Q: My home has a 100-foot-long driveway with a 10-degree slope. It now has six very large cracks in its surface that range from about a half-inch wide to 2 inches wide. Is there anything I can do to repair those cracks?
A:Β Asphalt is very tough to patch and repair. Putting a semi-permanent patch on the cracks would require a large piece of paving equipment. In general, itβs not economical for contractors using that equipment to pave a residential driveway. They only make money when they are fixing large areas, like shopping center parking lots.
My advice is that you remove the driveway in segments and replace each section you take out with concrete pavers. Itβs easier to do it in sections rather than taking on the whole job in one big bite.
Iβm doing that myself right now with a driveway problem of my own. My situation is probably worse than yours actually. There are some consumer asphalt patch products on the market, like liquid asphalt. By using one of those products, you could end up with areas of your driveway that are a different shade of black than the old black. You could do that temporarily, of course, until you can put in the pavers.
For more do-it-yourself tips, go to rosieonthehouse.com. An Arizona home building and remodeling industry expert for 25 years, Rosie Romero is the host of the syndicated Saturday morning Rosie on the House radio program, heard locally from 8-11 a.m. on KNST-AM (790) in Tucson and KGVY-AM (1080) and -FM (100.7) in Green Valley. Call 888-767-4348.
