Let’s face it. Cracks happen. In your driveway, that is. There are few landscape features outside your home that draw negative attention to it more than a cracked or damaged driveway. If you’re trying to sell your home, your realtor will tell you in between sips of her $5 double Mochachino that it hurts your “curb appeal” thanks to the weeds growing through the cracks. When your beer-bellied neighbor loses a flip flop and stubs his big toe on a slab of uneven concrete at the end of your driveway when cutting across to his car parked out front, he’ll angrily tell you it’s a tripping hazard – and threaten to call a city inspector unless you fix it.
In some cases, the obvious solution is driveway paving from the experts at ME Landscaping; in others, it may be possible to temporarily repair driveway cracks in a few simple steps until you can afford a permanent fix. For more than a decade, we’ve been the leading custom landscaping contractor in the Greater Toronto Area and have paved or repaired thousands of driveways, walkways, and other paved surfaces in a manner best suited to our customer’s needs.
For the average homeowner, it’s possible to repair small cracks or potholes in a concrete driveway with a combination of basic skills, tools, materials, and time. None of these are insurmountable; it’s really just a matter of how badly you want to do the work yourself, and how confident you are to get the job done.
What materials are needed for driveway repair?
For a few quick questions, call the driveway paving experts at ME Landscaping or check in at the contractor’s desk at your local home improvement warehouse. Once you describe the nature of the crack or the pothole, you’ll be directed to a ready-made or ready-to-apply product you can buy and take home for immediate use.
Make sure you have the right tools
Despite your best efforts, you’re not Mr. Miyagi from The Karate Kid and you can’t trim your front lawn with scissors used for an origami display. You need patience for that, or better yet – a lawn mower. To repair cracks or patch a pothole in your driveway, you need the right tools and materials for the job:
- Concrete
- Concrete float
- Concrete patch mix
- Cement
- Cold chisel
- Hammer
- Finishing trowel
- Garden hose
- Work gloves
- Wire brush
- Pointing trowel
Is it a hairline crack, or something larger?
In most cases, hairline cracks can be fixed with the right mix of Portland cement and water, or even a polymer based product under the right conditions. Repairing larger cracks or holes takes more time and effort, but nonetheless can be accomplished if you’re careful and thorough. One of the biggest steps is first clearing out the crack or pothole so the damaged area is free of small stones or other debris.
Got questions about repairing cracks or other damage to your paved surface?