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aemeijers aemeijers is offline
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Default concrete patch vs. rain

Chris wrote:
hello.

yesterday, around 2pm, I patched two huge cracks in my driveway that
ran the legnth of the individual pads. It couldn't wait any longer,
imo, because they were starting to shift and become like little
"steps".. I used quikrete vinyl patch. I was done around 3:30.. and it
started to get cloudy. I didn't think nothing of it.. I just left the
patches as they were, and didn't cover them. around 3:30am today, it
was raining outside.. I looked at the patches around 6am and they
seemed to be still intact.. I touched one area and it was solid, and
another one was a little soft..
Do I have any worries about the patches getting ruined by rain? I
actually found out it is going to be raining off and on for the next
few days... I was actually thinking that the rain will be good for
them to keep them from hardening to quickly.. (also, being that it was
between 55-66 degrees outside, I made the mix a little thicker so that
it dry a little faster in the cooler weather..

Thanks.
Chris

Hate to rain on your parade, but if the parts of the slab were becoming
'stepped', your patch likely will, at best, slow the problem down
slightly. Shifting in the vertical plane means improper substrate and
drainage. A common problem here in the north- water gets under a chunk,
freezes, and pushes it up. My mother's old house had a garage floor that
visibly humped in winter, and settled back flat in summer. (Cheap SOB
cookie-cutter builder didn't bother with a foundation or footers under
the door edge of the garage slab.)

Hey, it's cheap, and it may buy you some time. But be aware a
replacement is probably in your future.

aem sends...