Repair huge crack in driveway or asphalt over it
Posted on 12. Mar, 2009 by KarenK
in Landscaping and Gardening
My mother has a rental house in Arlington, VA which has a driveway which slopes down to a carport. It's made of concrete and there is a huge crack in it. I'm wondering if it would be better to resurface the concrete or do the simplest thing and repave it with asphalt.
Another issue is that water collects at the base of the driveway when it rains. Since it's a rental house, we don't want to spend a whole lot on this. Do you have any suggestions?
Driveway Repair
I really appreciate your assistance. The information you provided was far more helpful and specific than had I tried to do the research myself using Google or some other search engine. Right now we're exploring just doing the drain and having the crack itself repaired. And we'll have Arlington County repair the cracked driveway apron. I really like your website and will let my family and friends know about it. Thanks again for the sound advice.
Options for repairing driveway and drainage problem
Seems like you have several issues to consider. The fact that you rent the house also plays a part in your decision.
First lets tackle the water drainage at the bottom of the driveway. How often does the garage or room flood? Every time it rains, only during severe storms and does the flooding prevent the full use of the garage or room?
We had the same problem with our garage. It flooded in heavy rain and we always worried about storing things in it. Our concrete driveway also had cracks in it since it was over 50 years old. The cracks were both on the apron (near the street) and main part of the driveway sloping toward the garage.
When we decided to redo the driveway (http://www.millennialliving.com/Activities/Renovation/concretedrivewaysd...) we also opted to install a drain at the bottom. (See http://www.millennialliving.com/files/resizedphotos/drivewaydrain.jpg.) As the photo shows, this required some work. What is not shown is the 40 feet of 4 inch PVC pipe that captures the runoff from the drain and carries it away from the house.
The second consideration is the cracking. If the large cracks are on the apron, you should call Arlington County.
They will replace the apron for $750, which ia a considerable discount. See http://www.arlingtonva.us/departments/EnvironmentalServices/cpe/concrete...
If the crack is on the main part of the driveway, you can just do that part.
You can't just pour asphalt or new concrete over the old driveway. This will result in height problems and is not recommended.
The third option is to repair the crack or just live with it. I'm not sure how large it is so have provided links if you decide to do this yourself or want to find someone who can do it for you.
http://paint-and-supplies.hardwarestore.com/learning/how-to-repair-concr...
http://www.concretenetwork.com/concrete/crack_injection/
Finally, you should really give some thought now to how the flooding and driveway detract from the house. In other words, is it damp downstairs or are there signs of water damage. If down the road you decide to sell, will prospective buyers factor that into offers. If it was me and that flooding problem was a real issue, I would probably get the work done now. Concrete and asphalt contractors could probably use the work. Be careful and ask for references.
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