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After the brutal winter, my wife and I found several locations on our driveway where the concrete is crumbling. This is the worst of them:

driveway damage

In the past, I have used self-leveling concrete caulk similar to this to fix damage like this:

caulk

However, I am concerned that due to it being near the edge that the caulk will fill in the crack between blocks and possibly make the damage worse due to expanding and contracting of the concrete.

How should I repair this damage, short of replacing the driveway itself?

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The technical term for what happened to the concrete on your driveway is that it "spalled", and sealing it with caulking isn't going to do much toward repairing it at this point. What you'll want to do is clean out all of the loose debris (a shop-vac and wire brush work pretty well) and then pressure wash it. After it is completely dry, inject or force epoxy down into any crack that extends down from the damaged area. Then apply a concrete bonding agent, fill it with a patching concrete and trowel it smooth.

Note - depending on the condition of the rest of the driveway, you might want to look into applying a concrete sealer to extend its life.

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  • Thanks for the advice -- at some point this summer when it warms up consistently we will have to fix this. The damage will only get worse, and the snowblower already kicks up rocks from the driveway: this crumbling concrete will only increase the risk of breaking something (I already broke a car window with the line trimmer kicking up a rock).
    – user4302
    Commented Apr 16, 2014 at 2:22
  • Would a home-made batch of concrete made out of a bucket not work just as well, with significat cost savings? To me it looks like that slab is on the thin side. how about cleaning the holes, washing and laying fresh cement/concrete into each hole, then Floating it flat. why all the technical products for something that is inherently flawed already?
    – Hightower
    Commented Mar 23, 2015 at 13:17
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    @Hightower - If the cracks aren't sealed, moisture and/or freeze-thaw cycles will just make the patch separate again. Patching concrete is formulated to allow a much thinner application than normal concrete, and the bonding agent helps it adhere better. While you could always just dump some new concrete into the holes, you would most likely have to keep repairing them again and again.
    – Comintern
    Commented Mar 23, 2015 at 22:27
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This problem is termed as concrete spalling. You can fix it without replacing the entire driveway. Before you begin it’s important to power wash the surface. Use a stiff broom to brush the entire surface. Shop for a cleaner concentrate easily available at a hardware store. Next, inject your concrete into the injection hole. You must not go over 40 psi. If you do the crack may widen more. Make sure you adjust the pressure of your injecting device. It should be lower than forty psi.The epoxy will take at least 24 to 36 hours to set.

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