Importance of Repairing Cracks in a Concrete Driveway

Cracks in a concrete driveway can allow rainwater to erode the soil under the concrete slab, causing further damage. Use a concrete repair caulk, such as Quikrete Concrete Repair Caulk, to seal cracks in concrete slabs and prevent further problems.

Watch this video to find out more.

Further Information

• How to Repair Cracks and Resurface a Concrete Driveway (video)
• How to Caulk and Seal Cracks in a Concrete Driveway (video)
• Repairing Cracks in a Driveway (video)
• Flexible Concrete and Brick Crack Repair Caulking (video)

VIDEO TRANSCRIPT
Allen Lyle: Take a look around your house and you might be surprised at how many concrete surfaces you have. I’m talking about your driveways, sidewalks, porches, patios, garages. Now, keep those in mind and consider this statement made by some pretty big players. I’m talking about the American Concrete Institute, the Portland Cement Association, the National Ready Mixed Concrete Association. All of these people have said that the bulk of all concrete damage can be attributed to moisture infiltration.

Now, concrete looks pretty solid, but it’s actually a very porous surface. So, for those large expanses you may want to consider a concrete sealer. That will seal up the pores, prevent any water from infiltrating down below. For cracks, when you get them, and I say “when” not “if,” it will happen, it’s the nature of the beast. When you get cracks like this, what happens is the water starts rushing down in through those cracks and it erodes the soil underneath. Eventually you’re going to get these empty, hollow pockets underneath driveway, walkways. And in this case, you can see we’ve had a truck come across here and found one of those pockets. You don’t want this to happen.

So prevent it ahead of time. When you see cracks like this you want to pick up a tube of concrete repair caulk. It’s textured. That’s the best kind. If you can get something that has a polyurethane base to it, it will flex with the concrete, that’s great. You just apply it like you would any other caulk and that’s going to prevent that water infiltration. And listen, this is a very inexpensive investment for your concrete surfaces.