Gap in concrete

budedm

My dad's sidewalk runs along side of his garage block wall. It has a 1/2 - 3/4 gap between them. I'm thinking that the expansion joint board either rotted or sunk. Or maybe it didn't have an expansion joint board and the sidewalk moved. I don't really know. Any suggestions on how to close the gap? Hydraulic cement? Stuff an expansion joint in there? Rope caulk? Foam?

biggles

pressure treated wood stripes cut to lenght then tap them in.don't know it concrete stops expanding once cured hard.,but might consider a concrete mix like syrup consistancy and pour it into the cracks.doing a first light pour then another to build it up..and definitly hose nozzle the spaces prior to anything to clear them out.did you notice that at one point there was no spaces as the years passed they appeared?

budedm

I only visit my dad once a year so I can't say what has happened. All I know is there is a gap there now and because he lives in a snow belt (some years 18 feet of snow) it's important to seal the crack somehow.

tribe_fan

What I did on my Garage/sidewalk is sweep some sand until its about 1/2 inch below.

Then I used "Driveway Crack sealer" to almost the top. (from Home Depot)

From my experience the black stuff works better than the grey stuff. The Grey stuff seems to crack faster.

budedm

That'd be a lot of crack filler. The crack is 1/2" - 3/4" wide and the entire length of the garage which is about 30 feet. I didn't think crack filler was designed to fill more that 1/4" wide cracks. Is that correct? Or maybe you're talking about a different product?

biggles

hammer some wood strips at both ends of the spaces and fill with cement..just pour it in let it seek its own level

Canarywood1

What's on the other side of the sidewalk?

TRUEPRO

Concrete will usually pull away from any masonry regardless if there is expansion material or not. Your best bet would be to fill the gap with "backer rod" then caulk with elastomeric caulk.

As far as the other ideas that have been posted...GL

Plump

Flexible backer rod and caulk. Pro Seal 34 or the like (http://www.prosealproducts.com/produ...ay1.asp?id=278) will work great.

Msradell

Especially in an area that experiences freezing like you mentioned this solution will not work well! Whatever you install in the gaps needs to remain flexible so it can expand and contract as the concrete moves during the year.