Originally posted by: ironwing
Originally posted by: Evadman
Wow, lots of fail in this thread. Cement != Concrete. Cement is the glue that binds aggragrate (rocks, gravel, sand or other stone) together. Cement + aggragrate = Concrete. No one in their right mind would ever make anything out of cement; it would fail under its own weight. It would be like pouring Elmer's glue into a shape of a driveway and expecting it to hold up your car.
You forgot water man! Without water, cement and aggregate are nothing but rocks and dust.
True. The water causes a exothermic reaction with cement. When the water leaves the concrete is then 'cured' but that can take 30+ days for maximum strength. Up to that point it's just green. After curing, the water isn't 'bound' in the concrete as an ingredient tho. Technically
Originally posted by: JohnCU
it looks bumpy so i guess so.
Then forget about crack repair, like another poster mentioned, it will just fail again anyway. If the driveway is new, it was probably poured to thin, didn't have enough rebar or tension backup, correct expansion joints, or the ground moved enough to overcome the above remediation points.
If you don't like the cracks, the 'best' alternative is to figure out what the failure point was, then repour the driveway with a solution to that failure point.
Other solutions that I can think of off the top of my head (in the order I would do them) are:
1. Live with them. However, if they are large enough to impede automotive or foot traffic:
2. Pack the cracks with asphalt (it gives with the expansion/contraction of existing concrete)
3. Enlarge and undercut the big cracks, then pour a repair. (4" or wider is needed for good strength)
4. Repour the driveway in a 6" thick slab minimum, adding a heat system because I don't like shoveling snow, and I am not pouring the damn driveway again.
No matter what, the repair will be very visible unless the slab is repoured.
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