How To Repair Expansion Joints In Concrete Driveway
Repair Physical Expansion Joints Early to Save Time and Money
Thank you to botched install (not one of our crews), we had the pleasure of restoring concrete expansion joints at a local church. If yous're not sure how to repair concrete expansion joints or you're looking for an easier style to get it done, yous've come to the right place. We'll show you what went wrong on this install and give you some tips to repair it before it becomes a really expensive set up.
Why You Should Repair Concrete Expansion Joints Before Information technology's Too Tardily
On our project, the original installer used a combination of foam capitalist rod and a concrete expansion articulation filler that was too rigid for the awarding. With just the two joint sides to bond with and not the bottom, the contractor got paid for sub-par work that left unsightly cracks in the filler less than a year later on every bit the building settled.
Without going through a repair bicycle, the edges would eventually showtime to betrayal. That would atomic number 82 to a tedious erosion of the expansion joint sides. As this "Thou Canyon" outcome erodes the sides over time, it eventually gets to a point where the repair becomes prohibitively expensive.
In a small-scale church, the erosion is very slow. But in a warehouse, shop, or other heavy-traffic environments, equipment crushes down the sides and corners much faster. We've heard stories of $1 meg annual forklift maintenance costs due solely to severe impacts from constantly running over damaged expansion joints.
You lot can practise a standard expansion joint repair up to around 1″ or so. Once you get beyond that, the process is much more painful to your wallet. Yous need to start past cutting out a gap some 4″ wide, rebuild a concrete layer, and cut a new expansion joint. That kind of expansion joint repair runs nearly $xx per linear foot.
Hopefully, your facility isn't to that point yet.
Restoring Concrete Expansion Joints the Hard Way
One of the mutual ways to repair concrete expansion joints involves some basic tools and a lot of time.
- Utilise a scraping tool, like a v-in-ane, to scrape out the quondam concrete expansion articulation filler.
- Vacuum out the physical expansion joints.
- Utilise a caulk gun with your filler of selection and refill the joints.
- Scrape the sides and top of the joints to exit a clean finish.
Even in a pocket-size surface area, it takes a lot of fourth dimension and y'all're on your knees for almost of information technology.
Restoring Physical Expansion Joints the Like shooting fish in a barrel Way
Pace 1: Sawing and Cleaning Out the Joints
To remove the old concrete expansion articulation filler, we started with the United states Saws Dust Buggy Mark Three. This saw takes an 8″ diamond blade that cuts up to 2″ deep. We simply needed to cutting downwardly one″ and the 1/4″ wide blade we used was able to clear the joint in a single pass.
With Objective Data in paw, the saw is an OSHA-compliant solution that doesn't need any water and runs on a standard 120V, 20A outlet. You demand 25 CFM for every one″ of bract diameter, so you need a vac with at least 200 CFM. We used a US Saws model with 220 CFM, leaving our surfaces equally make clean as y'all can promise for.
It'southward non simply fast (you tin can cover upwards to ten,000 linear feet on an 8-hr shift), it's likewise designed to let you work standing up and with much greater precision than other options out there.
Compared to manual scraping or a handheld power tool, it'due south incredibly fast, clean, and easier on your dorsum.
Step 2: Vacuuming Out the Joints
There's no alter in this step. Only run your dust extractor across the joints to pick up any heavier particles it missed when you were sawing.
Step three: Concrete Expansion Articulation Filler
Choosing the right concrete expansion joint filler is central to getting the best results. While our church building doesn't have the kind of traffic you meet in a warehouse, we went with Metzger McGuire Spal-Pro RS 88 – an industrial level two-part polyurea. Information technology's a corking fit for environments that stay in the 32°F to 120°F range.
This concrete expansion joint filler is thin enough to become down into the cracks from the building's settling, yet sets upward quickly enough to end in x – 15 minutes. You can match or contrast your flooring in a wide range of colors.
Before mixing, we put down painter's tape on both sides of the joints.
We turned to US Saws' One Man Polymer Pump to apply the filler. It gives i person the ability to correctly mix and apply the filler. Like the Dust Buggy, yous get to stay off your knees instead of crawling around on the floor. It'due south easy to apply and fast to make full your joints.
Nosotros used a two-pass system to employ our Spal-Pro RS 88. The beginning allows the concrete expansion joint filler to settle into the joint and fill up any cracks below it. The 2nd pass fills the joint and overfills information technology slightly with the tape protecting the floor. Fifty-fifty with the two passes, a couple of spots needed a little more than to eliminate depression spots.
Step 4: Finishing Your Concrete Expansion Joint Repair
For the last pace, nosotros used a bootleg scraper. It'south intentionally long and heavy to let united states become some mass behind it from a standing position. To finish off the process, merely take your scraper and cut under the tape. It cuts the top of the physical expansion joint filler flush with the top of the floor and removes your tape at the same time.
For our Spal-Pro RS 88, we gave information technology 15 minutes to prepare before scraping information technology. Check the documentation on your filler to know for sure how long y'all should wait.
One time you're washed with the scraping process, follow the manufacturer'southward curing guidelines before letting traffic dorsum on it again.
Equipment Listing
- US Saws Dust Buddy Mark Iii Physical Joint Saw – $1650
- US Saws One Human Polymer Pump – $7250
- Metzger McGuire Spal-Pro RS 88 – $450 (10 gallons)
- Scraper
- Painter's Tape
- Chemical-resistant gloves
Source: https://www.protoolreviews.com/how-to-repair-concrete-expansion-joints/
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