Mother Daughter Projects

  • Blog
  • About
    • Contact
    • Privacy Policy
  • Tools
    • Tool Tuesday
  • Maintenance
  • Improvement
  • Decor
  • Tech
  • Blog
  • About
    • Contact
    • Privacy Policy
  • Tools
    • Tool Tuesday
  • Maintenance
  • Improvement
  • Decor
  • Tech

DIY for Homeowners

How to Replace Wood Expansion Joints in Sidewalk

3/7/2018

15 Comments

 
​text by Vicki     Sign up to get Mother Daughter Projects updates in your email!​
If you have sidewalks or driveways of a certain age you have these--wood expansion joints! These are important as they allow the concrete to expand and contract without cracking. Unfortunately, time and the elements take their toll on them. Eventually they rot and break and should be replaced.

There are a number of reasons to replace them. Having a strong solid expansion joint helps with the following:
  1. Helps to inhibit the growth of weeds 
  2. Helps to block water from getting below the concrete causing erosion. Erosion creates its own set of problems.
  3. If the wood expansion joint has totally rotted leaving a gap, it can create a tripping/falling hazard.
  4. Nice, clean looking expansion joints add instant curb appeal to your home!

There are at least three methods to replace the wood expansion joints. Each has its pros and cons but we settled on flexible vinyl gaskets due because it was very homeowner friendly, required no special tools or drying time. 

Check out the UPDATE video, 3 years later


The sample pack comes with many sizes of gasket.
We ordered a sample pack which included all the various options available. We were able to test the fit and picked the one that best fit our needs.
The repair takes very few tools.
These are the tools you'll use as well as something to cut the vinyl.
Materials/ Tools:
  • Slab Gasket Sample Pack (Amazon)
  • 11' 1" SlabGasket (Amazon)
  • Mallet, Pliers, Pry Bar
Video tutorial- see how to fix wood gaskets in concrete with flexible vinyl from slab gasket.
The replacement gasket is on the far left, the middle is the old wood from the expansion joint on the right.
The gasket cuts easily with scissors.
The gasket can easily be cut with heavy duty scissors or with a miter saw. Totally not necessary but it's handy to use so we did!
The wood was in pretty rough shape.
The wood in the expansion joint was looking really worn and was ready to be replaced.
The first piece of wood needed a little nudging with a hammer and pry bar but came free in one piece.
The first piece of wood needed a little nudging with a hammer and pry bar but came free in one piece.
After cutting the new gasket to size it was placed into position.
After cutting the new gasket to size it was placed into position.
A rubber mallet can be used to hammer the gasket into place.
This one was a tight fit so it was encouraged to fit by a rubber mallet!
The next wood joint came out without any extra tools or force.
The next wood joint came out without any extra tools or force.
This joint went in very easily.
This joint was an easy fit. We considered grinding down that high concrete slab edge, but determined it really didn't pose a tripping hazard.
The gasket fit perfectly.
The third joint was the most challenging to repair as the wood was so rotten that it came out in lots of small pieces. The gasket fit in very nicely though.
The three joints are finished and look great.
Such a great improvement over the rotten old wood!
Wet and Forget kept the concrete clean.
The color of the new gaskets blends in so well you can hardly tell where they are! Are you wondering about the color of the concrete? The two tone color represents an experiment we did with the product Wet and Forget. The lighter had the product the darker did not. We will be doing a post about it.
We were very pleased with the outcome of this maintenance project. It was a very doable DIY for us and I'm sure it would be for others. We especially like that it can be finished very quickly, needs few tools, and the results look really good!
Video tutorial- see how to fix wood gaskets in concrete with flexible vinyl from slab gasket.
Picture
Please note: We are not sponsored by any of the companies/products that we used. These products were picked and bought by us.​​

FYI: We are not professionals, and we don’t claim to be. This is what we found worked for our project. Yours may need a little different approach. Safety first!

FYI: Affiliate links are being used on this page. Purchasing via these links help support MDP!

Related Projects

Picture
Tools to Grind Concrete
Picture
Concrete and Wood Door Stop
Picture
Drilling Holes in Concrete
15 Comments
Raul
7/2/2018 03:05:25 pm

Thank you for your information on the concrete gasket, I have been trying different products and it is always very difficult to replace the expansion joints on the concrete because normally they are different in size and wood or other products requiere a lot of work.

Reply
Steph
7/2/2018 06:30:43 pm

You're welcome! Thanks for the kind words Raul.

Reply
mike
3/5/2019 05:23:32 pm

Thank you so musch for help

Mary
5/21/2019 06:47:42 pm

Hi, we are considering this product and would like to know how yours is holding up. I read some mixed reviews on this product especially regarding shrinkage issues... Would you still recommend this product? Thank you.

Reply
Steph
5/22/2019 08:29:28 pm

Hi Mary, I have not noticed any shrinkage issues. The only thing I see (I just went outside to look) is it's a little dirty. But that should come off with some cleaning. I've been really happy with it overall!

Reply
Mart
5/22/2019 08:56:30 pm

Thank you!!

James Martel
5/27/2020 07:32:25 pm

hi there - How about now, another year later? Is it still holding up pretty well?
thanks!

Steph
5/27/2020 09:03:00 pm

Still holding up well!

Terri McClanahan
5/31/2019 10:59:03 am

Great video ladies! I am a DIYer also and am about to tackle this same project. Could you please tell me the brand name of the vinyl product you guys used? I couldn’t make it out on the video. Thanks in advance

Reply
Steph
6/2/2019 08:10:34 pm

Hi Terri- good luck with the project! Slab gasket is the brand, there is a link toward the top of this blog post.

Reply
Randi
6/24/2020 04:01:46 pm

Need material company for expansion joint repaiir.
Thanks

Reply
Lorne
6/11/2019 06:00:46 pm

Great video! Thank you.

Reply
Steph
6/11/2019 08:56:22 pm

Thanks Lorne!

Reply
sandy BALDWIN
2/3/2022 01:41:27 pm

2-3-22 I really enjoy watching you two, wish my mother was still alive to do work like this.....be safe..

Reply
David Gadberry
5/21/2022 01:26:44 pm

I need 35 feet of 1" joints, in beige. Does it come in beige or can I paint it?

Reply



Leave a Reply.

    MotherDaughterProjects.com

    Mother Daughter Projects
    ​
    Steph & Vicki

    We're homeowners sharing our DIY adventures as we learn to maintain, improve, decorate, and ​use tech in our homes.
    Share your projects with us here:  
    ​#trylearnshare
    MotherDaughterProjects.com
Mother Daughter Projects, LLC ∙ est. 2015 ∙ Tallahassee, FL by Vicki & Steph ∙ Privacy Policy