How to care and maintain your concrete
Concrete is a durable, long-lasting product. However, it’s important to know how to properly maintain your concrete, particularly if you've taken the initiative and incurred the expense of pouring decorative concrete.
Knowing a few basic rules of how to properly maintain your concrete will greatly extend the life and beauty of your concrete. Here are a few tips to help you get the most, and longest life, out of your new concrete.
Stay off it
There will be a time to enjoy the benefits of your new concrete, but you must be patient. To keep your concrete from cracking, don’t allow any foot traffic, including pets, on newly poured concrete for at least 48 hours. You should also wait 7-10 days before driving any vehicle on concrete driveways so it can reach its full strength.
If you plan on doing any type of construction on your property that requires heavy construction equipment or heavy trucks, it is advised they stay off your concrete for at least 30 days after installation. Also, it is important to keep skid-steers or loaders from turning on the concrete causing tire tracking and permanent scuff marks on the surface.
The concrete is still considered 'green’ and needs to cure and harden before it can be opened for normal use.
2. Clean and reseal it
Cleaning your concrete periodically and keeping it sealed are the key components of any good maintenance program. How often you clean and reseal will largely depend on the conditions the concrete is exposed to, especially weather extremes, sunlight intensity and the amount of foot or vehicle traffic.
3. Don’t apply sealant or paint concrete in the first 28 days
Any paint or stain applied to your concrete while it’s still hardening can be negatively affected by residual moisture or the changing chemical content in the concrete. It takes about a month for all the water to get used up in the hydration process.
Roll tint or paint on too soon while moisture is still rising to the surface, and it can put pressure underneath the hard barrier of tint or paint, causing it to peel away or break the bond. For this reason, the tint or paint may not adhere as well, and the final colour and appearance of stained concrete may also be affected.
To achieve the best results, wait 28 days before applying tint or paint. If you prefer sealing done professionally, feel free to call us for our professional opinion about sealers. Generally, you would seal coloured or exposed aggregate concrete, you can also colour plain concrete with coloured sealers in a wide range of colours.
4. Control plantings
Trees and other plants with big root systems can cause problems if they are planted too close to your concrete. Roots can grow up through the cement, or even raise the concrete, cracking it and causing it to break off and crumble. Weeds may sprout in any control joints, expansion joints, or cracks that may develop, but can be treated with spot herbicides.
5. Clean up spills
Using a pressure washer and degreasing chemicals to spray and clean the area immediately after spilling oil, grease or other stains is the best bet for removing these types of stains (make sure you follow manufactures recommendations on degreasers or the like and ensure the chemicals are suitable on concrete surfaces).
Act fast to prevent permanent staining, oil stains can also gather dust and grime. While oil and dust stains will not cause any structural damage to your concrete, they can cause unsightly permanent stains.
6. Exercise long term care
Never allow water to undermine the concrete slabs. This can wash out the gravel/sand base and lead to an uneven slab or cracks appear. If wear shows in high traffic areas (as sometimes happens depending on the volume of traffic), you may wish to clean the surface and seal it with a common water repellent concrete sealer for further protection.