Walla Walla Concrete Contractors

These companies specialize in concrete work, including building and pouring concrete forms for sidewalks, driveways and home and office foundations. If you are building a new home in Walla Walla, or need to have a new driveway or sidewalk poured, call one of these contractors today.

Cracked Cement Driveways: DIY Repair Ideas

Fixing small cracks in your concrete driveway can be done with just a shop vac and concrete colored silicone. The crack in your concrete driveway should be cleaned using a small brush or broom to remove the larger material, and then the shop vac should be used to remove any dust and smaller debris. Then squeeze the silicone calking into the crack in the driveway and use a finger, or a putty knife, along with paint thinner, to give the silicone a smooth finished look.

Larger cement cracks can be repaired using commercial grade concrete repair kits from manufacturers like 3M, Ace, Cutter, DAP, Diteq, Henkel, Nova, Protective Coating, Quikrete, Red Devil and Seal-Krete. To repair cracks in your driveway, you'll need a shop-vac, a right angle hand held grinder with the right size grinding wheels for chasing the crack and finish grinding, masonry sand and a trowel and mixing bucket.

Make sure any large pieces of cement and gravel are removed from around the crack on the driveway before using the grinding wheel. Now us the grinder to grind the whole length of the crack to a depth of one half to, three quarters, of an inch deep. When done grinding, use the shop-vac to remove all of the dust and debris from the crack and surrounding work area.

If you are using a crack filler that uses a primer, use the primer that came with your crack repair kit as directed. But, if there aren't any instructions, primers are usually just brushed or injected into the crack, where they tend to get absorbed and drawn into the concrete by capillary action. Sprinkle a fine layer of sand over the primer while it's still wet, and then let it stand until it's dry to the touch.

Once the primer is dry, fill the crack with your liquid commercial crack filler, and while it's still wet, fill the crack with masonry sand. Using a trowel, now scrape off the excess sand and compound mixture and place it in a bucket. Use the damp sand mixture to fill any holes or cracks that where missed, or aren't completely full. Use the hand grinder to smooth the crack repair once it's dry. With careful feathering of the grinding wheel, the surfaces can be blended so that the crack is no longer visible.