Bricks, Masonry, Asphalt and Concrete - Mixing concrete to repair outside of house

Where my driveway meets my house there is a seperation that I am currently filling with sand. What kind of concrete should I use to seal this gap between the house and the driveway? I used quickrete in a tube once already, but I'd like to put something that I can mold on it so it doesn't just run off the crack like the quickrete did in some places. Also, should I use concrete to repair any very small cracks in the basement (hairline cracks) or just use dry-lock on top of them? Thanks!

How large is this separation?

Do not fill the joint between the house and driveway with anything solid.

You want the house and the driveway to be able to be separate structures.

You should have had a bituminous material in the joint.

To repair what you seem to have, clean out the joint. Put in a backing rod or some kind of backing material to force a sealer against. The depth that you depress the backing material will depend on the width of the joint. The wider the joint the lower the backing material so you have enough sealer to stretch and move the distance it has to.

When you put a solid or brittle material in the joint, it will crush when the slab expands in the summer. It will also pull away when the slab shrinks in the winter. This is assuming your house stays where it is.

Dick

Wow am I lucky. I almost did it tonight!!! I had that same thought, that if I put cement down it wouldn't be flexible and would break.

The seperation is small, probably a quarter of an inch along parts of the joint. All of the deep holes are filled with fine sand at this point. I'm sort of a n00b at all this so let me ask a couple questions:

1. Given the width of a crack (1/4") do I still need a backing material? I'm not even sure what that is :(. I understand the function, but I wouldn't know what to buy. edit: i looked it up and it looks like it is just a material that looks like string but thicker that you just jam into the seperation. I'm not sure I could even fit any back there as it isn't one big long seperation along the foundation. I don't think I explained that very well... I wasn't sure what you guys needed to know.

2. bituminous, is that like tar? Should I not use this quikrete mixture in a tube that I have??? It seems like very weak and flexible concrete. It solidifies into something a little stronger than hardened gum. Seems like it should be able to expand and contract a bit. Is there a name I should look to buy... something this stuff is called???

Thanks for the helpful info!!! You saved me from doing the wrong thing big time!

For a small separation such as yours, an elastomeric compound in a caulking tube would do fine. It goes on in a manner similar to caulk, ties to the concrete, sealing the gap, but remains flexible. If you have filled the separation so far with sand, you can use it as the backer for the elastomeric caulking compound.

Hope this helps.

For a small separation such as yours, an elastomeric compound in a caulking tube would do fine. It goes on in a manner similar to caulk, ties to the concrete, sealing the gap, but remains flexible. If you have filled the separation so far with sand, you can use it as the backer for the elastomeric caulking compound.

Hope this helps.

Done! Finished it up tonight with quickrete compound for repairing cracks in foundation/concrete etc... I assume that's the correct stuff (hope so!). It said it needed 12 hours without rain and it should get it so i'm crossing my fingers. On the other side of the house we've built up dirt to draw water away so hopefully we'll be water free :). Thanks for the help!