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Every time someone ignores the 'no pool noodles' rule in concrete patches, it cracks in 2 months
I used to think flexible filler was fine for everything, then I worked on my neighbor's driveway in Austin last fall. He'd dumped interior caulk into a 2 inch wide gap and called it 'good enough.' Three weeks later, water got under the edge and the whole strip lifted out like a weird rubber snake. What flipped my view was watching a pro crew fix a section on Burnet Road, they cleaned the crack, forced in sand, then used a rigid concrete mix, not gooey stuff. I tested it on my own west side patch in October, still solid after a freeze and some rain. The flexible stuff bends but it also lets moisture sneak behind it, and that's what kills the bond. Has anyone else watched a flexible patch peel up after claiming it was 'made for driveways'?
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jana_lewis1610d ago
That exact thing happened to my buddy's patio in Round Rock. He used some sort of flexible acrylic stuff and bragged about how it would move with the ground. Six months later, it looked like a giant black worm wiggling out of the crack after a heavy rain. Seeing those pros pack in sand before the mix seems like the real secret, the rigid stuff actually grips the sides instead of just sitting on top. Good on you for testing it out through the winter, that's the true test down here.
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