pounds ready to use or $3.50 for 5 pounds dry).
The expansion joint, which is the space between two squares of concrete, may also need attention. Clean out the joint and fill it with black rubberized crack filler ($11 for a gallon). Either that or tar ($5.80 per gallon) may be used in the crack between a paved driveway and the foundation. Deep cracks may first be partly filled with roping, foam or other material.
If an entire concrete slab in the driveway or walk has settled over the winter, water has seeped underneath and washed away the subsurface. It should be fixed promptly because people may trip on the uneven pavement. A contractor may be able to save slabs through a process called mudjacking. This involves drilling holes in the slab and injecting material under it to push it back up to level.
To find a contractor for mudjacking, look in the phone book under concrete repairing services and make sure any repairs are guaranteed. Grossman says the cost should be about half that of replacing the concrete.
Speaking of sunken spots, if you’re building a home or new driveway, listen to this:
“The worst time to pour cement is in the spring,” warns Todd Upton, president of Dillman & Upton, a building supply firm in Rochester. “Everybody’s in a hurry. Houses have been under construction all winter.”
Soil may be too damp or may not have been compacted properly. Some bases may not be deep enough. A driveway poured on top of that may settle 2 or 3 inches in a short time as hollow spots develop under it, Upton says.
– Asphalt or blacktop. Use a black caulking sealer or filler ($2.20 for a 10.5-ounce tube) for fine cracks. Clean and key the crack first. Deep cracks may be partly filled with sand, then topped with black rubberized crack filler.
To patch holes, use blacktop patch ($6 for a 60-pound bag). Keep the material warm before use. Clean out holes and sunken areas. Place some patch in the hole, packing it down with a tamper (which can purchased for about $24) mounding it slightly so the patched spot is a little higher than the surrounding blacktop. Cover the patched area with a board or a piece of plastic and then drive over it a few times.
Grossman recommends sealing asphalt driveways every second or third year, or annually if the drive is in poor shape. Fill cracks each year. Sealer ($11 for 5 gallons) protects the surface from disintegration and makes the color uniform.
– Brick and pavers. If the bricks or pavers have been installed properly, they shouldn’t shift over the winter. The base should be at least 4 inches of tamped sand, plus a layer of gravel under that.
If a brick in sand is no longer level, lift it, adjust the base by adding or removing sand, tamp it down and replace the brick. Brush fine dry sand ($3 for 60 pounds) around the edges to work it in.
Cracked bricks in mortar may be removed with a chisel or screwdriver and hammer, although this can be a difficult job. Take the old brick to a stone yard for a replacement that can withstand freezing and thawing. Place it in the hole, then fill in around the edges with ready-mixed mortar ($3 for a 10-pound bag).
Usually the only maintenance required is to sweep fine dry sand or jointing sand over the surface to fill any cracks, says Joe DiRado, owner of Brickscape in Novi, Mich.
“Unless you have severe settling, there’s no need to lift” individual pavers, he says.
While you’re inspecting hardscapes, look at retaining walls, which may have shifted or crumbled over the winter.
Lon Grossman, owner of Technihouse Inspections Inc. home and commercial inspection service in Bloomfield Hills, Mich., notes the walls should have drainage or weep holes to allow water to escape.
To create a weep hole in a brick wall, drill through the mortar at varying heights.
