Poured cold patch in the rain, finally learned to wait it out

Three years ago I filled a big pothole in my driveway in Pittsburgh during a drizzle because I was sick of looking at it. The water mixed into the mix and it crumbled out within a month. Last week I waited two days for the ground to dry, used a bag of Quikrete crack filler, and tamped it down hard with a 2x4. It set like concrete and I'm kicking myself for all the wasted bags over the years. Anyone else ruin a patch by rushing the weather?

2 comments

2 Comments

uma_mitchell8322d ago

You ever patch a hole in the rain and call it "good enough," only to have it laugh at you a week later? Yeah, I've got a whole graveyard of those bags in my garage.

andrew_wood7222d ago

Read somewhere that flex seal works great on tarps but nobody talks about how it practically peels off the seams when it gets cold. Man @uma_mitchell83, that graveyard sounds like my shed, I've got three bags out there that look like they lost a fight with a fence post. The real trick I learned is to dry the patch area completely and rough it up with sandpaper first, but even then it's a gamble. I think half the battle is just admitting the bag's done and buying a new one for twenty bucks instead of wasting two hours in the rain. Still, there's something about patching a hole that feels like you're beating the system, until the system wins again.