So I live in a hilly area and my driveway is on a steep downslope towards my house. I have a pretty decent-sized crack in my concrete driveway that’s been developing over the last few years, for reasons unknown (ground shift, salting the driveway, whatever). Anyway, what’s the absolute best way to deal with this? I know they make concrete sealants and such…are they worth a shit? The crack runs the entire length of my driveway and is almost perfectly centered on it. I’d love to hear recommendations from fellow Dopers that have engaged a similar problem.
It looks like they should have added another expansion joint down the center of your drive.
Your best solution is to rent a concrete saw, then get some dilute muriatic acid, and a two-part concrete repair epoxy.
Take the concrete saw and very slightly enlarge the crack. Clean all of the dust and dirt out of the cracks, brush with dilute muriatic acid, allow to dry, and then apply the epoxy.
After the epoxy is fully cured, snap a chalk line right down the middle of the driveway. Then use the concrete saw to cut a new expansion joint down the chalk line. This will encourage any new cracks to develop there instead of in your repair.
ETA:I finally got to re-use the knowledge I gained spending a summer doing concrete repair
If the concrete is still level, neither side is raised or tilted, I’d use a liquid latex based crack filler.
Use a screwdriver and vacuum cleaner to remove all loose debris. They make a foam filler rod in various sizes. Use that to fill the crack leaving about 1/4" to 1/2" to fill with the crack filler. Fill the crack just a little proud of the surface.
Concrete Caulking is made for this purpose. It will fill the crack and reduce the amount of water that can get in and cause it to heave in winter. It is flexible so it adjusts to normal movement; parging or topping mix will just crack again.
