Do-it-yourself repair of a concrete path in the country

No suburban or suburban area is complete without garden paths. It is their correct layout and competent design that allow you to move freely around the site at any time of the year, even despite heavy rain or snow. The arrangement of the garden path should be such that the water rolls off it. For this, during its construction, a slight slope is provided, and the surface is poured using beacons, which ensures the quality of the surface level.

The scheme of a decorative garden path: A - Concrete, B - Decorative coating, C - Formwork from a hoop.

It would seem that there is nothing difficult in the construction of concrete garden paths. However, they need to be laid so that it is convenient to walk on them, and the water flows freely during heavy rains. And, of course, we must not forget about the appearance. Paths on a suburban area are a very noticeable element of a landscape design device. With the help of this element, if desired and some skills, you can give your site a completely unique look.

Garden paths can be made from a variety of materials. It can be brick chips or crushed stone sprinkled on the ground, paving slabs laid on a sand cushion, etc. But such a device is usually short-lived. You can make asphalt paths. And you can fill them with concrete. When poured with concrete, garden paths are strong and last long enough.

But, as you know, there is nothing eternal, therefore, concrete garden paths will eventually need to be repaired.

Scheme of a path made of concrete slabs: A - Sand with a layer of 10-12 mm, B - Concrete slab.

Video (click to play).

Cracks appear on their surface, through which grass begins to break through. The growth of grass destroys the concrete even more, and if the surface is not repaired, it will soon become completely unusable. If curbs were not placed during the construction of the paths, their edges collapse and chip off, which is very adversely reflected in the appearance. Even paths made of such a durable material as concrete need periodic repairs. High-quality repairs can be done by yourself. Below we will talk about how to do this kind of work.

We need the following tools and materials:

• cement;
• sand;
• crushed stone;
• buckets;
• shovel for mixing concrete;
• chisel or grinder;
• construction bucket;
• construction trowel;
• grater;
• sieve.

Scheme of the end concrete walkway.

First, the garden paths are thoroughly cleaned of dirt and cement chips. This can be best done with a strong jet of water from the hose. After that, the path is carefully examined for cracks and, where they are, the cracks are sutured with a chisel or grinder. Ideally, each embroidered crack should have a tapered cross-section. This will help keep the mortar firmly in place as you repair the track. If the crack is wide enough, you can try to reinforce it by driving dowels into it. It is necessary to carefully check that there are no places left in the crack where the old concrete would not be strong. When cleaning a crack for repairing a concrete walkway, you need to ensure that the old concrete around is a solid monolithic mass.

In places where chips have occurred along the edge of the path, you need to remove the fragile edges with the blows of a chisel and install the formwork. The formwork is made from a flat plank and is secured with wooden pegs driven into the ground.Then repairs are made using concrete, the same as the material that was used in the construction of the track.

In those places where the surface of the old concrete is covered with numerous small cracks over a large area, you need to chisel off the cracked layer with a chisel. If the recess is deep enough, you can reinforce it before pouring the mortar. For this, a fine metal mesh is placed at the bottom of the recess. Such a mesh is usually stuffed onto the wall before plastering. When filling a large recess with a solution, small crushed stone is added to it.

The repair mortar is prepared from one part of cement and two parts of finely sifted sand. This composition is mixed in water to the desired consistency. It should be such that the solution is freely poured into the embroidered cracks, filling them. Before pouring the mortar, it is recommended to moisten treated and prepared cracks and chips in old concrete with water. Filling is done with a construction bucket or shovel.

After the solution is poured, the surface is carefully leveled with a wooden float. The solution must harden within 24 hours. Such repairs should not be carried out in wet or rainy weather.

1. You should not try to make repairs by simply pouring cement mortar on the un-embroidered cracks. Experience shows that such repairs do not last long and soon the cement will crumble out of the cracks.
2. Do not attempt to make repairs by simply pouring a cement screed over the cracked concrete. Such a screed will crack after a very short time and completely crumble from the surface of the old concrete.