TIL why my driveway patches kept failing after 3 winters

I was in Denver last month doing a small residential slab and the homeowner mentioned his old driveway had the same hairline cracks I was seeing in my own work. He said he stopped using plain sand in his mix and started using crushed stone dust instead, and his patches held up way better. Has anyone else tried switching up their aggregate for smaller repairs?

3 comments

3 Comments

robertcarr1mo ago

Yeah crushed stone dust bonds way better than sand in my experience.

amy_craig281mo agoMost Upvoted

My garden path started turning into a slip n slide after 3 inches of rain using play sand from the hardware store. @robertcarr is absolutely right, the stone dust locked together like a puzzle while the sand just washed out under the edge of my paver. I got about 80 square feet done before the first storm came through and I had to redo half of it. Guess who learned that lesson the hard way? Only took me one flooded backyard and a few choice words to switch materials.

caseythompson1mo ago

Bet you got some interesting looks from the neighbors while you were cussin at a puddle of sand in your yard. At least the stone dust probably won't make you eat dirt every time it rains. Props for owning the mistake though, that's real growth right there.