Health & Fitness
Radnor Patch (aka Blacktop Botox)
After 40+ years of faithful service, my driveway is showing its age. A patch here and there is not a makeover, but it's a start.
The drive leading up to our Villanova barn looked at least five years old when we moved in back in 1977, and in the decades since, the elements have taken their toll. Snow and ice removal, plus the relentless expansion of (barely) subterranean maple roots have created an array of nooks and crannies that have only deepened and widened. Every time I’ve thought about a complete blacktop makeover, however, something more urgent has always found its way to the front of the maintenance queue.
A few weeks ago, it dawned on me that perfection had become the enemy of progress, and I decided to patch the worst parts of the drive, leaving the resurfacing for another day. Step one was deciding on the best and easiest-to-use product for the job, and after some online research, I went out to Home Depot for a 50-pound bag of commercial grade QUIKRETE blacktop repair ($10.50 plus tax).
It turns out QUIKRETE is a very accommodating patching material made up of some sort of thick, petroleum-based medium as a binder for the small, gravel-like stones similar to those in the original surface. Donning gloves and my end-stage jeans, I simply troweled the mixture into the larger cracks and holes, smoothed and tamped the surface with a board, and then ran the tractor over it for a final compacting. It worked so well, I returned to Home Depot earlier today for another bag.
Time will tell, of course, just how permanent this “permanent blacktop repair” material really is, but for now, it’s nice to have all the potholes filled. At least they will be, once I go out tomorrow for yet another couple of bags. It seems the years have not honed my ability to estimate DIY materials the first (or even second) time around.
