Restoring Concrete Expansion Joints the Easy Way
- Sawing and Cleaning Out the Joints. To remove the old concrete expansion joint filler, we started with the US Saws Dust Buggy Mark III. ...
- Vacuuming Out the Joints. There’s no change in this step. ...
- Concrete Expansion Joint Filler. Choosing the right concrete expansion joint filler is key to getting the best results. ...
- Finishing Your Concrete Expansion Joint Repair. For the last step, we used a homemade scraper. ...
How do you repair a concrete expansion joint?
- Cleaning: Keep dirt and debris out of your expansion joints. Debris can encourage moisture to seep into your expansion joints, causing them to crack.
- Drying: Don’t allow standing water to remain on your expansion joints for too long. ...
- Weeds and plant growth: If you see weeds and plants growing in your expansion joints, remove them immediately. ...
Is it time to replace your expansion joints?
When this occurs, it's time to replace the expansion joints. Follow these instructions and you can do the job yourself. Sweep away any dirt and debris from the area. Dig out and remove all the old material that's in the joints with a putty knife. Flush out any remaining debris with a hose.
Do I need an expansion joint?
Good design and construction of contraction joints has virtually eliminated the need for expansion joints, except under special conditions. The improper use of expansion joints can lead to high construction and maintenance costs, pavement growth, and the problems listed above.
How to fill expansion joints?
- Sweep away any dirt and debris from the area.
- Dig out and remove all the old material that's in the joints with a putty knife.
- With a wet-dry vacuum, clean out the joints between the slabs very well.
- Apply a bonding adhesive, usually epoxy, into the joints with a brush.
- Insert foam backer rod.
- Cover and seal the joint.
How do you repair an expansion joint in concrete?
Restoring Concrete Expansion Joints the Hard WayUse a scraping tool, like a 5-in-1, to scrape out the old concrete expansion joint filler.Vacuum out the concrete expansion joints.Use a caulk gun with your filler of choice and refill the joints.Scrape the sides and top of the joints to leave a clean finish.
How do you reseal expansion joints?
3:354:55How-To Repair Expansion Joints in Concrete (Video) | SealGreen.comYouTubeStart of suggested clipEnd of suggested clipSo what we like to do is cover it with finishing sin finishing sand it's a very light sand very fineMoreSo what we like to do is cover it with finishing sin finishing sand it's a very light sand very fine you can now use regular sand because regular sin is heavy. And it will sink into the caulk.
What do you fill expansion joints with?
Expansion joints must be sealed with a flexible sealant, like QUIKRETE® Self-Leveling Polyurethane Sealant or QUIKRETE® Non-Sag Polyurethane Sealant…or an expansion joint strip, to prevent water from penetrating the joint and deteriorating the sub-base.
What type of sealant is used for expansion joints?
Polyurethane sealants are ideal for concrete expansion joints. It is a flexible and durable sealant and is most often used in areas such as driveways or side walks. It can also be used with materials such as wood, PVC, and clay.
Should I caulk my concrete expansion joints?
Caulking Concrete Cracks and Expansion Joints Caulking the joints and cracks is the best way to stop this from happening. Even expansion joints in your concrete driveway should be caulked. They can be the biggest culprit of water under your slabs.
What is the best concrete expansion joint material?
Silicone provides an excellent alternative to the three expansion joint fillers above, and for a few reasons. First and foremost, it is flexible and durable, allowing it to accommodate the natural expansion and contraction of the slab without cracking or breaking its seal.
Can you put sand in expansion joints?
Specially treated super-fine sand (Silica Sand) that has been washed, filtered for even particles and heat dried to reduce the weight so it does not sink and spreads evenly over the surface of caulk used to replace expansion joints or to repair cracks in concrete.
Can expansion joints be replaced?
Dirt, weeds and grass can fill in these areas, prompting herbicide use or a letter from the homeowner's association. There are different methods to replace expansion joints. 1. For the doityourselfer, there is a product which comes in a caulking tube which is used with a closed cell foam rod or sand below it.
Which is the material used for filling concrete joint?
Rubber, asphalt and other compressible materials are popular joint filler material choices. Joint filler also prevents the introduction of other materials that are not compressible from entering the joint, which could cause concrete failure as well.
Can silicone be used as an expansion joint?
Our easy-to-install silicone pavement sealants are suitable for a wide range of applications, including: Expansion joints, construction joints and crack-control joints in concrete. Horizontal or vertical joints in sidewalks and pedestrian bridges and plazas.
What is the black stuff between concrete slabs?
An expansion joint is a material placed in the cracks (or joints) between concrete slabs to protect the slabs from cracking when they contract and expand as the temperature changes. This material acts as a shock absorber, absorbing the stress from the slab's movement.
How do you seal gaps in concrete?
1:2211:17How To Seal A Gap Between Concrete Slabs - YouTubeYouTubeStart of suggested clipEnd of suggested clipNow if i have any large holes where voids are starting to form underneath the concrete. I doMoreNow if i have any large holes where voids are starting to form underneath the concrete. I do recommend some sand for that and filling those voids in before you seal off the top with the tremco.
How do you waterproof concrete joints?
at each segment end, with an injection port on one end exiting the concrete. After the structure is built, polyurethane resin is injected into the hose to seal the joint and fill any cracks or voids intersecting the joint. They can also be used to seal construction joints between new and existing structures.
How do you seal construction joints?
Methods to seal joints include injection techniques, routing and caulking, bonding, installing pre-molded seals, or installing appropriate surface protection systems (such as elastomeric membranes).
How do you seal expansion joints in brickwork?
0:492:19Expansion Joints - YouTubeYouTubeStart of suggested clipEnd of suggested clipSo you tuck that back a rod back in there about an inch and caulk in front of it this allows for youMoreSo you tuck that back a rod back in there about an inch and caulk in front of it this allows for you know daily expansion and contraction in the face of the wall.
How do you remove old expansion joint material?
0:141:18How to Reseal Concrete Expansion Joints Part 1 - Remove Old SealantYouTubeStart of suggested clipEnd of suggested clipInto both the left and right side of the joint. This will cut the sealant. And foam backer rodMoreInto both the left and right side of the joint. This will cut the sealant. And foam backer rod remove remove as much of the old sealant in backer rod as possible.
How to clean a knee joint?
Use a caulk gun with your filler of choice and refill the joints. Scrape the sides and top of the joints to leave a clean finish. Even in a small area, it takes a lot of time and you’re on your knees for most of it.
How does expansion joint filler work?
The first allows the concrete expansion joint filler to settle into the joint and fill any cracks below it. The second pass fills the joint and overfills it slightly with the tape protecting the floor. Even with the two passes, a couple of spots needed a little more to eliminate low spots.
How do you fill expansion gaps in concrete?
Foam backer rods act to fill in space between concrete joints so you don’t need to use a ton of self-leveling sealant. Here’s a BIG TIP: the diameter of the backer rod should be 1/8 inch larger than the width of your concrete expansion joint. This will ensure a water tight seal.
What material is used for expansion joints in concrete?
Minimize Concrete Cracking and Damage with Expansion Joints. ASPHALT EXPANSION JOINT is composed of a blend of asphalts, vegetable fibers, and mineral fillers formed under heat and pressure between two asphalt -saturated liners. It is waterproof, permanent, flexible, and self-sealing.
What is the best concrete joint filler?
Akonaflex™ Expansion Joint Filler is a superior-grade, one-component, urethane sealant and filler to be used in concrete joints as well as a wide variety of substrates.
Can you fill concrete expansion joints?
Just remember that expansion joints should always be sealed and filled with a flexible joint sealer and never be epoxied or coated over. Contraction joints can be filled in the same manner after a coating or sealer is applied.
Should you caulk concrete expansion joints?
Even expansion joints in your concrete driveway should be caulked. They can be the biggest culprit of water under your slabs. Notice how the caulking is slightly lower than the concrete slab around it. This protects the caulk from wear and tear of people walking and driving over it.
What is the difference between expansion joints and control joints?
A control joint is a continuous vertical joint filled with mortar, but with a bond breaker on one side so that tensile stress cannot develop across the joint. An expansion joint is a continuous vertical or horizontal joint, left completely free of mortar and filled with elastomeric sealant to keep it watertight.
Do concrete driveways need expansion joints?
Every concrete slab, inside (basements, garages, etc.) or outside ( driveways, patios, entries, etc.) are required to have joints every eight feet horizontally and vertically. Expansion Joints provide space between concrete slabs as a buffer for expansion on hot days and contraction when it is cold.
Get the Joint Clean as Possible
To get a good seal, all of the old sealant material needs to come out of the joint. A small chisel, screwdriver, or similar tool should be used to scrape and pry any material out of the joint. A quick rinse with a hose clears loose leftovers out of the way.
Fix Any Blemishes
Cracks in the edge of the joints can run and cause the pavement to crack even when the joint is properly filled. Mortar works fine to fill in cracks and chips. Afterwards, it needs to harden overnight before moving on to the next step.
Insulate
Keep moisture out of the joint by pressing pipe insulation into the joint with a putty knife. Leave a gap space between the insulation edge so that the sealant can be spread flush with the pavement when put into the joint.
Prepare an Edge
Masking tape along the edges of the joint keep the sealant from coating the top of the pavement and creating lumps.
Seal
Cover the insulation with sealer until it is flush with the pavement. Using the edge of a board and a hammer; compact the sealer into the joint.
Wait
Wait the recommended time in the sealer’s instructions for it to harden before removing the tape from the edge.
Expansion Joint Wear and Damage
Conventional Expansion Joint Seals
- Strip seals are flexible neoprene membranes adhered to the joint walls. They adhere well and prevent water ingress, but the seals can tear and disjoin under traffic if incompressible debris settles on top. Compression seals are neoprene or cellular seals in the form of a series of webs that provide outward pressure against joint walls to hold the seal in place. They are ready for us…
Why Are Expansion Joint Repairs Necessary?
- Seals commonly fail due to adhesion loss and cohesion loss. Adhesion loss is evident when detachment of the seal from joint walls occurs. Adhesion loss is the loss of bond between the sealant and joint walls. Cohesion loss is evident when a tear on or in the seal occurs. Cohesion loss is the loss of internal bond in the sealant.
Expansion Joint Repairs Using The Belzona Solution
- Conventional expansion joint seals have their own individual disadvantages and common failures. Belzona provides polyurethane sealants that protect expansion joints from incompressible debris while offering advantageous mechanical properties including high movement capability, high elastic recovery, and high abrasion resistance. In addition, Belzona polyurethane sealants contai…