Care & Maintenance Of Your New Concrete Driveway
Ongoing concrete driveway maintenance is an important part of owning a concrete driveway. Think about it this way, your driveway won’t last forever and at some point you’ll need to remove it and replace it with a new one. How soon that day comes is entirely dependent upon how well maintained the driveway is. Research has shown that regular maintenance of a concrete driveway can extend the life dramatically.
Here’s a few things you should plan on doing on a regular basis to extend the life of your concrete driveway.
Crack Sealing
Sealing cracks is probably the most important part of maintaining a concrete driveway. Keeping the water from entering the cracks and undermining the concrete is the main goal. Water entering the cracks can undermine the concrete and cause the cracking to spread and eventually create failures like alligatored areas and even potholes. Sealing the cracks annually is highly recommended.
Sealing
Sealing the driveway can greatly slow down the deterioration process caused by oxidization from the sun, water runoff and the overall use of your concrete driveway. A concrete driveway should be sealed every 2 to 3 years. Some homeowners have been mistakenly under the impression it should be done every 3 to 5 years. This is not true and depending on the region you live in, if it’s a snowy region, sealing your concrete driveway should be done every 1 to 2 years.
Edging
Keeping grass and weeds away from the edges of the concrete will keep them from failing and deteriorating.
Oil Spots
Oil spots are not a major problem as long as they’re cleaned up soon after oil has leaked or spilled onto the concrete. Oil can stain the concrete and cause it to get somewhat gummy over time. Oil will attract dust and dirt, but it’s not something to be concerned about. It’s more unsightly than anything. Using a commercial de-greaser, hot water, a heavy plastic bristled broom or brush and scrubbing them will remove most of the oil stain.
Fuel Spills
When it comes to fuel spills, regular unleaded gasoline will not damage the concrete immediately. It would take some time to sit on the surface to actually cause any real damage, so you’ll want to try and clean them up as quickly as possible.
Ice Melting Products
Watch the video below about concrete de-icers featuring one of our trusted members!
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