According to HomeAdvisor, a driveway repair professional will charge as little as $300 to fix minor concrete driveway cracks, but most homeowners can do the job on their own with a rubber or synthetic crack filler. This costs about $0.10 to $0.15 per linear foot—but watch out if cracks are larger than 1/8 of an inch.
For cracks ½" to 2" wide, fill the crack with non-porous foam backer rod material before applying crack filler. For potholes or cracks wider than 2", you'll need to do a little more repair. Shovel packaged cold-patch blacktop into the well-cleaned hole, and then use an iron rake to level the patch.
Deep cracks or cracks over 1/4-inch wide usually signal more serious problems. While they can be filled, the fix is often temporary. Uneven cracks bigger than an inch wide occur more often in older driveways than in newer ones and almost always indicate underlying structural issues.
Fixing Larger Concrete Cracks
You can either fill the crack with sand leaving ¼ inch to the surface of the crack to be filled with the grout or make multiple grout applications that are ¼ inch thick, allowing adequate time for each application to dry.
Apply the filler using a caulking gun if available. If you don't have a caulking gun, the filler can be poured carefully into the crack. Use a putty knife or trowel to smooth out the surface of the crack. If a putty knife or trowel is non't available, you can use rubber gloves and smooth the crack out with your thumb.
If you need to repair a concrete crack that's a minimum of 1/4-inch wide up to a maximum of 1 1/2-inches wide and 1/2-inch deep, then our top recommendation is Sikaflex Pro Self-Leveling Sealant. This polyurethane sealant dries to the touch in just one or two hours but can take three to five days to fully cure.
Polyurethane-based products, including Sakrete Non-Sag Sealant and Sakrete Self-Leveling Sealant offer better performance with a superior bond and flexibility for cracks up to ½” deep and wide. Polyurethane-based products require acetone or similar chemicals for cleaning but deliver superior durability and longevity.
A heavy-duty product like Red Devil's Pre-Mixed Concrete Patch is the way to go to fill large cracks and breaks. The 1-quart tub of patch is ready to go as soon as the lid is off, and it won't shrink or crack as it dries. Suitable for repairing concrete, masonry, brick, or block, it works both indoors and outdoors.
If the cracks in your driveway are significant in length and depth, they will likely need to be filled before the driveway can be sealed. First, a professional will assess the area to determine which cracks are serious enough to need extra attention.
Patching means filling tiny holes or cracks with asphalt or concrete sealant, which you can pick up at a hardware store. If you don't patch these small imperfections quickly, water will seep into the cracks and the gravel below the asphalt, leading the asphalt to crumble into a pothole.
The best concrete repair product depends on the size of the crack. Small cracks are best repaired by concrete driveway crack repair epoxy, while larger cracks can be addressed with mortar mix.
You can also use playground sand for this. Pour the sand into the crack until all the holes are filled. Tapping the concrete with a 2x4 can help settle the sand into all the voids. Like the backer rod, leave the sand at least 1/2" below the surface of the concrete.
For use on Driveways, Parking Lots, Streets, Highways, and Airport Runways. Flex-A-Fill® is a hot-applied polymer modified asphalt sealant used to seal cracks in asphalt concrete or Portland cement concrete pavements.
1. Routing and sealing. For dormant, non-structural cracks, routing, and sealing is the most common repair technique. While this technique is optimal for flat horizontal cracks, you can use it for vertical cracks with non-sag sealants or fillers.
There are several methods of concrete crack repair such as epoxy injection, routing and sealing, grouting, stitching, drilling and plugging, gravity filling of cracks in concrete. Details of these methods for the selection of suitable methods for different types of cracks in concrete are discussed.
You can use a concrete crack sealer to do the job. Concrete crack sealers are special sealants formulated to fill and seal cracks in concrete. Applying a concrete sealant is an easy task that anyone can do. All you need is a caulking gun, a putty knife, and a bucket of sealant, which you can buy at any hardware store.
Over time and exposure to the elements exterior concrete can develop cracks due to temperature changes, ground movement, improperly placed joints and excessive loads. Once a crack develops it is important to seal the crack from water to prevent further deterioration.
Crack sealing is a more costly procedure for the pavement owner but provides substantial value due to its long life expectancy. While crack filling may only last one or two seasons depending on the cracks activity, crack sealing can last up to 8 years or more and is considered a permanent treatment.
Applying concrete driveway sealant to prevent damage
The best way to prevent your driveway from cracking is to apply sealant.
The older your asphalt is, the more likely it is to develop cracks. As it gets further along, the material begins to degrade and loses its natural ability to withstand your surface's daily pressures. So when that significant rainfall or that freeze and thaw cycle comes, older driveways are more likely to suffer damage.