One of the joys of being a homeowner is taking good care of your driveway. Cracks in the driveway occur due to age, weather conditions or wear and tear. They can be a real pain if you don’t involve a driveway contractor early enough. The situation can also worsen if you use the wrong materials to fill in a crack in the driveway. So what does Richard Diehl Paving & Sons say about what you can use?

Why Sand Isn’t the Best Choice

First, you can’t use sand to fill a crack in a driveway. While sand may be cheap, readily available and easy to work with, it is not stable enough. It can easily wash away when it rains or get blown away when it gets windy. Secondly, sand has no adhesive properties, which means it won’t bond to the surrounding asphalt or concrete, leading to even bigger problems down the line.

A Better Solution: Crack Filler

So, if you can’t use sand, what can you use? A paving company may recommend using professional materials such as a crack filler. It’s a rubberized material designed to bond with the surrounding concrete or asphalt to form a structurally stable bond that prevents expansion and deepening of the crack even when there are temperature changes.

Depending on the nature of your driveway, a driveway contractor may use one of two types of crack filler, hot pour and cold pour. Hot pour crack filler must be melted and applied with a specialized machine. On the other hand, you can apply cold pour crack filler with a pourable bottle or caulking gun. So what’s the difference? There really isn’t much of a difference, as both types are effective and long-lasting solutions to cracks in your driveway.

Richard Diehl Paving & Sons Maintenance Services

Of course, the best way to deal with cracks in your driveway is to prevent them from occurring in the first place. Since strategies such as avoiding heavy vehicles from using your driveway and protecting your driveway from harsh weather conditions are not practical, you may wonder how best you can take good care of your driveway. Well, there is a way. You can save yourself a lot of money through regular maintenance.

A paving company such as Richard Diehl Paving & Sons offers driveway maintenance services to help your driveway last longer. They have trained professionals and specialized equipment for any driveway, including concrete and asphalt. So sometimes, it’s best to let the professionals handle it.

When in Doubt, Call a Professional

So if you’re unsure how to fill the crack in your driveway, it’s always best to have a professional take a crack at it. A certified driveway contractor can assess the damage and apply the best materials and techniques to solve the problem. You also save time and money when you do the repairs correctly.

So, to sum up, sand may seem like a simple solution for driveway cracks, but it’s not a viable long-term fix. Crack fillers, on the other hand, are durable and effective. But if you are in doubt, contacting a paving company is the best option. Contact Richard Diehl Paving & Sons today to find out more about driveway maintenance and repair.