Customer Reviews for Latex-ite Pli-Stix 60 ft. Small Black Permanent Blacktop Joint and Crack Filler

Before sealing driveway I wanted to eliminate the long cracks. But I would need to drive over them before having the time to do the sealing coat. All the liquid crack fillers needed days to harden and even then could track off and make a mess if driven over. This product is basically tar wrapped in a covering so it is like a long rope. You take the rope and stuff it into the cracks. Then you use a blowtorch to melt the tar which fills the crack. Turns out you don’t have to be precise with the stuffing because the melted tar flows into the crack and self levels. After filling reheat the top and sprinkle sand onto it to give the sealer a good bonding surface. Once cool it is hard and clean and can be driven over.

I have an old asphalt driveway that was in bad shape when I purchased the home 24 years ago. I purchase both a small & a medium size roll. I used all of it. The coils curl and bend as they heat, so I was often using a stick to push the product into / over the crack. I wasn’t sure how liquefied the product needed to be. The instructions suggested the product should be 1/8 to ¼ inch below surface level which gave an inconsistent look. Pli-Stix was also helpful for patching areas where the asphalt had worn away. I put down small rocks & bits of gravel, melted Pli-Stix over the area, then added smaller chips & repeated.

This is a great product for the do it yourself type of person. With a propane torch it easily melts into your driveway cracks and seals it for a reported couple of years. I also bought a wand torch to attach to the propane which makes the application super simple. No bending over that way. Great product seems to work well. Hank W. Woodland Park, Co. Oct 2020

This is the best crack filler I have used on my driveway compared to the past 'shallow patch' and liquid ones I have used. So far, so good on the filler holding. This crack filler is essentially a hard tar that you melt into the cracks. With that, you need a torch. I used a MAP gas torch and it worked great as a lot of heat is needed to melt this stuff. Propane would have taken longer. This product is supposed to be jammed in the crack and melted. Most of my cracks were larger than a 1/4" or 1/2" so I just laid the stick on top of the crack and melted it into the crack. I melted it into 90 feet of cracks before my torch ran out of fuel. You will get about 100 feet of stix melted on one standard MAP canister. It cools hard and when in the hot sun it is a little loose but not enough that an imprint can be left in it. Rain washes off most burn marks eventually and sealer can be applied over this. Some tips from my experience: -Power-wash and clear the cracks beforehand. -Fill the deep cracks with sand, up to about 1/8" from the top. Otherwise you will end up melting a lot of these stix into them. -Use MAP gas -Leave the stix in the sun so they become loose and easier to work with -You can heat the stix a little to help form them along the crack -If you are careful enough, you can heat the stix and drag them along smaller cracks to fill them -Work the torch back and forth, dont overheat one area -If you overheat the tar, it will bubble out of the crack -As you heat the stix, you are also heating the driveway so turn the torch off when you get really close to a full melt and let the driveway melt the rest -Use a heat-shield on driveway edges to prevent grass fires -The force of the torch can be used to push the tar into other cracks or along the same. -Use torch to fan any out across asphalt so you dont get lumps -Position yourself upwind of the stix so you don't inhale the fumes.

Get Into The Groove The ease of use, especially for a totally inept hazmat like me, leading to a permanent fix, instead of just a filler or a cold tampon, yes you read that right, hyphenazi, type messy material, was spellbounding. Paired with the CSX 900 Cane Torch ( also from Latexite ), made the project so much fun that I had to fight off friends and family and neighbors who wanted to have a go! http://www.homedepot.com/p/Latex-ite-7-in-x-32-in-CSX-900-Cane-Torch-2070/202339332 I am not kidding when it turned out that I did not have enough damage to use up one of these 60 footers completely. But depends upon who you ask, that's probably plenty of damage. The best part was, that in a couple of the longer cracks, once melted, the level went down a notch, indicating that more material was needed - and - the first application, once it had sunk down into the groove, actually provided a nice rut into with the second round just popped in like magic. The beauty of the hot melt concept is the self leveling of its molten form as it fuses with the existing driveway material, or what's left of it. Who needs hot melt asphalt pouring when you can actually recycle your original driveway fragments, in place. Can't get any greener than that, huh? Disclaimer: I had contacted Latexite with pictures of my driveway and they cautioned me about my condition being beyond what their products are designed for. But they were very helpful and supportive when I explained that my budget being tight, I was willing to put in all the labor necessary, and my level of ineptitude would make the results indistinguishable from planned disaster. The asphalt smell does stick in your nostrils overnight and you keep wondering if you tracked the material in, but no one else at home noticed anything. Especially the Minecrafter. Note, the images I've added were taken after my first shot at this. I'd never handled a propane torch either, but that's another story. Subsequently, I did a tiny bit of touch up - the best part, I cannot stress enough, is that there is no guesswork, there will be holes which scream "Feed Me!" at you. One more thing, I later found out that I could have stripped off the plastic wrapping, which marvelously burns off when the heat gets going. That would have made the crack insertion easier. But, I discovered that even if I did not get the Pli-Stix into the groove, it is possible to have another level of fun with the propane torch, "working" the melting tube in, which kind of starts curling like a Pharaoh's Serpent. And it is absolutely easy to get the hang of coaxing the melting Pli-Stix into where it needs to go, and once it gets there, it magically yanks in the rest of its body. Don't ask. "I love the smell of Pli-Stix in the morning" ~Kilgore

The product fills small to medium size cracks in an asphalt driveway easily. You can use scissors to trim its length and thickness as needed. A little gasoline or petroleum based solvent will clean any asphalt residue from the surface of the scissors. It works best if the product can be forced into the crack before heating it. If placed on the surface of a crack, as it is heated it will deform and may move from the spot where you put it. If you try to push it back with any object, it will stick to that object. Also if placed on top of the crack, it may flow a bit beyond the crack onto other areas of asphalt. This will not work on sloping areas of asphalt for the same reason. The directions assume you will push the crack filler into the crack as this is the best method for producing good results.

I have been maintaining this driveway for 25 years, need to reseal every 3-4 years. This product seals the cracks well, see puddle in photo. If you attach your propane torch to a ten inch long 2x4, you can keep the touch aligned to the crack and move quickly down a crack with a little practice. I use a knee pads home depot bucket/seat (hold the tools) to support my chest as I work the cracks. I do not seal the drive, just maintain the cracks, which every drive will have in several years.

I'm very happy with how this turned out. I used the joint filler between my blacktop driveway and concrete sidewalk. The joint filler is very easy to work with. I used the pictured Benzomatic propane tank but it flares up when held on its side. I put on the universal extension hose WH0159 and it made the whole process very easy. Just walked along the joint filler waving the hose back and forth in 1 foot sections. The joint filler has a plastic coating initially so it is not sticky to handle and can easily be cut with a box cutter. The purpose of the flame is to melt off the plastic coating and to get the filler to liquefy and seep into the crack. All of this work was done in preparation for a sealcoat in a few weeks.

I saw someone using this product last year and his driveway still looks good. I decided to try it..I did not follow the instructions to stuff it in the crack but instead held it up and melted it in dripping it into the cracks..Final product looks like plastic..Picture shows crack filled and seal coated..Now all I can hope is that it holds up and doesn't crack..

I'm pretty happy with the results. One needs to be patient when applying this product, but if done correctly, the Pli-Stix accomplishes the job it was intended to do.

This worked, heated with a torch, filled the crack, big cracks I did it two times

I used this product last year to seal the cracks in my driveway. This year I have to redo all of the product I laid down last year due to the product cracking during the winter months. I prepared the cracks as stated on the product packaging, still it cracked, The cracks are much smaller than the original cracks, but nevertheless I have to redo the job.

I really like this stuff for filling driveway cracks. I used a flexible putty knife to force it all the way into the crack and smooth it out. So far it is working great

Repeat purchase. Works as it should.

Again will be using to fix cracks in driveway once warmer weather is here.

It works pretty good and ages well. I would buy it again.

It takes a bit to heat and fill but man does it do the job. Excellent product!

Really works and easy to use. Bought 3 other times

Easy to use. Filled cracks and looks like what you would see on the roadway. Just applied so I can't say how well it will hold up. I am hopeful it will last and won't need to be repaired again.

Works as described. Hardens fast. Looks like it will make a good tight permanent seal.

I recommend melting the filler into the crack. Takes a little longer, but gets deeper in, less waist, and looks better.

Incredibly easy to use ,long lasting results. I love this product. I'd love it more at a lower price point. Thanks

Great product! Love the way it melts into the cracks. Have used this product before and it holds up well.