I have a horizonal hairline crack across my driveway. Should I repair it with epoxy or have the contractor com

Question

come back out, break it up and pour concrete again?

Answer 1

Hairline cracks are common. Don't use epoxy. Go to your local hardware store and get a driveway repair kit.

Answer 2

Hairline cracks are nothing to fret about. You most likely have other cracks that you're not even aware of. Any place there is a sawcut (if you have them) or a tooled groove in the concrete is likely to crack. They are an attempt to get the concrete to crack in a predetermined place, but they don't work 100% of the time.
By its' very nature, concrete is prone to cracking. As it cures it shrinks as the water content evaporates. When it shrinks it finds the weakest spot and cracks. Sometimes that's a tooled joint, sometimes it's across a slab.
You'll have a hell of a time getting your concrete contractor to replace a hairline crack. There is nothing wrong with the driveway. And should he for some reason replace it, the new concrete will DEFINITELY look different from the rest of the driveway (read that as more of an eyesore than a hairline crack).
I wouldn't even bother with fillers and such unless the crack opens up. As a hairline crack, you won't get any penetration. And the amount of water that will find it's way under your drive via that crack will likely be negligible.

You needn't take my word for it, but I spent many years working for a national builder inspecting concrete cracks of all sorts. They become a problem when the gap opens up more than a quarter inch or so and when they heave but don't go back to their original position.

Answer 3

Either the concrete was imptoperly poured (too thin a slab, wrong mixture, etc...) or your on soil that heaves with water saturation (very common with a clay type soil, usualy poor drainage qualities). If the cracks are small and not a trip hazard, go with the crack sealant for now and see if there is any movement with regard to rainfall, season, etc. There is really no point in replacing it if it's going to do the same thing. My parents had this problem about ten years ago because of both poor soil conditions and poor concrete work. They went with a contractor that basically applied the same techniques as interstate construction - just a bit thinner. Used heavier weight concrete and steel reinforcement. It wasn't cheap, but any other route would have had bad results and have to be replaced in ten years or so.

Answer 4

definite, you're proper. Pointing to hairline cracks in driveways as an indication of something might want to be stupid. Too undesirable you probably did not provide different examples of what you've heard going round.

Answer 5

try this instead, because once the cracks begin theres no end. use a driveway sealer (the black stuff) this way you cant patch the cracks and reseal the drive way like repainting a wall with sheetrock repair. you can blend it in and water wont damage the drive way as bad.
its more cost efficient than the contractor & its easy enough to do yourself

Answer 6

Leave it alone- Concrete slabs always crack.

Answer 7

Oh, just leave it alone untill someone else notices it.

Answer 8

Leave it alone, patching it will make it more noticeable.