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Dear healthwellness82@gmail.com, This winter’s record-breaking cold, snow and ice may have damaged your driveway -- and not necessarily in ways that you can see yet. Danny Lipford, veteran contractor and home-maintenance consultant for The Weather Channel and The Early Show, tells how to smooth out the ugliest and most dangerous driveway problems. And if you’re not a do-it-yourselfer he also describes the driveway repair scammers likely to come knocking as soon as warm weather returns! Drinking lots of water and enjoying an occasional glass of lemonade seems natural in the hot summer months, but people concerned about getting a kidney stone may want to make those year-round habits -- Bryan N. Becker, MD, vice chair of the department of medicine and head of the nephrology section at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health in Madison tells why. All the best,  Jessica Kent Editor BottomLineSecrets.com Don't Ignore Your Driveway Danny Lipford Minor driveway problems can expand into major hazards and lead to costly repairs and/or damage to vehicles and even your home. But a little maintenance can help you avoid or repair unsightly cracks and holes. What you need to know about maintaining your asphalt or concrete driveway... CATCH CRACKS QUICKLY Scan your driveway for cracks every year. Two of the most common trouble spots... Near where the driveway meets the garage. Garage foundations almost always are poured at different times than driveways, resulting in "cold joints" that are prone to cracks. These cracks allow rain coming off your house’s eaves to get under the driveway and wash away the supporting soil, causing settling or cave-ins -- and perhaps damaging the home’s foundation as well, especially if your house is attached to your garage. In the control joints of a concrete driveway. Concrete driveways usually have seams designed to allow some expansion and contraction. These seams can hide cracks, so use a brush or shop vac to clear away any dirt from these joints, then give each a close look. FILL CRACKS YOURSELF When you find a crack, pull any weeds, use a screwdriver to remove any large debris, then use a whisk brush to remove dirt and smaller debris. Next, fill the crack with a driveway sealer designed specifically for this purpose. I recommend Quikrete Concrete Crack Seal for concrete drives (800-282-5828, www.Quikrete.com)... or a Latex-ite driveway crack filler for asphalt (800-851-5606, www.Latexite.com). Expect to pay $4 or $5 for a 10.1-ounce tube of either product or $6 to $10 for a one-quart bottle. They are designed to fill cracks up to about one-half-inch wide. If a crack is any wider, use a product designed to patch potholes. This fix will last for years if done correctly and will help prevent any further damage or spread of cracks. Helpful: These products work best when applied on warm, dry days. Quikrete is best used when temperatures are between 45°F and 100°F... Latexite, above 55°F. Check the forecast for the night ahead, too. Even if it’s warm during the day, cold temperatures at night increase the odds of sealer failure. In the northern US, it often is safer to wait until summer to use these products. If a portion of your driveway has settled and cracked extensively, that entire section might have to be ripped out and replaced, which requires a professional. To pick the right pro, it’s very important to check references and use a local company that routinely does this type of work. Expect to pay $600 to $1,200 to replace a section of an asphalt drive a few square yards in size, or more if a significant portion of the driveway must be replaced... or $1,000 to $2,000 for a similar-sized part of a concrete drive. Prices vary considerably based on the region. WALK THE EDGE Erosion under the edges of driveways can lead to cracks or cave-ins. At least once a year, scan the edges of your driveway for spots where the soil has eroded, creating a cavity beneath the concrete or asphalt... and places where water pools near the edge of the driveway following heavy rains, which could cause future erosion. Helpful: Remember to check behind any shrubs, mulch beds or other landscaping features near the edge of your driveway. These can hide erosion. Gently push aside any plants, or probe along the edges of the driveway with your hands to feel for spaces. If water is pooling along the edge of the drive, consider lowering the height of surrounding landscaping to improve drainage. This might mean reducing the depth of mulch beds or the amount of soil in flower beds. If erosion has occurred already, pack dirt or gravel into the eroded area to support the driveway above. Keep an eye on this area in the coming months. If the erosion comes back, you might have to hire a landscaping professional to find a solution. FILL POTHOLES Asphalt cracks can become potholes when they are allowed to linger. The longer you wait to repair a pothole, the larger it will grow and the more difficult it will become to repair. First, remove all loose material from the pothole, including any decaying stumps or roots. If the resulting hole is more than two inches deep, fill it with crushed stone or store-bought fill dirt, then pound the fill with a tamper or the flat side of a brick to compact it as much as possible. Continue adding the fill and compacting it until the depth of the pothole is no more than two inches. Next, apply Latex-ite Super Patch ($7.99 per gallon) according to the directions on the package. This product is designed specifically for potholes and works well with both asphalt and concrete drives, although the patch material is black and will stand out more on a concrete drive. SEAL ASPHALT DRIVES Resealing an asphalt driveway every three years or so can minimize deterioration. Concrete driveways do not require sealing. Use a push broom with very stiff bristles to clean the asphalt driveway, then thoroughly wash the driveway with a hose. Let dry. Next, apply sealer. Latex-ite Airport Grade II Driveway Sealer/Filler usually is a good choice, but use Latex-ite Sand Mix Driveway Sealer/Filler instead if your driveway is steep. Its sand provides added texture to help vehicles maintain traction on inclines. Latex-ite sealers typically cost $20 to $25 per five-gallon pail. You could pay less for a bargain brand, but it’s a false economy. Low-end sealers increase the odds of additional driveway maintenance hassles in future years. Your goal should be a layer of sealer approximately one-eighth-inch thick (unless the sealer’s instructions specifically recommend a different depth). Expect to use around one gallon of sealer per 50 square feet of driveway if your driveway has not previously been sealed... or one gallon per 80-to-100 square feet if it has. Use a long-handled rubber squeegee to apply driveway sealer, not a roller. Rollers designed for applying sealer tend to apply too thin a coat. If you have a very long driveway -- perhaps a quarter mile or longer -- resealing might be too large a job to do by hand. Expect to pay a professional around $1 per square foot to reseal the driveway for you, though this varies by region. BEWARE SCAMMERS Unfortunately, the driveway-repair sector is rife with scammers who apply watered-down, nearly worthless sealers. Either hire a company that a friend recommends... or ask respected local building professionals for recommendations. Either way, ask the driveway company for a handful of references in your region before agreeing to terms. Visit the addresses provided to speak with the home owners and examine their driveways. A quality sealing job should have an even-looking coating. Slipshod work will look thicker in some areas than others. Warning: Don’t be reassured by the long warranties offered by many driveway-resealing companies. Such warranties typically provide very little real protection. Some of these companies intentionally go out of business each year or so, rendering their warranties worthless, while others hide behind loopholes in their warranties. Even legitimate driveway-resealing companies put limits and loopholes in their warranties to avoid liability if a driveway they seal later deteriorates because of mistakes made during its initial construction. Bottom Line/Personal interviewed Danny Lipford, who has worked as a contractor in Alabama for more than 30 years. He is host of the nationally syndicated television program Today’s Homeowner with Danny Lipford and home-maintenance consultant for The Weather Channel and The Early Show on CBS. www.DannyLipford.com  Drink Water to Prevent Kidney Stones Bryan N. Becker, MD To prevent kidney stones, drink plenty of liquids. Dehydration can make stones more likely. Extra fluid intake helps keep urine flowing so that stones do not have the time or opportunity to form. Some people benefit from drinking large quantities of liquids containing citrate, such as lemonade, which can reduce the likelihood of a chemical reaction in your urine that would cause new stones to form. Also, ask your doctor whether changes in your diet may make stones less likely. If you have had kidney stones or have a family history of them, see a urologist or nephrologist (kidney specialist). Bottom Line/Personal interviewed Bryan N. Becker, MD, professor of medicine, physician-in-chief and vice chair of the department of medicine and head of the nephrology section at University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health, Madison. Important: Help your friends get much more out of life -- forward this E-letter to them. Better: Send it to many friends and your whole family. This is a free weekly e-mail service of BottomLineSecrets.com and Boardroom Inc. Boardroom Inc. 281 Tresser Boulevard Stamford, CT 06901-3229 ATTN: Web Team You received this e-mail because you have requested it. You are on the mailing list as healthwellness82@gmail.com. Or... a friend forwarded it to you. Disclaimer: Bottom Line Secrets publishes the opinions of expert authorities in many fields. But the use of these opinions is no substitute for legal, accounting, investment, medical and other professional services to suit your specific personal needs. Always consult a competent professional for answers to your specific questions. 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