Blacktop mix can seal cracks in driveway

Q. Our blacktop driveway crumbled in a couple of places during the winter and also has some fine cracks about 1/4 inch or less wide. I can’t afford a new driveway right now so how can I fix this?

A. You can patch the crumbled areas with blacktop mix or cold patch, sold at home centers and hardware stores, and seal the cracks with a patching compound.

The first step is to remove the crumbled blacktop so that a clean hole remains. Take out the damaged stuff right down to the base.

You also want to smooth the sides of the hole to help prevent future crumbling. That requires a cutting tool such as a wide chisel. A heavy digging bar, like those used to help dig post holes, works well.

The blacktop mix is best installed on a warm day when it will spread well. If you must work on a cool day, warm up the blacktop mix by putting the bags near a heat source for a while.

Do not put gravel in the bottom of the hole, as is sometimes recommended; you want to fill the entire hole with blacktop mix.

Pour in the mix and spread it with a rake so it is slightly thicker than the surrounding blacktop. Tamp the patch with the end a short length of 4-by-4 or 2-by-4 until it is level with the surrounding material.

Another way to compress the patch, if you have a piece of scrap plywood that will cover it, is to lay the plywood on top and run over it carefully a few times with a car. Let the patch dry overnight before using it for regular traffic.

The cracks can be sealed quickly with a blacktop patch sold in caulking-gun cartridges. I get the best results with GE Silicone II Blacktop and Roof Caulk. Some other caulking-gun patches I have tried deteriorate quickly.

Q. We put a bedroom and bath in part of our attic, which is insulated in the floor. During the winter the water pipes to the bath froze and we had to shut off the water to them. We have had several suggestions to deal with the problem, some expensive. Do you have any suggestions?

A. The main problem is that the insulation is in the wrong place for an attic that is finished for living space.

It is correct to insulate the floor of an attic that is not used for living space, but in a finished attic you do not want to block heated air that would rise into the attic from the heated area below.

In a finished attic, the best system is to insulate the roof and surrounding walls. This is often done with sprayed-in foam insulation, which creates a tight space that is easier to heat.

Having the attic insulated this way could be costly, but is the best option if you plan to use the attic for living space for a long time.

If you are looking for a less-expensive solution, I suggest installing heating cables on the water pipes that run to the bathroom.

These cables, also called tapes, would need to be activated only in very cold weather. They are often used for outdoor or very exposed water pipes and should easily keep your pipes from freezing.

For more information, check online with a search engine and the words Water Pipe Heating Cables.

Q. I want to do some drywall patching and taping, using joint compound, but would like to avoid a lot of sanding. Is that possible?

A. After applying a coat of joint compound, let it set up for a few minutes and then smooth it with a damp sponge, well wrung out.

Also carefully scrape off any ridges or lumpy areas with a sharp putty knife. If you do this after each coat of compound you can eliminate a great deal of sanding, though some touch-up sanding is often needed.

A lightweight powered finishing sander is a good tool for touch-up sanding. To reduce dust, use a sander with a vacuum attachment.