LESLIE: Robert in Virginia listens on WSVA. What’s going on with your front porch?
ROBERT: Well, I have a crack that runs from the front door to the stairs. It’s about four feet long and it’s about an eighth of an inch wide. And the house is 15 years old. And it looks like it was a settling crack from a long time ago. I’ve tried to fill it in with a thinset mortar, which just cracked right off.
LESLIE: Yeah, because it’s not going to adhere.
TOM: Yeah, the mortar’s not going to adhere because the mortar is not very expansive. It’s just going to flake right off, as you discovered. The best way to repair this is with a caulk or an epoxy patching compound; a caulk that’s, say, a silicone caulk. If it’s not going to be painted you could use a clear silicone caulk. If it’s going to be painted you would have to use a latex product. Or you could use an epoxy patching compound. But it sounds, since it’s just a very thin crack, that just some gray silicone caulk would work fine with this.
Are you concerned about the cosmetics?
ROBERT: Yeah, and I wanted to put that pretty, shiny stuff on the front porch because it’s a smooth concrete.
TOM: You wanted to seal it?
ROBERT: Well, the stuff you use in the garage. On the garage …
TOM: Oh. Yeah, OK.
LESLIE: Oh, the epoxy coating.
TOM: Yeah, those are epoxy coatings.
ROBERT: Yes.
TOM: Yeah, no worries.
LESLIE: You want to make sure – especially since this is a front entrance to your home, you want to make, you want to make sure that you get one that has a grit to it; something that’s going to be pretty much nonslip and not skid. Sometimes there’s an additive that you can put in but you want to make sure you get one that works well with the epoxy kit. Comes in a kit. Good price. Very easy to follow. All the steps are there. And it really does a nice job.
ROBERT: Alright, thank you.
TOM: You’re welcome, Bob. Thanks so much for calling us at 888-MONEY-PIT. 888-666-3974.
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