Don’t Make These Errors! Sealing Small Concrete Cracks Correctly

I will walk you through the complete process of sealing a small crack in your concrete driveway, sidewalk, or patio. There is a common mistake a lot of DIY homeowners make which I want to help you avoid ensuring you get the end results you are looking for that will hold up for years and years. I will provide a few options for sealants and also best practices throughout the video.

Chapter
0:00 Intro
0:30 Most Common DIY Homeowner Mistakes When Sealing Concrete
2:02 How To Prep Your Concrete Before Sealing
2:57 What Is Backer Rod And Why Do You Need It For Sealing Concrete
4:27 Different Types Of Concrete Sealant
6:23 Example Of How Tremco 45 SSL Hold Up After 2 Years
7:17 Applying Tremco 45 SSL To Small Concrete Crack

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DISCLAIMER: This video and description contain affiliate links, which means that if you click on one of the product links, I’ll receive a small commission.

[EverydayHomeRepairs]

DISCLAIMER: This video and description contain affiliate links, which means that if you click on one of the product links, I’ll receive a small commission.

[bobguy]

2:17 just a small safety tip I learned in the military, never have any part of your body in line with the plane of the blade on the grinder. Having the guard on is obviously a must, but your knee, leg, and feet were in danger. I never trust the guard on it's own, and assume the blade is effectively a grenade with a shrapnel plane. Just keeping your entire body out of plane with the blade is pretty easy to do and a good habit to get into.

[JAFO]

SEKA all the way.used it 5 years ago for sealing where driveway pulled away slightly from house foundation causing water to enter lower stairway. DRY 5 YEARS NOW👍

[FragEightyfive]

Great intro and explanation of how to do this Scott. I did this on a number of client concrete patio / walkway / driveways in the early 2000's through 20-teens. The first ones from 20 years ago are still holding up! Like other forms of sealing - painting or other forms of calking, it is 80% prep. The most important thing is to follow the directions on whatever product you use!


I think the second or possibly most important part of this procedure is to know WHY the crack formed. Many times there is poor drainage so there is soil erosion and frost cycles.. Is this crack going to continue or new ones going to form? Easy to solve when there is a downspout next to / near the concrete - get that water further away, re-route the downspouts, install a french drain if needed to help lower the after-rain water table. Where I have done this the crack stopped widening, and the sealant has held up for in upwards of 20 years!

[tomsinar-pt]

I have used mason sand in the crack, it fills the holes that allows the sealant to leak thru. Just use a leaf blower to blow out the sand to the proper depth.

[tashrayt]

I’ve used this method on my driveway. Asphalt. After a few years the cracks start to expand more and they open up.. leaving you with another crack next to your sealant. I believe one step id recommend to prevent this is to bind the sealant to each side of the crack, so smooth it out with a putty knife for example, so it isn’t just sitting in the crack but also is able to bind to each side. If you don’t then you’ll end up with my issue..

[jameslester]

I'm going to give you all a tip on product use. The Quikcrete product in the bottle will dry, hard and will pull away from even properly prepped concrete, when it moves seasonally. The other products do about the same and I've had failures at one or two years with all but the product I'm about to tell you about. Don't laugh though. Clean and prep your concrete, you can even carefully use a wire brush, or pressure wash the cracked area a couple days before the repair, make sure it's dry. Backer rod when used properly, needs to be down in the crack, not just below the surface, remember the concrete is cracked ALL the way through the thickness, so get some product in there to stabilize the crack, not just a dribble at the top.

My secret concrete crack filler product is... Grey Flex Seal ! Yep, the stuff from T.V. I have used a large hobby syringe to draw the liquid Flex Seal from the Pint, or Quart can and just let it flow into the crack. It will self level very well. The difference with using Flex Seal is, it is Liquid Rubber, so when the crack joint moves, and it will, the Flex Seal will flex, and not pull away like the other products do. Flex Seal sticks to the clean Concrete really well. And it Stays Flexible for years.
I repaired my first driveway that was full of cracks about 9 years ago, and it is still as good today as the day I finished. You can sprinkle some sand in the Flex Seal right when you put it in the crack, to help blend it in if you want too.
I installed a new sidewalk at our new home last year, and used the Flex Seal on the Sidewalk Expansion cuts, to keep water out, and it looks beautiful.
No, my name isn't Phil Swift, and I do not work for the Flex Seal Company in any way ...

[philsmock]

Good video. I do have some cracks in my concrete that I should fix but never really knew how to. This video helps. Thank you.

[dougwachs]

Thanks for the update on the bigger crack as well as this one - I remember the older video I watched a year or two ago - it's great to see how it held up - that's really what matters. Cheers

[dandowodzenka]

FYI, Quikrete has concrete crack sealers in tubes as well. Just as easy to find at Home Depot like Sika with great results.

[roserouge]

Was not planning on getting a new driveway. One of my students mentioned your videos. I m Glas Isaw this video. It is one of my future project. Thank you!

[richardrockhill]

I've repaired cracks like this myself. I enlarge tiny cracks, blow out loose material, blast the crack with water hose or pump sprayer, let it dry using blower, fill crack with dry mortor, level it, then wet it with a pump sprayer, tool the surface to compact it. Works every time.

[HomeRapidRepair]

I love the sand trick to make it blend much better 😊🛠️🛠️

[CodeOptimism]

I was just looking at your previous video because it was on my home page and I hadn't seen it before, despite full notifications ("All"). I scrolled back in my notifications to everything between "11 days ago" and "13 days ago", and it was missing. Clicked your channel, saw this video! No notification either... dammit YouTube!

[chas.fournet]

Nice vid, thanks! I would not use a graphite pencil to pack the backerod in as any graphite that gets on the concrete sides of the crack will affect the bond with the concrete. In fact, to improve adhesion I have used a toothbrush and alcohol to literally clean the sides of the crack prior to packing the rod in. I've also used play sand instead of backer rod for wide cracks or those that have irregular widths. Again, Thanks for the EDU!

[John-NeverStopLearning]

Good things first. Silkaflex is a great product, don’t use on any slopes. I have not used the Tremco, nice to know it will do a slight slope.
Bad part. The plastic bottle I have tried to use. The issues I had were, shaking it does nothing. There’s a lot that settles in the bottom that will never loosen with shaking. I have tried a spade drill with the point and corners ground off. This works well however there always seems to be lumps in it. It does not come out of the bottle very well when squeezing.
Good information on the video 👍

[LuminairPrime]

The reason thick elastomeric joints fail is not because they are too thick to cure properly, but the real explanation isn't easy. The bigger something is, the more distance it moves when it expands and contracts at its edges. And adding depth to a 3D space increases its volume more than you intuitively think because volume is all 3 dimensions multiplied together. The result is like a muscle that has gotten so big that it can rip itself from the bone. Since the adhesion of the sealant doesn't change when you add more, one temperature cycle can simply make the sealant rip itself loose. Public and industry resources about sealant application explain this by placing hard limits on joint sizes, so installers can do their work properly without knowing why. The documentation for the various DOW and Henkel sealants I've used have recommended max joint sizes in the neighborhood of 1", usually less. So pouring a bottle of sealant into a concrete joint is self-defeating, just like this video says.

[JtotheRizzo]

My method might be overkill but I would grab a bag of Cemetall (very inexpensive) and put it into the crack - just the dry powder, no water. Fill the crack with it but leave about an inch from the top of the crack. Then, mix a batch of Cementall with water to make a watery slurry. Pour that into the crack above the dry powder but again, don't fill the crack all the way. Leave yourself about 1/2" to 1/4" from the top of the crack. Let that dry for 24-48hrs. Finally, use the Sika or Tremco to finish it off.

[garydickerhoof]

Good job man I used to do a lot of crack filling and I remember seeing other Crews never routed out the cracks same thing with patching potholes or cracks in concrete prep the foundation first

[PappyNet]

Hmm, I hate getting lost in the "rabbit hole"! Every time I think I am ready to proceed on my DIY project(s) another monkey is thrown in the wrench. I just wish I could find honest contractors and pay them fair price. Thank you for sharing and providing good information.