Just picture it: you are carrying a tray with food and drinks to your patio area. All of the sudden the toe of your shoe catches something on the floor and your food and drink becomes history, part of the very cement floor you just tripped on. The cause? An unsightly crack in the cement. In order to know how to repair patio cement, you must really understand the reasons why cement sometimes form those unsightly cracks.

When you pour cement to form a driveway or a patio in this case, you must make sure that the ground is hard and compacted. If a heavy object moves over an area on the cement that has soft soil underneath, the cement with give and bend, causing a crack. Another reason for cracking is thin layers of cement. When pouring the foundation of your patio, always go for thicker layers of cement for stability.

Skipping metal rods in the installation of your cement patio is also a cause for cracking. These metal rods are sometimes called rebar and made mostly from reinforced steel. These provide an added strength and will help prevent cracking.

Luckily for you, there are several options for repairing patio cement. One method uses injectable epoxies that can be purchased from concrete suppliers. Sometimes, the home improvement retail chain stores might also carry these strong epoxies. These epoxies are found in tubes – both large and small. The small tubes are for basic repair projects and the large tubes are designed to fit into an injectable caulk-type gun.

Another cement repair option includes following the above advice for epoxies then taking the procedure one step further. After the epoxy dries and is completely set, you may want to pour a thin concrete layer over your patio’s cement slab. This thin layer will even up the cracks in the patio’s slab and provide level surface.

If you decide to try the cement overlay, please note that you will have to clean your patio floor first. Phosphoric acid is one of the most popular methods. This acid will not only clean the cement of its dirt but also lightly etch the surface. Etching the surface of the patio cement will help the new concrete overlay adhere properly. In order for your cement overly to cure, you need to make sure that the work is done in the cool part of the day.

One final way to level your patio cement and thereby fixing cracks is to perform what some contractors call “slab jacking.” This means a concrete solution is injected through the cracks to underneath the cement slab thereby raising the cracked portions back into alignment. This procedure, while not new, can cost you quite a bit depending on the size of the cracks.

Except for the “slab jacking” method of leveling cracks out of a sidewalk, these tips can be easily accomplished by a competent do-it-yourselfer. Just be sure that you don’t skip any steps in the prep work. Otherwise, you may end up doing the cement repair job again and again.

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