Concrete driveways are common on many properties, as concrete is a durable, cheap material that looks good. What many people don't think about, however, is that concrete needs to be looked after in order to keep looking and working like it always have. The most important thing in this maintenance process is that you regularly apply sealer to your concrete driveway. In order to seal your concrete driveway as effectively as possible, there are a few things that you should think about.
Clean beforehand
It's of vital importance that you don't seal your driveway until it's completely dry and clean. Hose it off with a high pressure hose and warm water. If you have a lot of dirt on it, you should also consider scrubbing it by hand. If you have oil stains on your driveway, you should also use a degreaser on those particular stains to remove them. Flush the area extra carefully afterwards, as leftovers from the degreaser might affect the sealer negatively. Before you start sealing your driveway, you should make sure that the driveway is completely dry. However, don't wait days between cleaning and sealing, as the dirt you've just washed off might come back during that time.
Choosing tools
You also need to think about what tool you want to use to seal your concrete driveway. The easiest method is to use an airless sprayer. These types of sprayers can handle any type of sealant regardless if it is water or solvent based. However, this type of equipment can be expensive, so if you don't have a company that offers concrete services where you can rent the equipment, you might want to go for something else. Rollers are also quite popular when it comes to sealing concrete driveways, as it is cheap equipment that is easy to use. You can use a roller for both water and solvent based sealers, but if the solid content in the solvent based sealer is high, you need to be very thorough to make sure the layer of sealer is thin enough on the surface. A too thick layer of sealer might start to bubble or form puddles on the concrete surface.
A second layer
When you've applied one layer of sealer, you should consider doing another one for ultimate protection. Allow the first layer to dry properly before you attempt to apply a second one. Then you should apply an equally thin layer of sealer as the first one. If you've applied the first layer in one direction on the driveway, you should apply the second one the opposite direction to give the driveway full sealer coverage.
For assistance, talk to a concrete service.
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