Driveway Cement Repair (washer, pool, conditioner, phone)

[RoundRockinite]

A couple seasons ago the lawn guy unfortunately used a metal edger which took about 8 chunks of cement of the sides of my driveway and sidewalk. I didn't notice until much later.

Anyway, is there a way to patch this cement without it being too noticeable? I can get gray patch at the store but it doesn't match. The cement is an off-white color.

Attached are a couple photos.

Any recommendations is appreciated.

Thanks,
Chris

[JimRom]

When patching concrete, it is almost impossible to match the original. This is due to factors like dirt and age. What you could try is to bleach the old concrete first using chlorine from the pool supply store and a pressure washer to clean it off with. (usual rules apply, i.e. wear safety equipment, cover plants, etc.). This may help a whiter patch material to come closer to the existing concrete.

Another option is to patch the concrete and then stain the whole surface.

[K'ledgeBldr]

You'll never get patch material to stay in place for small stuff like that. Especially the next time the edger goes by.
Your just wasting time and money.

[jimboburnsy]

Agree with K'ledgeBldr.

If you try to patch that with concrete you will never get a good bond and it will dislodge with a minimal effort. You could try to form colored epoxy but, again, you are unlikely to get it to stick forever and even more unlikely to get a good color match.

From the pictures it appears that these are very small, cosmetic dings and I would not be very inclined to spend money repairing them. Probably the best thing to do is forget that they are there.

[sunsprit]

If the remaining concrete is solid, then there are lots of industrial products which will permanently bond to that structure and patch the dings in your driveway. We do a lot of this type of work on damaged expansion joint nosings, warehouse floors, manufacturing floors, food process areas, breweries, and the like ... it's relatively simple and durable 100% solids epoxy work that can restore the concrete. The repair material is stronger and more resistant to being hit with the edger again than the concrete.

However, there's two problems with doing this on small areas on a residential driveway:

1) The products are all colored an architectural grade of "concrete gray" which will most likely not match your driveway, and they will not bleach out or stain to match the driveway.

2) COST. The products are industrially rated, and packaged in minimum size quantities most likely larger than your project. A contractor would need to cover the cost of a unit of products (conditioner, and the repair material), plus the cost of a service call and labor to do the installation. The minimum size packaging of product I use is 400 cu in, and I've got to buy it in a 2-pack case ... end-user product cost about $450.

I've had high-end residential owners justify the expense of this type of work on their houses, but most folks cannot justify this work. You may find a commercial/industrial cementitious epoxy products supplier in your area that will sell you a unit of products to install yourself ... I'd check in the phone book and call around to industrial concrete repair people and see if they'll give you a lead on to some of the materials. It's fairly easy and straightforward work to do the install and to make it look good, although much more difficult and different than doing concrete placement and finishing.

[Ultrarunner]

Companies that install concrete steps have epoxy material to repair damaged areas... I know, because I had one fixed.

I agree, it is a waste of time to repair something that will continue to be in harms way.