• About Me
  • Best Of
  • Contact Me
  • Forum

Jay Gaulard

  • Home & Living
    • Automotive & Mechanical
    • Carpentry & Building
    • Entertainment
    • Firewood & Heating
    • Gardening
    • Home Improvement
    • Lawn Care & Landscaping
    • Pets & Animals
  • Fitness & Recreation
    • Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu (BJJ)
    • Bushcraft & Camping
    • Hiking & Walking
  • Nature & Outdoors
    • Trees & Shrubs
    • Weather & Seasons
  • Technology & Internet
  • Travel & Destinations
  • Writing & Blogging
    • Ramblings & Opinion
You are here: Home / Home Improvement / How To Repair Cracks in the Driveway

How To Repair Cracks in the Driveway

August 16, 2008

Eventually, all blacktop will crack. It doesn’t matter how good of a job the pavement people did when they came to install that beautiful patch of blackness over what once was a nice lawn. It will crack.

“So what, Jay. So my driveway has a few cracks in it. Why should I care?” you say. Well, let me just tell you this…it isn’t going to get any better. Especially if you live where there is a freeze/thaw cycle.

What happens is this; you get a few cracks in your driveway, from people driving on the edge of the pavement, the blacktop shifting, something heavy on the driveway, tree roots rearing their ugly heads or a bunch of other things. It doesn’t really matter. All that matters now is that there is a crack, or a bunch of cracks in your once very pretty driveway. Now that the crack is there, water is most definitely going to find its way in it. In the Summer, this doesn’t matter so much. When it matters most is in the Winter. In the Winter, the water finds its way into the crack and then freezes. When the water freezes, it expands. Do you see where I am going here? Your small cracks get a lot bigger, fast.

“Yeah, whatever Jay. I’ll fix it one day.” Hey, do you know how much a new driveway costs? Well, the longer it is and the more privacy you have, the more you are going to shell out for a whole new deal. Thousands and thousands and thousands. In my opinion, it’s a heck of a lot better to maintain your driveway instead of paying for a new one, as long as you can.

There are a few cracks in the driveway here. There is one area that needed a bag or two of blacktop, but mostly, these are easy to patch blacktop cracks. It’s easy and actually fun to fix them. Here is what I did today.

Latex-ite driveway re-surfacer

I went to Home Depot and I bought a few things. First, I bought some Latex-ite Driveway Re-surfacer. The bucket says this stuff is good for eight years. I don’t believe that. From what I have been reading, it’s best to seal your driveway every two to four years. I also bought a squeegee to spread the driveway sealer out with.

Then, I bought some Latex-ite Trowel Patch driveway crack filler. This is supposed to fill cracks up to a quarter inch. I like to push it, because some of the cracks here are more than that. Mostly though, I think this stuff will do the trick. The crack filler comes in a “loose cement” consistency and spreads like butter. It hardens like rubberized cement. I have to say, it’s pretty cool.

Latex-ite Trowel Patch driveway crack filler

Below is a nice example of a crack that I had to fill in today. It wasn’t too wide and was about four feet long. I would say this is a prime example of what you might expect to see in your own driveway.


First, I completely cleaned the cracks with a garden hose. I sprayed the stream right in there and got all the gunk out.

Driveway crack

After that, I got my trowel and started spreading. I made sure to get the crack filler all the way down in the crack. It didn’t want it just hanging out near the top.

Filling driveway crack

The crack filler spreads on brown, but when it dries, it turns black. Also, if the crack is wide, the filler may shrink when it’s dried, requiring another coat.


Filled driveway crack

The company recommends that you wait at least twenty four hours before you drive on it, do a peel out on it or dance on it. Longer if it’s cooler outside. I guess the hotter it is, the faster the crack sealer cures.

Tomorrow morning, I am going to pressure wash the lower portion of the driveway and seal it. I was told that if you keep the driveway wet when you are sealing it, the sealer goes further. We shall see.

Related posts:

  1. I Finished Sealing The Driveway
  2. Sealing The Driveway
  3. Finishing the Driveway Repair
  4. Chimney Crown Repair and Cap
  5. That’s One Icy Driveway

Filed Under: Home Improvement

What’s Next? Email Updates!

If you enjoyed reading this post as much as I enjoyed writing it, why not sign up to receive my posts by email? It's free and you can unsubscribe at any time!

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

CONNECT WITH ME

  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Google+
  • RSS
  • Twitter

RECEIVE MY POSTS BY EMAIL!

Interested in receiving my posts by email? This is your chance! Simply place your email address in the box below and I'll deliver each and every post I write directly to your inbox.

Copyright © 2021 · Jay Gaulard My Personal Blog Blog · About · Best Of · Contact · Privacy / Terms · Sitemap