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GENERAL REPAIR & MAINTENANCE TIPS:

 

How to Maintain an Asphalt Driveway

Materials available for asphalt driveway maintenance include emulsified liquids, plastic fillers and solid cold-patches. For a complete driveway rejuvenation, you may need all three.

Before tackling any maintenance or repair, check your driveway for these conditions:

Impressions left by car tires after the car has been parked on the drive overnight. This is an indication of poor construction.

Heaving or tilting during cold weather, or buckling or cracking with the spring thaw. These are signs of poor drainage.

To repair these troubles, you'll need a new driveway. Fortunately, such problems are not common. More likely problems are minor cracks, crumbling and chuckholes, which are relatively easy to repair.

The procedure and materials used depends on whether you're repairing cracks, filling low spots, patching or seal-coating your driveway. Your local retailer can help you select the products you need for making repairs.

 

REPAIRING CRACKS

Use a masonry chisel or other sharp tool to scrape loose any crumbling material out of the crack.

Sweep the crack and surrounding area with a stiff-bristled broom to clear all debris.

  • You should fill any cracks in a blacktop drive as soon as possible to keep water from getting under the slab and causing more serious problems. Cracks that are 1/2" and wider are filled with asphalt cold-patch, sold in bags and cans. Narrow cracks are treated with crack-filler, which is available in cans, plastic pour bottles and handy caulking cartridges.

  • Use a masonry chisel, wire brush or similar tool to dig away chunks of loose and broken material from the crack.

  • Sweep out the crack with a stiff-bristled broom. Your shop vacuum will also work well.
  • Use a garden hose with a pressure nozzle to clean off all dust. If the area is badly soiled or covered with oil or grease drippings, scrub it with a strong commercial driveway cleaning agent. For a patch to adhere, the crack must be free of all such things. After using a cleaner, rinse the area with water.
  • For a deep crack, fill it to within 1/4" of the top with closed-cell plastic backer rod or sand before applying a patching compound.
  • Apply the crack-filler.

Fill the crack so that it is level with the surface, using an asphalt crack-filler.

  

 

 

 

 

 

FILLING DEPRESSED AREAS

 

  • Depressed areas, sometimes called "birdbaths," cause water puddles on the driveway. If not too deep–less than an inch–these areas can be filled so they're even with the surrounding surface. Sweep away all dirt, hose down the area and remove any oil or grease by washing with a detergent or cleaner.

    Use a trowel to spread asphalt cold-patching into the depressed area, making it level with the surrounding surface.
  • The surface may be slightly damp when applying the patching material, but make sure there is no standing water.
  • To help the new material adhere to the old, prime the area with emulsified liquid asphalt, which is often simply called "driveway coating."
  • Then, use a trowel to spread asphalt cold-patching material into the depression, filling it level with the surrounding surface. Smooth the patch, then tamp it with a metal tamper or a 5' to 6' length of 2x8 or 4x4 lumber. Used vertically, the lumber has the surface area and weight for successful tamping.

    Tamp the patch down firmly, and fill in any low spots with additional material.


  • Allow your blacktop patch to dry for 24 hours before seal-coating the entire driveway.

 

 

  

 

 

 

How To... Replace a Tile

The look of a tiled wall can be ruined by a broken tile or discoloured grout. There is no need to retile the whole surface – both problems can be solved fairly easily.

Replacing a damaged tile

The hardest part of replacing a damaged tile is removing the old one – very occasionally they lift out easily, but usually the adhesive holds the damaged pieces just as firmly as it held the whole tile.

1. Loosen the grout around all four edges of the damaged tile with a grout raker and rake it out. Drill some holes in the centre of the tile to weaken its surface, using a power drill fitted with a ceramic tile bit. Change to a large masonry bit to increase the size of the hole, if necessary.
2. Use a hammer and cold chisel to cut through the tile between the holes and to chop out the central portion, taking care not to dig the chisel into the wall.
3. Work towards the edges of the tile, gently breaking pieces away and being especially careful as you get close to neighbouring tiles. Once the tile is removed, scrape out as much adhesive as possible.
4. Make sure you have removed enough adhesive by inserting the new dry tile. It should not be proud of the surrounding tiles. Coat the back of the tile with tile adhesive, using an adhesive spreader, and position it in the hole.
5. Press the tile into place with a wooden batten to ensure that it is positioned flush with the other tiles. Fit tile spacers perpendicular to the tile’s surface to maintain the gap for grout and prevent the tile from slipping out of position before the adhesive is dry. When the adhesive has dried, remove the spacers and grout the tiles (see Regrouting, steps 2–4).
 

Regrouting

Grout can become stained, leaving it looking shabby while the tiles themselves are fine. Simply replacing the grout can make the tiled surface look good as new.

1. Use a grout remover to remove the old grout from around the tiles to at least half the thickness of the tiles. Do all the vertical joints first and then the horizontal ones.
2. If using powdered grout, mix it with water to a creamy consistency. Use a small trowel or a grout spreader to press the grout firmly into the joints between the tiles. Move the trowel diagonally over the joints to prevent the grout being dragged out again.
3. Wipe the excess grout from the tiled surface with a damp sponge – don’t press too hard or you may remove grout from the joints. Rinse the sponge frequently to keep it free from grout build-up.
4. If using powdered grout, mix it with water to a creamy consistency. Use a small trowel or a grout spreader to press the grout firmly into the joints between the tiles. Move the trowel diagonally over the joints to prevent the grout being dragged out again.

Waterproof seals

To complete your tiling you may also need to add a waterproof seal – along the bottom of a splashback, for instance. Although there are waterproof varieties of grout, the joint between a basin or bath and a splashback should be protected with a flexible silicone sealant. This will accommodate any movement in the fitting, which could cause the grout to crack and allow water through.

1. Working from one end of the splashback to the other, apply a continuous bead of sealant. Maintain a steady pressure and speed.
2. Any irregularity in the shape of the bead can be smoothed with a special sealant shaper, or even a soapy wet finger, but take care not to pull the sealant from the surface.

 CAUTION: SAFETY FIRST
Safety should always be a top priority for anyone who is involved in DIY. Many of the hundreds of accidents that happen each day in the home or garden could be easily avoided with a little thought. However experienced you are, it always pays to take time to plan your work, and to think about any safety issues before you start.

 

 

How To... Fix Plumbing Problems

If sinks, basins or baths become slow to drain, or a tap is dripping, deal with the situation straight away to prevent the job becoming more complicated.

Clearing a blocked sink

An accumulation of grease in the trap, or fibres caught below the grid on the plug-hole, will result in water draining away slowly. If water doesn’t drain away at all, then there is a complete blockage in the waste pipe.

1. Partially fill a blocked sink with water and place the cup of a sink plunger over the plug-hole. Stuff a damp cloth into the overflow to prevent loss of pressure. Pump the plunger up and down vigorously. Repeat, if necessary, a couple of times.
2. If that fails, try using a chemical drain-cleaning product. Wear gloves and goggles and follow the instructions carefully. Smear some petroleum jelly around the rim of the plug-hole to protect it from damage.
3. If you have not been able to clear the blockage, then you will have to remove the waste trap. Put a bucket underneath the trap to catch any spillage. Unscrew the trap, and empty the contents into the bucket. Replace the trap making sure you replace any washers or O-rings. Don’t overtighten or it will be difficult to undo if it needs cleaning out in the future. If there was nothing blocking the waste trap, use a drain auger to probe into the waste pipe.
 

Repairing a dripping tap

Don’t ignore a dripping tap! The sooner you tackle it, the easier it will be to fix, and the less damage will be done. Even if you don’t have a spare washer, take a look inside the tap – if the washer is only slightly damaged on one face, you can reinsert it the other way up. But even if that stops the drip, do remember to replace it with a new washer as soon as possible. Standard mixer taps can be repaired as shown here, but monobloc taps – often controlled by levers, and needing only a quarter turn between fully off and fully on – have ceramic disks rather than traditional washers. The disks are very hardwearing, but if one does develop a problem you will need a replacement cartridge from the tap manufacturer.

1. Turn off the water supply and open the tap to drain water from the system. Put the plug into the plug-hole, just in case you drop any small nuts or screws. Unscrew the top plate (this has the hot/cold emblem on it) with your fingers, or pliers or an adjustable spanner.
2. Not all taps are made the same way so you will have to work out how the handle comes off. In the type shown, you need to unscrew the retaining screw, and pull off the handle. This will expose the headgear nut.
3. Unscrew the tap body cover. If you can’t do this by hand use an adjustable spanner, but protect the chrome with a cloth.
4. Undo the headgear nut using an adjustable spanner. If the nut is difficult to turn, don’t force it or you risk twisting the base of the tap and putting a strain on the inlet pipe. Instead pad around the base of the tap with cardboard and use a pipe wrench to grip it firmly as you apply the necessary force to the nut.
5. Remove the headgear assembly by unscrewing the headgear nut. The washer sits in the jumper and is either pressed in place, often over a small button, or retained by a nut. If necessary, unscrew the nutholding the washer in place with an adjustable spanner. Prise out the old washer; you can use a screwdriver to dig it out if necessary.
6. Insert a new washer and push it down into the jumper. Reassemble the tap in the same sequence. Apply a little silicone grease to the threads on the base of the headgear assembly before reinserting it in the tap body.

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