Hot Liqufied Rubber, Driveway Crack Sealer (Refill), #68119

I had several cans of Useal to apply. The first evening the air temperature was 80 with just a very slight breeze when I started. I used a pretty standard propane grill to heat the Useal. I removed the grate and then laid it directly on the heat deflectors, as the heat deflectors’ spacing was too wide to safely support the can of Useal. One must have patience during the heating process. It does take a while. I followed the directions fully as this was my first time to apply. I was only able to heat and apply one can of Useal the first evening after work. (Useal = 4 Star rating using the above heating method).That night I continued to contemplate the heating process, as I was not satisfied. I reviewed the foil shielding suggested in the instructions and rejected it as being too easily blown away, too weak to work with / easy to crush, etc. and started trying to invent something better. I was doing well until I realized one already existed. I had come up with a round rigid air duct reducer as used for central air applications in homes and offices. I measured the top of the Useal can at 5.5” diameter and hit Home Depot the next day during lunch. There it was, a 6 inch tall, 8 inch to 6 inch round 30 gauge metal air duct reducer ($7.97, UPC 50206 92600), all nice and rigid, would not blow away, and could take a little punishment. (Believe me, the stirring process while heating is not gentle.) The reducer allowed the handle to remain outside the shield and still gripable wearing heavy, insulated gloves.That evening after work the air temperature was about the same, again with the very slight breeze. Using the reducer as a shield not only allowed for a quicker heating, but I was able to achieve a higher temperature prior to application. When heating the Useal without the shield, even in a very light breeze caused the sides of the can to lose heat to the air. When using the shield, not only are the sides of the can not losing heat, they are gaining a significant amount. The higher temperature achieved made it easier to pour obviously, but it also significantly aided the self-leveling of the Useal for a much more professional looking job. Another thing I did differently the 2nd evening was to have two cans heating at the same time, one in the shield that was for immediate use, and one only over the heat source (like I did the previous evening). This pre-heated the 2nd can of Useal so it was closer to ready by the time I emptied the working can. I would recommend that one follows the directions as stated the 1st time you heat a can for application. Only on subsequent attempts, if you feel comfortable multi-tasking and working both cans at the same time, would I suggest that you consider attempting the pre-heat method. The 2nd evening I was able to apply 3.5 cans of Useal with much better results than the first evening. I bet the price of the shield was recovered in the reduction of the amount of propane used. (Useal = 5 Star rating using this method for heating).I am very impressed with the water tight seal achieved with Useal. It is very tough and I anticipate it will last.

I did not buy this at amazon, but, ordered two 6 packs directly from Useal. 2 months later I haven't received it. I have sent 2 emails and tried to call their telephone number and my phone says it's not a valid area code. I had to file a complaint to my credit card company to reject the charge. The product is a really good product. Lasts for years. Moral of thye story: order through Amazon and hopefully get Amazon's protection. Useal has a 50% rating. Terrible rating. Perhaps they are overwhelmed by too many orders. Hire some people Useal.

very messy

I am a relatively handy person and I found this very difficult to use. First of all the plastic handle arrived broken.It was very difficult to heat up even with a dedicated burner on a warm day. After almost 2 hours of heating it reached a pourable consistency but I could not get it to the consistency shown on the video. I also only got about 5 feet of crack filled with one can as opposed to the 40 feet advertised, granted this was a large crack but no more than 1/2" wide. Because of the consistency problems there was quite a bit of product left in the can that was not pourable and hardened and prevented me from using the spout again. The product itself is very good ,very flexible. I don't think this product is a good purchase for the average homeowner

Worked well; a bit messy. Filled the cracks and seems to be permanent

Copied and pasted from a 2015 review I did of this product: "My use was to fill a crack that runs the width of my driveway (25' or so) and is about 1-1.5" wide. I have used several products in the past, so the bulk of the crack is filled, but the prior fixes all separated from the edges over time. The bulk is still filling the crack, with 1/8" to 1/4" cracks where it's separated. I left that bulk in the crack and planned to pour this over what was there so I didn't have to fill everything, just the cracks where it had separated. Note that I used up almost exactly one pot of this product.Product comes in a metal pot, filled to about 1/2" from the top. In the box is a piece of paper with additional instructions. I figured, "How hard could this be? You just heat it up!" so I didn't read that . I was wrong. Upon heating over a 12,000 BTU portable stove, I saw the tar in the center of the pot bulge up and over the side, and the sides of the pot bulge. Suspecting what was happening, I stepped back quite a bit. Good thing, since the gas that had formed due to high heat at the bottom of the pot finally got release in the form of a big "pssshhhtt" of flammable gas. Guess how I figured out it was flammable? Very exciting. Had I read the instructions, I would have known upon seeing the product rise up to take the pot off the heat and plunge a screwdriver or awl down the side to release the built up gas. This would have saved me a lot of aggravation. They also suggest using a water bath method which I imagine slows the rate of heat and prevents gas creation. So all of my issues with the product were the direct result of user error.Once I got the product melted, it flowed well, about the consistency of between ranch dressing and maple syrup. It's a little tricky to get it to form well, and I had a lot of droplets since I had messed up the pot during the gas expansion phase. I used a metal putty knife to smooth/spread it out to completely cover the target area and be somewhat consistent in coverage. Note it starts to harden almost immediately so pouring about 1-1.5' at a time then smooth with the putty gave a decent result. Pouring 3' then trying to smooth meant it was getting pretty gooey at the end. So pour 1.5', smooth, smooth, assess, pour 1.5', smooth, smooth, assess, etc..The product itself seems much better than the others I've tried, it really is like the stuff you see the road crews pouring on the highways and town roads. I think it will have much better durability than the pli-stixx (also a good product, just not as good) as well as the various formulations of epoxyish aggregates (although those are better for filling in a deep crack like mine)."2017 update: The product I had put on my driveway in 2015 was still doing pretty good, but since some new cracks had opened in my driveway I figured I might as well re-do everything. This time, however, I followed the directions and released the gas buildup before it could blow out the sides of the can. What a world of difference! It still takes a looong time to soften up/melt (like, 45-60 mins) but was much easier to use. They suggest putting the handle on at the beginning of the heating process, but I think it's a good idea to put it on at the end instead. This is what I did and it worked out well.

Don’t Bother

An exactly sized pot is required to hold product can and must be filled with water to the level of product for heating. The heated product cooled very quickly, making it hard to pour and difficult to smoothe after crack filling. These frustrations may be less with more experience with usage. The proof will be how well it lasts.