[EdwardB]

Hi all,

I have a small (8" wide) strip of concrete in front of my garage. Recently our development redid the driveways with brick pavers and now I've noticed that water pools on that strip and freezes there when the temperature drops. As a result there's now some minor surface pitting and cracking that I'm afraid is going to get worse.

I'm looking to protect the strip by sealing it. The surface damage is minor so far but ideally I want to clean that up first before sealing. I was thinking of using a latex patching compound and then following it up with a sealer, epoxy coating, etc.

Does anybody have any recommendations of specific products or techniques I should think about using? Should I skip the patching and just seal it to protect against the damage getting worse?

Thanks!

Ed

[21boat]

This 8" apron, is that past the foundation itself of the garage? So from the garage door to the apron is 6 or 8" of the garage Jambs and another 8" the "apron"
First problem is the new brick paver's were set at the wrong elevation for the drainage of the 8" garage apron. That needs to be addressed and the installers of the paver's needs to fix it.

Better yet if they go to do that try to coordinate with them and pull th bricks out and have them do just that for now. NOW saw cutting the concrete apron at the edge of the foundation in front of the whole garage foundation edge and remove old apron. Pour new. Now the paver's can be re set to the new apron.
I'm assuming this strip is not sitting on the actual foundation of the garage. And the strip is past the foundation itself. If is is the another application needs done here.

If you already have some surface cracking and pitting I would Not waste my time and money to try and save it and constantly worrying and resealing.

If you heart is set on that the pressure wash it let it dry and use a good masonry sealer on it. Honestly if you need to fill in and patch it going to look bad in front of new paver's not to mention a constant maintenance issue. See there we go pressure washing it for prep and blowing more of it away see the problem here. Its your call as I say to my customer's to you want it fixed or repaired? Its in long run cheaper to fix it and not keep messing with it

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[EdwardB]

This 8" apron, is that past the foundation itself of the garage? So from the garage door to the apron is 6 or 8" of the garage Jambs and another 8" the "apron"
First problem is the new brick paver's were set at the wrong elevation for the drainage of the 8" garage apron. That needs to be addressed and the installers of the paver's needs to fix it.

Better yet if they go to do that try to coordinate with them and pull th bricks out and have them do just that for now. NOW saw cutting the concrete apron at the edge of the foundation in front of the whole garage foundation edge and remove old apron. pour new. Now the paver's can be re set to the new apron.
I'm assuming this strip is not sitting on the actual foundation of the garage. and the strip is past the foundation itself. If is is the another application needs done here.

If you already have some surface cracking and pitting I would Not waste my time and money to try and save it and constantly worrying and resealing.

If you heart is set on that the pressure wash it let it dry and use a good masonry sealer on it. honestly if you need to fill in and patch it going to look bad in front of new paver's not to mention a constant maintenance issue. See there we go pressure washing it for prep and blowing more of it away see the problem here. Its your call as I say to my customer's to you want it fixed or repaired? Its in long run cheaper to fix it and not keep messing with it

Signed 21 Boat

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That is very helpful -- just to clarify though, the brick pavers are at a good elevation (below the level of the apron) and the drainage is good, the problem just came up with a couple of really bad storms during weather where the snow first started to melt and then the melted water froze in place when the temperatures dropped. Sorry if I didn't make this clear.

To answer your first question, yes it's an 8" apron in front of the garage door, i.e. the garage floor slab (poured separately from foundation) protrudes out 8" and meets the pavers. I am not that worried about the surface pitting right now because it's pretty superficial -- more like I just want to keep this from happening again under similar weather conditions.

Do you think I can just seal it periodically? It would be easy to do because the strip is so small. I can look into repouring the strip but would really rather not. What sealer should I use?

Thanks for your help,

Ed

[21boat]

I can't see the how bad it is to really make that call. For now it has to be clean and dry so it's a spring summer job and see how it lasts till then and you may change your mind well see.
Since its such a small piece go to the "Masonry Supplies" house. The have better patching material than you can buy at the reg stores. Also they have better clear sealers. Some sealers I use on the job go for over $150.00 gallon. What I recommend for sealers doesn't come from a big box stores and may be different from your masonry supply house. My point is they have sealers that will cost a bit more for a gallon but it a lot better than big box and they know a heck of a lot more about sealers than the floor manager if you know what I mean
Well you have some good options here and hope it all works out

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[EdwardB]

Thanks a lot for your help -- I'll try to keep the ice off it until spring and then will go to the local masonry supply. If it keeps getting worse I'll have the apron re-poured.

Ed

[21boat]

Your welcome anytime If you need help in the spring just post any of us here!