Our driveway is about 35 years old. Up until this summer, it had never, and I mean never, been pressure washed or repaired, in all that time. (I guess this was an ooops on our part. Oh well, we've been raising 3 kids, fixing up a house that had been neglected, and landscaping an almost acre lot.)
Pressure-washing revealed a lot! Gouges, cracks, outright holes -- you name it. And the washing also forced up lots of the gravelly bits, leaving us with a pitted drive up to the house. But at least the moss was off.
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| to the left is the resurfaced portion, to the right the washed, but not sealed |
The entire project of patching holes, filling cracks and sealing took 3 weekends to do start to finish. The first two Saturdays, hubby spent filling holes and cracks (which were numerous). And the third Saturday, he and our son did the sealing. (With a good deal of cheerleading from me -- "you can do it, yes you can, if you can't do it no one can".)
If tackling this sort of project is one you're considering, for this year or next, let me tell you, the experience necessary for this sort of project is minimal. My husband and son have never done any sort of asphalt work before. Really. And we're not terribly into the whole DIY thing either, so our confidence in this area is not high.
The tools needed are also minimal (which is good, because considering we've owned our home for 17 years, our tool supply is minimal, as well). We needed a rubber headed mallet (already own), a small scrap of plywood (have plenty of scraps), and a brush and/or squeegie on a long handle for applying the sealer (this we had to buy, but it can be reused next Halloween when I dress up as a chimney sweep from Mary Poppins).
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| this was the only actual tool we had to buy, the brush/squeegie |
My husband used a total of 5 different products.
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| my husband says this is referred to as "cold patch", it packs into holes nicely |
To fill holes, he used a product known as "cold patch". This is a gravelly substance covered with an epoxy-like asphalt. This works best on holes with straight sides, up to 4-inches deep, any width. For holes deeper than 4 inches, plain gravel can be firmly packed into the hole first, followed by a cold patch fill. According to my husband, the trick is to pound hard, using a rubber mallet on top of a board/plywood scrap, and really pack that cold patch into place, keeping it level with the surrounding asphalt.
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| what looks like an oil stain on the driveway is actually a cold patched hole |
My husband used two different brands and applicators for crack filler. Crack filler is a latex-based product, colored like asphalt, best suited for thin cracks. According to Mr. Hubs, the smaller squeeze bottles worked better than the larger jugs without squeeze application. The squeeze bottles contained a solution that was thicker than the jugs. It had a nice applicator tip. It dried more quickly, and squirted more neatly into the cracks. A "your mileage may vary" sort of thing.
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| this is the crack filler he thought worked best |
The "experts" we consulted with (a contractor we've used for other projects and his nephew) suggested that we just slightly overfill the cracks, so that the solution mounds ever so slightly on the crack. As the filler settles, it spreads and winds up not only filling the crack, but slightly overlaps the edges of the crack.
We accidentally purchased a container of what we thought was cold patch, but turned out to be a container of a sand and tar mix. Hubs used this product with a trowel to fill the deep and wide crack where the driveway meets the road. He says that although the purchase of this product was unintentional, it wound up being quite useful.
The final product that my husband and son used was the asphalt sealer. This can be applied with a squeegie, a long handled brush (much like a push broom), or a paintbrush. A squeegie is really best for an already smooth surface. Our driveway was so pitted that the squeegie left product in the pits, but only skimmed the top gravelly bits. My husband and son chose to use the brush end of the tool, and brushed it on to the body of the driveway. My husband followed after my son, with a paintbrush, to apply sealer to the edges of the driveway. (And I followed after my husband asking "almost done honey", about every 5 minutes. Wasn't appreciated.)
Some tips with the sealer --
My husband said that it's very important to stir up the product with a paint stirrer that reaches the bottom of the bucket. The material settles considerably while sitting on the shelf at the store.
For even distribution and a cleaner application, use a small cottage cheese size container to scoop the sealer from the bucket and pour onto the driveway, working on an area about 2 feet by 2 feet at a time.
All of these patching and sealing materials should be used on a warm day, 65 degrees F and rising, with 2 to 3 days of no rain following.
The result for us is a very good looking driveway that will hopefully last another 35 years. The sealer will need repeating every couple of years. but now that my husband knows just how doable this is, he'll be inclined to tackle it again, and again, and again, as needed.
Now, to get the tarry stuff off the kitchen floor that someone tracked in! Any advice?
