How to Repair Crumbling Sidewalk Curbs
One of the first things a new homeowner discovers is that a home is basically entropy in the form of a building. From the moment a house is born, it dies – eaten by termites, digested by rot, and ultimately subject to many catastrophic natural disasters. You thought you were running an alarming amount of money to buy a home for yourself and your family, but in reality you have acquired a lifelong renovation checklist.
This includes the appearance of your property, as well as sidewalks and curbs. Curbs require a lot of punishment, and one day you come home tired from work and notice that the curb is cracked, crumbled or saw a piece just disappear in some mysterious event, possibly related to a wormhole.
If you have a broken or crumbling curb, you must fix it – but first confirm that you can legally repair – in some municipalities, the city owns sidewalks outside your home and bans you from doing any work, or the Home Owners Association (HOA) may be responsible. If this happens to you, you can always try to hire a contractor to do the renovation, but many contractors are not interested in small concrete curb repairs, which means you may well end up doing the work yourself. Here’s how to fix your sidewalk curb.
Evaluate if the curb needs to be repaired or replaced.
The first thing you need to do is assess the condition of the curb to determine if it should be repaired rather than completely replaced. If it’s only crumbling or breaking in one place, and the rest of the curb seems strong enough, you can probably patch it up. If large portions of the curb have disappeared or there are multiple areas of damage, you may be better off replacing the entire curb. The good news is that replacing the curb is a larger and more expensive job, so it will be easier to hire a contractor than with a minor renovation.
However, if you decide the curb just needs a patch, you can make a reasonable DIY repair.
Clean up and prepare the area
First clean the area to be repaired. You can use forced air or simply flush it with a garden hose and then scrub the area with a wire brush or any other stiff-bristled tool. You must remove all dust and dirt and make sure that all loose concrete is out of the way. Pro tip: If the damaged area gets bigger and has an apparently endless supply of loose material, your curb is probably much worse than you thought and should be replaced entirely.
After the broken areas have been cleaned up, your next step depends on whether you decide to repair the curb with quick-setting concrete or polymer sand . Concrete will work best with an existing curb, but it will require a little more tools and experience; Sandy polymer is easy to work with even if you’re not the smartest person in the world, but it can’t last that long. Note. You will see that the words “concrete” and “cement” are often used interchangeably, but technically cement is an ingredient in concrete.
How to repair a curb with concrete
Prime: If you are opting for a quick-setting concrete such as Quikrete’s Quick-Setting Concrete or something like Fusion-Crete , your first step is to prime the surface of the repair site. Different products have different requirements, so check the instructions for use of the specific concrete you are using to find out which soil they recommend. When in complete doubt, it is better to use any concrete binder than nothing. This is key because concrete usually does not adhere well to itself, so the primer acts as a “catch” layer between the remnants of the original curb and the renovation.
Mixing: Follow exactly the mixing instructions for your concrete product. Some products suggest adding something to the mix to increase strength or durability – for example, Quikrete recommends adding acrylic hardener to the mix when repairing curbs. If the instructions suggest an additive, it is recommended that you add it. Wear a mask, goggles, and rubber gloves because the concrete wants to kill you. It is quite pungent and tends to throw clouds of dust into the air when you stand over the bucket and inhale deeply. Trust me: if you are not the right person for mixing concrete, you will have dust in your eyes and life will suddenly become very precious to you. Alternatively, you can opt for a pre-mixed concrete patch, but this will generally not be as strong. If all you want to do is buy some time, they will be fine.
Shapes: If you need to repair a long section of curb, creating simple shapes will prevent your patch from spilling out onto the street. A bit of plywood and a few bricks can be used to create a simple shape – it doesn’t have to be fancy, you just want it to press firmly against the edge of the curb to hold everything in place while you pack the repair material.
Repair. After the repair site has been primed and the concrete is mixed, start by pouring the concrete for the repair. Using gloved hands and a trowel as needed, try rubbing it into all nooks and crannies so that it can stick to the primer. Press in as hard as you can, but keep this initial layer relatively thin – half an inch or less deep. Wait until it starts to set (check your instructions to see how long you will have to work), then fill the rest of the repair with plenty of concrete. Pack it well, then flatten and shape with a spatula. How beautiful this renovation will look to you is a completely personal choice. Remember how much “working time” you have; as soon as he grabs, that’s all. Remove molds if present, and flatten the sides as well.
Read the instructions after repair. Some products require you to moisturize your skin every day for a week or so, and some can be used immediately.
How to repair a curb with sand polymers
Sand polymers like US Specialty Coatings’ CurbFIX are incredible. They look a bit like unmixed cement, but they act like clay. You also don’t need a binding agent. You literally just take a handful of this stuff (wear good gloves – it’s also pretty caustic, although dust is usually not a problem) and stick it into the repair area, then repeat until you fill the void. As with concrete, creating a simple shape can help hold the polymer in place while you work with it, and you should try to pack the material as deep as possible into the voids.
Sand polymers have no setting time, so you can work on the repair as much as you like. Go to town! Get creative! Or, you know, shape it and smooth it as much as you like until it’s perfect. When you’re happy, submerge the repaired part in water and the resin will harden in a few minutes. After it has hardened, it is recommended to paint it with the usually supplied sealant.
That’s all! Polymer sand may not stand as well as a concrete product, depending on how much stress it receives on a daily basis. But its ease of use balances that out – literally anyone can fix a curb with this material. Bonus: Once the container is open, the resin won’t last too long in working order, so you can also use the leftovers to sculpt your life-size statue.
Nobody ever thinks about their sidewalk curbs – until they start to fall apart and your home becomes known as the eyesore next door. Simple curb repairs are within anyone’s ability and budget, plus you have to tell everyone you own this stupid thing.