3 Vital Things to Consider When Sealing the Joints in Your Concrete Driveway

Extreme variations in weather patterns can induce significant changes temperature and moisture levels, which can result in serious deterioration of your concrete structures. Concrete joint sealing are installed to allow for expansion and contraction of concrete structures to prevent them from cracking haphazardly due to the intrusion of foreign elements.

Since a concrete joint sealing will no longer work effectively once it is breached, you need to get some basic things right. The following points reveal some of the important things you must consider when sealing the joints in your concrete driveway.

Choice of sealing material

You need to choose the most suitable materials for the job. If you live in an area with extreme temperatures and moisture levels, you will have no choice but to go for sealants that have the best weatherproofing properties so that you can enjoy more service life from driveway.

Besides weather considerations, your choice of material will also be influenced by the extent of human and vehicle traffic exerted on the driveway. If your driveway is buzzing with activity year through, then it is advisable to look for more durable sealants that can endure the severe conditions.

Self-levelling sealants will work best for your driveway since they are specially designed for horizontal-oriented joints. However, you must first confirm the availability of these sealants on the market.

Timing considerations

It's prudent to seal the joints in your concrete driveway when the old sealant material is showing signs of wear and tear, meaning it can't perform the intended purpose any more. During this time, concrete joint sealing can be done alongside other pavement renovation activities such as grinding, slab repairs, and spall repair.

The opportune time of the year to seal the joints in your concrete driveway is in the fall or the spring, when moderate temperatures are experienced, and cracks are almost reaching the allowable limit for expansion and contraction. If you do the installations around this time, you will decrease the likelihood for the crack filler or sealant to be compressed or stretched too much when temperatures vary in the year.

Nature of the cracks you want to seal

Sealing expansion joints is not the same as sealing contraction joints or other types of joint cracking. When resealing expansion joints, you should only remove the sealant product placed on top of the preformed expansion joints. Make sure the filler remains in place, and place a bond-breaking tape over it to isolate the new sealant from the old one, which may have gradually been absorbed by the filler over time. The contraction joints, which are wider, may require you to use a more extensible sealant, and wider backer rods to guarantee an appropriate seal.

Contact a business like Hardcut Concrete Sawing Drilling for more information on other concrete maintenance needs.

Share