All the stuff I find at HD/Lowes for patching concrete
cracks at intended for a maximum size of, at most, 1/4" wide
cracks. I have some very wide cracks/openings to patch, and
I'm looking for product suggestions. (I asked this earlier
with a different title, and attracted no responses. That
surprised me, and I still wonder why.)

Anyway, her is my situation: 27 years ago my concrete patio
was poured. 2" x 4"s were used to divide it into four large
areas. Patio has served me well. 2" x 4"s are beginning to
rot, and slots are
developing in the patio where the 2" x 4"s are. I'm
considering just pulling up the remaining 2" x 4"s and
filling the cracks with some sort of "gunk" I could purchase
at HD or Lowe's. My expectation is that the "gunk" would
generally match the color of concrete, be smoothed to be
level with the rest of the patio, and that it would harden
in a few hours/days. Question, what is the best
type/style/brand of "gunk"?

Any other ideas?
--
----------
CWLee
Former slayer of dragons; practice now limited to sacred
cows. Believing we should hire for quality, not quotas, and
promote for performance, not preferences.

What do you mean "slots are developing" ?

(Probably got no reply cause there's no easy answer. I'd replace the
wood with wood, the only other thing i can think of is that asphalt-in-
a-bag they sell at HD. Nothing I can think of wouldn't just crack and
come apart.)

If you pour concrete you would have to put expansion joints between the old
and new. If the joints are 1/2" wide you would end up with little 2 1/2"
slivers. Which would crack up in a few years.

The only thing I can think of is to put in some sand and find or cut some
pavers to fit the slots and make it an accent.

"CWLee" wrote in message
...

All the stuff I find at HD/Lowes for patching concrete
cracks at intended for a maximum size of, at most, 1/4" wide
cracks. I have some very wide cracks/openings to patch, and
I'm looking for product suggestions. (I asked this earlier
with a different title, and attracted no responses. That
surprised me, and I still wonder why.)

Anyway, her is my situation: 27 years ago my concrete patio
was poured. 2" x 4"s were used to divide it into four large
areas. Patio has served me well. 2" x 4"s are beginning to
rot, and slots are
developing in the patio where the 2" x 4"s are. I'm
considering just pulling up the remaining 2" x 4"s and
filling the cracks with some sort of "gunk" I could purchase
at HD or Lowe's. My expectation is that the "gunk" would
generally match the color of concrete, be smoothed to be
level with the rest of the patio, and that it would harden
in a few hours/days. Question, what is the best
type/style/brand of "gunk"?

Any other ideas?
--
----------
CWLee
Former slayer of dragons; practice now limited to sacred
cows. Believing we should hire for quality, not quotas, and
promote for performance, not preferences.

You may want to remove the old 2x4's and replace them
with new 2x4's. This would keep your expansion joints
as they were intended. Just don't pour in any concrete,
cement, epoxy, or any other substance that hardens and
will cause cracks.
Lou

wrote :

What do you mean "slots are developing" ?

The boards (2" x 4"s) that were used to divide the patio
slabs (other posters have called these expansion joints)
have begun to rot. They seems to rot, un-uniformly, from
the top down in several places, so the space previously
filled with wood becomes open to the air. Those spaces I
call slots; they are not cracks, but I don't know a better
term.

(Here is a graphic representation, that may get
all screwed up by different computer formatting rules.)

_______________ ____________
| |
patio concrete | previously | patio concrete
| wood |
|~~~~~~~~~~~~ |
| remaining |
| wood |
______________| ______________|_____________

sand sand sand

earth earth
earth




I doubt if I could force new boards into the openings. In
some places plant roots are growing, horizontally in the
slots.

I wonder if, after 27 years of curing and drying, there
still needs to be provision for expansion. This is in
Southern California, with an annual temp range of,
at most, 35 to 100 degrees.

Other thoughts?

==========================

"CWLee" wrote

Anyway, her is my situation: 27 years ago my concrete patio
was poured. 2" x 4"s were used to divide it into four large
areas. Patio has served me well. 2" x 4"s are beginning to
rot, and slots are
developing in the patio where the 2" x 4"s are. I'm
considering just pulling up the remaining 2" x 4"s and
filling the cracks with some sort of "gunk" I could purchase
at HD or Lowe's. My expectation is that the "gunk" would
generally match the color of concrete, be smoothed to be
level with the rest of the patio, and that it would harden
in a few hours/days. Question, what is the best
type/style/brand of "gunk"?

There are tiny plants that do well in that type of situation and
would look cool. Google for steppable plants to see what
types are good for your application if that would interest you.

nancy

A Trex 2x4 is 3.5 x 1.5" on the side. Can the OP live with this size?
I would not waste time with real wood. It is a maintenance headache
because it sits on dirt. Trex is not everyone's cup of tea because of
the mold problem, but at least it does not rot.

"Abe M." wrote:

A Trex 2x4 is 3.5 x 1.5" on the side. Can the OP live with
this size?

As the OP, the size doesn't sound like a problem, but I have
no idea what "Trex" means in this case. Is that a brand of
formed plastic? Something I could inspect at a HD or
Lowe's? More info please. Thanks.

CWLee wrote:
"Abe M." wrote:


A Trex 2x4 is 3.5 x 1.5" on the side. Can the OP live with

this size?

As the OP, the size doesn't sound like a problem, but I have
no idea what "Trex" means in this case. Is that a brand of
formed plastic? Something I could inspect at a HD or
Lowe's? More info please. Thanks.


yes, it is a brand name of plastic boards intended for decking.

nate

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