Concrete is a durable material, but it can still crack. Many factors can cause concrete slabs to break. Repeated freezing, heavy loads, tree roots, and even shifts in the ground can all harm its structure. When you learn how to fix cracks in concrete, you may be able to prevent them from escalating into larger issues.
Fortunately, you can learn how to repair cracks in concrete by following the steps.
Step 1: Clean and prep your concrete Surface
No matter the concrete patch type, starting with a clean concrete slab is crucial. Removing as much dirt, mildew, and grime as possible ensures proper adhesion of your concrete patch.
Using a pressure washer is the simplest way to achieve this without putting in much effort and elbow grease. You may get a less costly, lower PSI type that is still effective for general cleaning, so this doesn’t have to be the highest PSI pressure washer available. Although a clean surface is unnecessary, you should try removing most of the dirt on your slab.
Be sure to spray inside cracks to remove crud and debris that may hinder the adhesion of your concrete patch.
Step 2: use of backer rod and sand to fill the gap
This is a very important step. A concrete fracture may appear tiny at first, but it may become deep and wide as it descends into the slab. This implies that using a highly liquid-like patch, such as a self-leveling sealant, will only cause it to keep falling into the gap below, wasting time and money.
To prevent this from happening, use a backer rod, also known as a caulk saver, to fill the larger cracks on your slab.
A Backer rod is a foam-like cylinder used as a “caulk saver” to reduce product waste by providing a backer for sealants like caulk. To prevent the backer rod from showing through when your sealant is applied later, you must push it down below the Surface of the crack. You pushed the rod down with a tiny putty knife. Although it takes a lot of time, the procedure is ultimately worthwhile.
After applying the backer rod, you can cover the cracks with sand for added safety. This is also a great solution for cracks that are too small for the backer rod on the Surface. To help the sand sink into the cracks and fill in any gaps, just sprinkle it over them and brush it in with a dry paintbrush.
This situation is tricky because you don’t want the sand to reach the crack’s Surface.
After the sand has settled, Remove any extra sand from the top with your dry paintbrush. You’ll want to see the top inner edges of both sides of the crack so that your sealant still has concrete on both sides to grab onto.
Types of Concrete Fillers and Mixes
- A person is preparing for concrete repair of a sidewalk crack by stirring pre-mix concrete patch repair while kneeling next to the crack.
- Some masonry crack fillers are pre-made and packaged in pourable tubes or bottles. While some tubes feature nozzles that allow you to squeeze the filler straight into the cracks, others are made to be used in masonry caulk guns.
- You might choose to use concrete patching compound or dry concrete mix if you have a lot of cracks. Use a patching product or concrete mix that contains gravel for large or deep fractures.
