Asphalt repair

[Easy Livin’ 3000]

Wondering what would happen if I brushed dry mortar into small cracks, and used small aggregate concrete to fill in small holes in the asphalt driveway? Or, maybe the concrete topper material that has latex in it. Plan to seal coat the entire thing when done.

Not happy with the pourable or the trowelable patching products.

I've never seen this done, figure there's a reason, but before I make a mess of things, thought I'd ask.

 

[peakbagger]

The trick to patching asphalt cracks is to fill then with foam packing rods and then use the pourableprodu ct. The foam is resilient and works with the movement of the asphalt while the sealer protects the foam.

 

[Easy Livin’ 3000]

The trick to patching asphalt cracks is to fill then with foam packing rods and then use the pourableprodu ct. The foam is resilient and works with the movement of the asphalt while the sealer protects the foam.

Thanks peak. Interesting idea. I'd been kicking around doing something similar with sand before pouring. Trying to get the maximum amount of life the driveway.

 

[peakbagger]

Foam packing rod is cheap, the hassle is finding the right diameter. I think I picked up a couple of sizes on Amazon. I just use a putty knife to jamb it in the crack making sure that its about 1/8 of an inch below the top surface.

I used to do projects at a pulp and papermill, and one of the occasion projects was crack filling the base of large outdoor concrete tanks. We used the same filler rods but the sealants were specialized. Sikaflex is a big supplier, I think a lot of the sealants are polyurethanes. One trick with any sealant is to put it in when the surface is cooling down. If you put in the morning when things are heating up, pavement is expanding and the cracks are getting smaller so the sealant tends to squeeze out. Wait until the afternoon and as the asphalt cools down and it tends to pull back into the crack at bit.

 

[Highbeam]

On our streets we blow the cracks out with a mondo air compressor, kill any remaining weeds or roots, and then fill with HOT tar. No it's not an invisible repair but cracksealing is a huge expenditure that isn't just for fun. It's to keep water out of the crack.