How to fill a crack

A cracked ceramic toilet tank and bowl are unrepairable. Water pressure, temperature and user weight can cause cracked ceramic porcelain to rupture. But, superficial cracks in the ceramic finish or a crack in a tank lid can be repaired with a rotary tool, a grinding bit, epoxy and meticulous care. Thoroughly clean the sink.

Before repairing any cracks or chips in your sink, you should always thoroughly clean the sink using an all-purpose cleaner. Sand the affected area. Prepare the epoxy. Apply the epoxy compound. Apply the repair kit paint. Re-glaze the sink optional. Super Glue and Gorilla Glue are strong, fast-acting adhesives that are easy to use and dry quickly. Vila recommends them for lightweight ceramics that are not that thick.

As for choosing the best glue for pottery, Ceramices. Bottom Line: Cyanoacrylates are good for projects involving: wood, metal, ceramic, leather, glass, and some plastic where bond line is very tight. Hot glue: Hot glue can be used on porous and non-porous surfaces. Because of its high viscosity, it can bond uneven surfaces together and is great at filling gaps.

Clear the area, get your super glue, some paper towel and Loctite Glue Remover. Clean and dry the chipped or cracked surface. Are broken cups safe to drink? Although it has not been proven to be dangerous in its finished form, cracks, chips or scratches in or around the edge of a plastic cup can release traces of plastic, such as bisphenol A, or even flakes into the liquid.

On occasion we may also see vertical dislocation in a floor slab crack, that is, one side has settled or tipped away from the other side of the cracked concrete. Our photographs above show shrinkage cracking and ensuing minor settlement cracks occurring in the same poured concrete basement floor.

Happily the building owner at the site where we made the photos above did not report water entry through these openings, though it certainly might be expected as the home ages and its footing drains stop working, particularly if surface runoff and roof runoff are not kept away from the building. The photo at left shows some concrete shrinkage cracks that are larger than usual.

Note that these cracks begin at building foundation wall inside projection corners - a condition that probably creates stress points as the slab cures. If you click on and enlarge the photo you can see clear evidence that the cracks are discontinuous, multiple, and very roughly parallel in this area - good evidence that they were caused during the concrete curing process and not by a later event which 'broke' the slab.

When we see combined slab shrinkage and slab settlement condition we suspect that the concrete pour not only allowed for excessive shrinkage, or perhaps shrinkage without control joints, but also the pour was made on top of poorly prepared soils.

For example if a slab is poured on poorly-compacted soil, after shrinkage cracking occurs, we may see uneven settlement among sections of the cracked slab. Settlement cracking following shrinkage cracking may also occur. In both of these cases we anticipate that significant horizontal dislocation in a poured concrete slab should be small unless steel reinforcement was omitted or was improperly installed.

Since some contractors use a fiber-reinforced cement and may omit steel reinforcement in floor slabs, this condition may occur. The first photograph shows an expansion joint in a basement floor slab. Notice that we donot see other cracks in this slab.

Shrinkage cracks that occur at control joints such as shown in the second, close up photo here, are occurring where they are supposed-to,although the width of this particular crack was surprisingly large. These cracks are not normally a defect in the slab but may bea source of water or radon entry into the building and may need to be sealed. Use a flexible sealant. We discuss the recognition and significance of settlement cracks in poured concrete slabs in detail at Settlement Cracks in Slabs.

Settlement cracks in a conventional concrete floor slab which has been poured inside a separate foundation wall and oftenresting at its edges on the building's foundation wall footings are usually not connected to the foundation wall and are not supportingany structure [except possibly Lally columns, discussed next]. These cracks may not be a structural concern, but there are caseswhere a serious hazard can be present, such as garage floor cracking when the floor was poured over soft, loose, inadequately-compactedfill and where the floor slab was not pinned to the garage foundation walls.

Soil settlement under a garage floor, perhaps aggravatedby groundwater which can increase soil settlement, can lead to first hollowing-out of space below the floor and second, suddencollapse of the floor structure. We have used a heavy chain, dragging it across the garage floor and listening to changes inthe sound it produces, to find areas of significant soil voids below the floor. The pitch of the chain noise drops significantlywhen passing over a void below the concrete. Settlement cracks in a concrete floor around a supporting Lally column might be indicativeof a serious problem such as building settlement if the columns are settling.

Independent footings may have been provided supportingLally columns in the building interior and those may be settling independently of the floor slab which may have been pouredaround and even over them See photo above. But beware, where slab thickness and local building codes allow, supporting columns may beardirectly on a poured floor slab without their own deeper pier or footing. In that case floor slab cracking and settling can causecolumn movement and may be a structural concern.

Settlement cracks in a monolithic slab or floating slab floor may be more serious, depending on their extent since in thiscase the edges and other portions of the slab are, unlike the cases above expected to support the upper portions of the building structure.

A monolithic concrete slab is one which includes the building footing as part of the slab, created in a single continuous pour of concrete. A floating concrete slab is one which is poured at a generally uniform thickness on the ground without a separate footing. Proper site work and drainage are important as is proper engineering design of such structures. Frost heaves or expansive soils damage to building floor slabs can range from minor to extensivein buildings depending on soil and weather conditions, site preparation, and slab construction details, as weelaborate here.

The photograph above shows a rather straight crack across a garage slab near the garage entry door. What is happening here and why is this particular crack straight if it's a frost or soil heave crack?

In freezing climates building foundations include a footing which extends below the frost line. Thisis true for both the occupied space as well as garages. When a concrete slab is poured either abuttingthe top of such a foundation, or poured extending over the edges of such a foundation, there isrisk of cracking across the concrete at the interior edge of the buried footing.

Since a garage is often coldernear the garage entry door than in other areas, there is extra risk of these cracks occurringthere, but they can occur anywhere. Similar floor slab damage might occur in areas of expansive clay soils if the propermoisture level is not maintained.

Basement floor heave patterns - frozen floor drains :Basement floors can be frost heaved in other patterns in buildings which areunheated or which lose heat. We have found basement floor slabs broken and heavedabove buried drain lines which ran below the basement floor of a home whichremained unheated during freezing weather. A clogged drain sitting full of liquidcombined with prolonged freezing weather was the culprit in most of these cases.

The heaved concrete was raised following exactly the path of the frozen and burst buried, clogged drain line. This problem can be epidemic in older homes whichwere constructed using a downspout drain line extending below the basement slab. Garage or basement floor sloped or semi-uniform settlement may also producea tipped floor even if the concrete is not cracked, or the floor maysettle uniformly.

This condition occurs if the concrete was reinforcedby steel or fiber cement, but was poured inside of a separate concreteor masonry block foundation. Consequently, how do you fill cracks in asphalt? Also Know, will driveway sealer fill small cracks? Sealcoating is designed to protect and enhance the appearance of asphalt. Therefore, although sealcoating is a critical part of maintaining your asphalt pavement and can smooth out small imperfections on the surface, it cannot be used as crack filler.

If you want your wood to keep its original color, Flex Seal Clear is the best option. The Solution: The winter weather can make preexisting cracks in your driveway even worse.

Using a liquid rubber sealant coating like Flex Seal Liquid is a great way to fill those cracks and even out your walkways and other surfaces. To fill cracks in your asphalt driveway , you should first remove any loose material and weeds in the cracks. Then clean out the cracks with a hose. You want the asphalt damp but you don't want standing water, so use a push broom or leaf blower to remove excess water. Fill the cracks and smooth it out with a scraper. How much should Sealcoating a driveway cost?

How do you fix a large hole in asphalt driveway? Clean the cracks, using a strong spray from a garden hose. Apply weed killer. Tamp down the sand. How do I fix a crack in my driveway? Repairing Cracks in Your Driveway Remove all dirt and vegetation from the crack with a wire brush, screwdriver, or trowel tool.

Use a garden hose or pressure washer to flush out any remaining debris and allow the crack to dry before applying any crack filler.