Repairing the Driveway

Our house came with an impressive concrete driveway.  It provided a suitable surface to drive on, store a few items, easy to shovel snow off the surface.  But like most concrete, even sparsely traveled like a driveway, there are limits to the material.  It had been poured in several blocks with anticipated expansion cushions between blocks to allow for temperature changes.  It did not do as well with freezing water, vegetation roots finding their way to the ground beneath the concrete, and cracks that propagate.  By the time we felt forced to replace it several decades later, the blocks were no longer each at the same height and cracks created sharp edges.  Our highway departments pay mucho dinero to repair roads.  While a few neighbors replaced their concrete driveways, most opted for the less expensive asphalt.  So did we.

The paving company removed the old concrete, put new foundation, then poured a coating of asphalt.  It was harder to shovel but otherwise served its main purpose of low use driving more than adequately.  Like other materials, asphalt also has a limited life span.  Our driveway, whose age I do not recall, has started to crack, all petty gaps of less than 2cm across but needing repair.  The good news is that a not very experienced home owner can do the repair, as the overall surface has remained level.

The World Wide Web has absorbed a How to Repair of most anything, usually produced by somebody who does this professionally.  Asphalt driveway patch up, though not restoration seems within my capacity, though it may be a better two person job than one.  First identify the cracked areas.  I found one obvious one and two more trivial ones.  Wire brush them clean.  I think I have a wire brush, but could buy one if I can't find it.  Then hose the cracks.  I will need a front yard hose, which I might or might not have.  Let it dry for a day.  That means it will need two consecutive dry days, one for preparation and one to let the filler dry.  Put in filler with a caulking gun.  Bought both from Lowe's. Trowel of putty knife it even with the surface.  Let it dry.  Maybe put more filler if the surface is still not even after drying.  Check again in a month to see if the filler is still even with the surface and make revisions if needed.  I can do that.