Best Way To Seal Cracks In Concrete | Project Updates

how's it going you guys it's scott with everyday home repairs and over the last 24 months i've done five different projects sealing up cracks in concrete or expansion joints and concrete with three different products and using few different techniques now some of those videos had a few skeptics especially this one with a large crack where i used a pool noodle as a backer rod or one at my house that i use great stuff to hold up the sidewalk so let's go through the good and the bad across these four or five different examples to make sure you can quickly get the lessons learned and pick the right product and technique for your application at home so first up is one of the newest examples but it is also one of the most extreme you can see some of these gaps are well over two inches and approaching three inches in width i used tremco's product the vulcan 45 ssl semi-self leveler and then custom cut that pool noodle as a backer rod to fill the gap you can see i have quite a bit of flex with that pool noodle in there but the vulcan has really attached well to the concrete and still is providing a great seal and even though we're still early days with a seal only being exposed to the elements for about four weeks i'd say the 45 ssl is a real hero of this one this pool noodle almost three inch gap applications a bit extreme to expect the sealant to hold up well when there's that much flex but it's passing with flying colors now i can assure you all the examples today are not going to be all wins i have made quite a few mistakes and let's jump over to the second one which was another extreme example where i lifted the sidewalk an inch and three quarters and then supported it with this one part polyurethane great stuff foam if you saw that video you know you i used c clamps some bottle jacks some four by four posts i lifted everything up and then drilled holes to spray great stuff foam below the sidewalk filling in that gap and supporting the overall sidewalk there are pro surfaces that do poly jacking and then also mud jacking poly jacking usually uses a two-part polyurethane foam and mud jacking is a slurry more like concrete that would be pressed down below now my results are a little mixed within about one day the sidewalks went from completely level to the previously lower sidewalk sinking back down about three quarters of an inch so the results are a bit mixed here now again if we look at the vulcan 45 semi-south level of sealer with the sand on top it looks great it's bonding again it's totally sealing up that crack now one thing i did learn from that is this had direct sunlight on it on about a 92 degree fahrenheit day and that is not ideal you'll see these small bubbles forming if it's that hot so what i would do is shade your sealant as it sets up especially if it's that hot of a day in direct sunlight so a little bit of mixed results on this one after that slab settled although it's in much better shape than it was before the project it's not completely flush which is where we left the video at the end of that project so for the tremco i do have one application that's about two years old so let's go take a look at that one so for the last example with the 45 ssl this is on my driveway and it's a long expansion joint that i sealed up same thing i sprinkled sand on top to help blend it in and yes i know i need to pressure wash this driveway and clean things up a bit but it is holding up like a champ again just like all the other applications but this one's got a little bit more age on it last thing i'll note with the 45 ssl is that semi part the semi self leveling that means up to a six percent slope it will level and not run all to one side so if you're getting a self leveling product which is the next one we'll talk about it has to be perfectly level or that self leveling just going to all flow to one side and definitely not going to equal the product that you're looking for so last one we'll really look at is about 24 months old this is the oldest one in my first project that i was really sealing a gap and doing the prep work necessary to get a good product now this is a completely level surface between my garage and my driveway so i used a self-leveling product from sika i did not sprinkle sand on top although it might look like it just because all the dirt build up over time and also i did make a few mistakes the first one is i had some gaps that were bigger than the backer rod to fill that in you really want your backer rod to tightly press against the two sides of your concrete so it doesn't go anywhere so what i had to do is i was braiding my back or rod together to get it wider so i was putting a braid in there well that has big gaps in it where the self leveler is really going to settle out and you're either going to have to use a ton of product or if you have any gaps the self level is actually going to drain down and they're going to have divots like i do also in one part the backer rod kind of floated up a bit so you can actually see it through the sealant but like many of you this was my first time so you just really don't know what you don't know and i made a few mistakes along the way and it kind of looks like it's my first attempt so you want to get the correct size backer rod in my area really three quarters of inch is the biggest i can get in any home improvement store but you can just order on amazon you'll see a link down in the description to a few different examples where you can get larger backer rod for your application and then you really just want to set that back rod down about a quarter of an inch where you want that finished surface of your sealant and remember if you're going to use a seca product which has held up really really well make sure if it's a self leveler that you have a level surface or it's really going to equal a mess once it starts draining all to one side so hopefully that helps you guys out i know with a lot of these videos we finish up everything looks perfect but there's a big question mark of how long does this stuff actually last so here's a few examples and i do plan on continuing to update you on the channel so don't forget to subscribe and hit the bell notification so you will get the notification on those new videos and we can continue to learn together now one product i have used in the video in the past but i'm not really giving an update on is crack sticks i love the idea of this product it comes in these coils you lay it down into a small crack you heat it up and then it melts and seals off that crack the problem is in the video i did is about 40 degrees fahrenheit out and the concrete was simply too cold and it was pulling the heat out of that crack stick so when it melted it really didn't bond to the concrete so for this one i'm just saying it's not a fair shake and i need to try that product out when it's a little warmer out and the concrete isn't pulling the heat out of the crack stick and kind of sabotaging that bond to the surface so i will be trying it again i'll let you guys know how it turns out so overall taking all my experience into account if i was going to pick one sealant it by far would be the tremco vulcan 45 ssl again link in the description for your reference and it's also on my amazon store with all my other recommendations under the general supplies section now if you guys have a project you really don't know the slope of your driveway so you don't know will i meet that six percent grade on the tremco vulcan 45 ssl check out this video right here i'll show you just using two stakes a line between those two stakes a small bubble level and a tape measure how you can find that slope to make sure that product will actually fit your needs so thanks for joining me on this video and we'll catch you on the next one take care

Channel: Everyday Home Repairs

Views: 47,619

Keywords: everyday home repairs, everyday home repairs youtube

Id: 5U63uGKCvLQ

Length: 7min 38sec (458 seconds)

Published: Thu Jul 28 2022